The structures and front courtyard of the 76-year-old Veterans
Memorial Building weren’t the only areas needing attention during
the past two years of renovations.
The structures and front courtyard of the 76-year-old Veterans Memorial Building weren’t the only areas needing attention during the past two years of renovations.
Artwork inside the landmark had been neglected as well, which prompted the Hollister Recreation Division to call upon local artist Shannon Grissom to restore two deteriorated frames and a painting of the Pinnacles National Monument area. It is a work of A.R. Trovensha, and officials are unsure whether he was a local resident.
Another painting, which she called a “woodlands” scene, had been severely ripped and would likely demand a museum-level restoration. Officials could not estimate the value or age of the relics.
Since she began the project seven weeks ago, Grissom has scrubbed the tarnished painting and frames, often with a toothbrush, for hours at a time. The work, she said, has been much more technical and tedious than innovative and refreshing.
Furthermore, Grissom, an active volunteer in the community, will charge the city nothing for her labor.
“It wasn’t that long (the duration of her work). It maybe only took about 20 hours,” Grissom said about the painting and first frame, both of which she finished one week before the building’s rededication.
For the painting, she used a special cleaner for dirt and meticulously matched colors where the coat had worn thin – at some points even down to the bare canvas.
Restoration of each frame, both relatively large at 42 inches by 60 inches, has demanded more time than the painting.
“That (the frames) is really where all the time was spent,” she said.
She will also paint an original of the building’s exterior at no charge. For a work of its size – 30 inches by 48 inches – Grissom said her standard fee would be about $1,400.
The city will mount her portrayal of the building in the second frame she is currently restoring. Considering Grissom routinely works on several projects simultaneously, she said the Veterans Memorial Building painting will be finished in about two months.
“I feel honored they are allowing me to do this,” Grissom said.
Recreation Services Manager Robert Ornelas asked Grissom to perform the restoration duties – along with her original painting – about six weeks before the rededication of the Veterans Memorial Building on May 26.
He said he asked her because she is local, and Grissom had previously told Ornelas she would help “in any way she could.”
“Definitely, we appreciate that,” Ornelas said.
She would have attempted to finish her original before the Memorial Day rededication. However, scaffolding had still covered much of the building days before the ceremony, she said, so depicting the finished product would have been impossible.
“I didn’t want to guess what the building was going to look like,” she said.
The building, which was built in 1927, underwent a $4.4 million renovation in August after many years of neglect. Ownership transferred from the county to the city in November 2000.
Ornelas said the city will hang an array of local artists’ work in the building’s front entrance and in an “art gallery” on the second floor.
Grissom, who moved from San Jose to Hollister three years ago, said the experience of performing a restoration, as opposed to creating something new, demanded “a great deal of restraint.”
“I was conscious of not adding anything I’d like to see in the painting,” Grissom said.
She added, “It was so hard, too, because I really wanted to highlight a few places.”
Grissom said the projects for the city are her way of giving back to a community that supports her growth as an artist.
“It’s my way of saying ‘thank you.'”
