ADG Perspective

M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 2 2 | P E R S P E C T I V E 3 5 N E W S A. JC BACKINGS PAINT SKETCH FOR PAINTED BACKING, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES (2005). B. DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES CUSTOM BACKING ON PAINT FRAME, PHOTOS BY THOMAS A. WALSH and despair due to the rapid advancements in digital photography and large-format computer printing. The challenge the ADG faced was how to promote positive media recognition about scenic painting while working to secure and preserve the collective memory and legacy of that proud profession and its artists. he first eort was the curating of a series of five one-night-only exhibitions of painted backdrops at JC Backings' historic MGM scenic paint building. This successful event was closely followed by the archives and scenic council's commitment to begin a multi-year oral history project led by its archivist, Rosemarie Knopka, and Scenic Artist, Karen L. Maness, so that the knowledge and history of the ADG's artists would be preserved. In 2016 a glorious blessing arrived upon the release of our 13-pound book, The Art of the Hollywood Backdrop. Published by Judith Regan, and written by stage designer Richard M. Isackes and painter turned-scenic-historian Karen L. Maness, it was an award winner and a source of immense pride and recognition for the ADG's scenic community. Then in the spring of 2017, an unanticipated challenge occurred, one that would require immediate action by the archives and Guild leadership. After fortyfive years of occupancy, JC Backings decided to move its painting operations to a new facility o the SonyMGM lot. During JC's planning for their relocation of over 2000 painted backings, they identified 20 canvases, all too old, fragile or specific in their genres to be kept as active rental assets within JC's catalog, and these backings all needed new homes. To preserve these backings, some historic others unidentified, the ADG Archives launched the Backdrop Recovery Project (BRP) in partnership with JC Backings and with significant support from Sony Studios. The BRP documented and photographed 207 MGM era backings so that they could be preserved and donated to museums, motion picture archives, academic and nonprofit institutions, and to our amazement, they all found homes. A B

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