The Sierra County Arts Council (SCAC) has put out two requests for assistance. The SCAC is working with the Geronimo Springs Museum (GSM) to create an archive of TorC’s murals (past and present) to be housed in the museum. The project is looking for assistance with compiling background information on the town’s murals as well as input from the public in the form of print photos to become a part of the archive. Here are the details on what’s needed:
SIERRA COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL CALL FOR PROJECT VOLUNTEERS:
For the past year the Sierra County Arts Council has been working in conjunction with Geronimo Springs Museum on plans to create an archive of the murals of Truth or Consequences. Much of the groundwork has been laid and now it’s time to compile details on our many murals (more than 70) around town.
To achieve this, we are seeking volunteers to assist with the task of collecting background information. We have identified the murals we would like to have researched and compiled in the archive. The archive will include existing murals as well as some that have been ‘removed’.
We have the format developed for information to collect; and now need some manpower to secure it so we can produce the final physical archive for preservation and presentation at Geronimo Springs Museum. The more people we have to help with this project, the fewer the number of locations each volunteer will need to visit/research and the quicker we can complete the archive.
If you are interested in joining us and are willing to assist with this project, contact the Sierra County Arts Council at: scacnewmexico@gmail.com or SCAC President John Johanek at: johanek@montana.com.
In your email, state that you would like to assist with this project, and give us your contact information. We will have a meeting of all volunteers in early October (date and location to be determined} to review the process and preferences for collecting mural information, provide our preprinted info-collection forms, and assign locations.
We look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your interest.
John Johanek
President, Sierra County Arts Council
SIERRA COUNTY ARTS COUNCIL CALL FOR MURAL PHOTOGRAPHS:
The Sierra County Arts Council is currently working with Geronimo Springs Museum to create an archive of the murals of Truth or Consequences. We intend to have a cabinet at the museum with a file folder for each mural in town — past and present. As part of each folder, we plan to include hard-copy photos.
Any and all (hard copy) photos will be considered — because each photo will depict a different time / stage in the life of the mural we welcome all submissions. We expect some murals / folders will have more photos than others.
We have a few photos already on hand but for many more locations we do not. Of particular interest are photos of murals that — for whatever reason — no longer exist. We will be including those in our archive as well. And of special interest would be photos showing any mural “in progress.” Photos that include the muralist would be a wonderful addition.
If you would like more information on this, would like to submit photos you have or need to check on our interest of a specific photo you have, please contact me. All photos (prints, not digital) accepted by the project will include the name of the contributor / photographer on the back. I will be happy to meet with anyone to look over photos you’d like to provide.
Thank you.
John Johanek
Mural Archive project coordinator
Or
406-539-7017
Photos for this article by Will Quinn. Full disclosure: The author is also a member of the board of the Sierra County Citizen.
Of course, the most obvious one is the WPA mural inside the Main Street post office. I would also like to note the large portrait that once was on the side of Xochi’s Bookstore’s building of a battered women. Someone else might remember her name. I might have a photo of it — on film, not digital. But I won’t get to looking for it for a while.
Thank you for the reminder. There are several interior murals that will become part of this archive and the post office mural is certainly one of the more important ones. We would be very interested in any images or background on the Xochi Bookstore that you mentioned as well. Thank you for the input.