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<\/a>Trevor Thomas ’10 and Eric Bransby ’47<\/p><\/div>\n
It\u2019s happened slowly and quietly, but the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center has pushed an art form on the edge toward a major comeback.<\/p>\n
Murals \u2014 not the kind you see under a bridge, but commissioned pieces executed by artists \u2014 have all but disappeared from many public places. In an age when cost-effectiveness dominates construction and mass appeal in art is deemed an abject goal, murals have come to appear as both unnecessarily extravagant, and more decorative than artistic. They took another hit when spontaneity became the preferred tone in 20th-century artwork; a mural is anything but a spontaneous undertaking.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, the FAC has chosen to honor its 75th anniversary, in large part, with murals. The large upstairs gallery will host Boardman Robinson\u2019s The History of Commerce series; the 10-mural collection by former FAC school head and instructor Boardman Robinson hasn\u2019t hung in its entirety for nearly 50 years.<\/p>\n
These portable murals will join a host of others permanently affixed to the FAC\u2019s walls, including ones in the courtyard, on the front facade, and in Amuz\u00e9 at the FAC. Also, the FAC has commissioned a mural depicting its history and mission from local artist Eric Bransby<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The new work, tentatively aimed for unveiling at the end of the summer, will stretch 30 feet across the grand hallway atop the donors wall. Not only was Bransby a good choice, he was the FAC\u2019s only choice, says executive director and CEO Sam Gappmayer, who adds, \u201cIt was just such a logical place to go for this commission.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s because Bransby, 94, not only specializes in murals \u2014 throughout his seven-decade career, he\u2019s painted murals in universities and museums throughout the country \u2014 he has also lived much of the FAC\u2019s history. Bransby was a student of the FAC\u2019s fine art school, and a pupil of Robinson\u2019s.<\/p>\n Boardman Robinson came to Colorado Springs in 1930, having already established himself as a renowned muralist and well-respected political cartoonist. He began teaching at Fountain Valley School, then transferred to the Broadmoor Art Academy (the FAC\u2019s early incarnation) in 1931. By 1936 he was the leader of the FAC\u2019s art school, guiding it to become one of the nation\u2019s most respected art schools at that time.<\/p>\n Robinson helped christen the FAC\u2019s new 1936 structure by painting five murals on the front fa\u00e7ade. They featured the FAC\u2019s multidisciplinary mission, highlighting music, theater, art instruction, and museum aspects. The year before Robinson arrived in Colorado Springs, he\u2019d completed a commission to paint 10 murals for Kaufmann\u2019s Department Store in Pittsburgh. (The store owner, Edgar Kaufmann, is best known for commissioning Frank Lloyd Wright to build him a home: the result was Wright\u2019s masterpiece Fallingwater.)<\/p>\n The murals, each measuring about 8 by 15 feet, depict scenes of trade and business through the ages, thus the name The History of Commerce. The works begin with the Persians and Arabs, then progress to the Venetians, the Dutch, slave traders in the Americas, and finally an industrialized city scene of the 20th century. A 1929 Time magazine article documents the unveiling of nine of the murals, executed on canvas using car paint, in Manhattan.<\/p>\nBackward glance<\/h2>\n