Professional Fine Artist from Seattle Completes the Restoration of a 100-Year Old, 40-foot Ceresota Flour Advertising Mural on a Historic Mill in the Village of Durham, Bucks County, Pennsylvania

A 100-year old, 40-foot wide Ceresota Flour mural is being restored on the historic Durham Mill in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, by Barbara Fugate, a professional fine artist from Seattle, Washington, hired by the Durham Historical Society. Using techniques customary to artists of the Renaissance, Fugate completes the historically accurate mural this week in time for Durham Community Day on Saturday, October 11, 2003.

Durham, Pennsylvania, (PRWEB) October 7, 2003 -- The historic Durham Mill, built in 1820, gets a stunning facelift this week as fine artist Barbara Fugate of Seattle, Washington, completes the final brush strokes of a 100-year old, 16 x 40 Ceresota Flour advertising mural restoration in time for Durhams annual Community Day celebration on Saturday, October 11, 2003.
It was the long-held goal of the late township supervisor, David Rau (affectionately known as the mayor" of Durham) to restore the Ceresota Flour advertising mural, originally painted approximately 100 years ago. Mr. Rau, who passed away in 1996, grew up in the tiny village of Durham, Pennsylvania, and was frequently overheard saying he knew he was home" when he saw the mural upon returning from a trip.

A century ago, the original Ceresota Flour ad provided the owners of the mill with a little extra money from the Northwestern Consolidated Milling Company of Minneapolis, and was a colorful addition to the small farming community of Durham. Over the last century, however, the elements took their toll and the ad all but disappeared. Enough of the original design remained, however, for the Durham Historical Society (DHS) to piece together what was originally on the wall.

The DHS was unable to locate a photograph of the old mural in its prime, so finding a copy of the original advertisement was of great importance. Help arrived from the Minnesota Historical Society, who put the DHS in touch with Mr. Richard Ferrell of Leawood, Kansas. Mr. Ferrell owns over 15,000 historical items relating to the milling industry including photographs, postcards, packaging materials including barrels, cotton sacks and paper bags, industry correspondence, vintage equipment catalogs, marketing premiums and advertisements. After looking through many Ceresota Flour ad images and comparing them with modern photographs of the remaining mural on the Durham Mill, Mr. Ferrell and the DHS were able to pinpoint the exact ad that was the used as a model" for the original painting.

The new mural is a historically accurate painting of that ad from the late 19th century, painstakingly brought to life by professional fine artist Barbara Fugate of Seattle, Washington. Fugate recently completed a mural restoration project on a 14th century building in Entrecasteaux, France, and is currently an instructor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Seattle.

Fugate was one of several artists who submitted proposals to the DHS. Barbaras background in large-scale figurative drawing and painting was a key reason she was selected for the project," says Kathleen Connally, a director and secretary for the DHS. The most important part of the mural restoration is the image of the Ceresota Flour boy, dressed in old-fashioned clothes, slicing a loaf of bread made from Ceresota Flour. The original painting of the boy on the mill was seven feet tall, and we felt that Barbaras expertise in large-scale figurative work was what we needed to ensure the Ceresota boy image was re-painted in a beautiful and technically correct manner."

In order to facilitate the organization and implementation of such a large-scale work, Fugate decided to use a technique customary to mural artists of the Renaissance, such as Michelangelo. A few weeks before arriving in Durham, I created a very large cartoon, or drawing of the mural design, the same size as the mural itself," explains Fugate. I then perforated the drawing along the lines of the design, creating thousands of tiny holes in the paper. To transfer my drawing to the brick wall of the Durham Mill, I held the drawing up against the wall, being careful to align it with the registration marks I had measured out, and then pounced the drawing with a powdered black chalk, held inside a sock, through the perforation holes. This technique left me with a perfect outline of my drawing on the wall, which Im now completing with paint."

Fugate began working on the mural on September 22, 2003, and ceremonially completes the final brushstrokes on Saturday, October 11, 2003, which happens to be Durham Community Day. The mural will be dedicated to David Rau in a ceremony at 2:00 p.m., and Fugate will be available to field questions regarding the project and her techniques throughout the day.

Pamela Reilly, Preservation Specialist from the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission, recently commended and thanked the Supervisors of Durham Township, the Durham Historical Society and the concerned citizens of Durham Township for rehabilitating the mural. Reilly states, The mural adds historic value to the Durham Mill, and offers opportunities for people to learn about Durham Townships important role in the history of Pennsylvania and the United States of America."

Durhams 14th annual Community Day celebration, complete with live music, homemade foods, colonial crafts demonstrations, and local artists and artisans selling their wares, takes place on the grounds of the historic Durham Mill on Saturday, October 11, 2003, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., rain or shine. The event is free and open to the public. For additional information, please contact the Durham Historical Society office at 610-346-1620.

The Durham Historical Society, an all-volunteer, non-profit (501c3) organization, is dedicated to the study and preservation of the history of Durham Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The township and its residents have played a major role in the development of the United States of America from the colonial era into the present.
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