Audio Description: Rocketdyne Mural by Lawrence Sanchez
Press play and discover Lawrence Sanchez's painting Rocketdyne Mural. Hear a detailed description of the artwork, descriptions of the colors and forms in the painting, and how the artist made the work. (Closed captions available on video.)
Rocketdyne Mural, Lawrence Sanchez, 1963, Tempera on Panel
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The Rocketdyne Mural by Lawrence Sanchez is egg tempera paint on eight panels of Masonite that are fashioned together to form a work that is 32.75 feet long and 6 feet tall framed by a thin, brown frame of wood. Lawrence worked as a technical artist for Rocketdyne when he hand painted this mural in the plant's cafeteria in 1963 to depict the future of space - he flexed his technical artist skills with detailed renderings of futuristic space prototypes, which may have been influenced by NASA concepts, and illustrative imagination with his depiction of how things looked from Space, which was largely unknown in the early 60s.
The main focus of the work is a Space Capsule floating in front of the moon which spans much of the center of the piece. A rounded side of the moon, visible from the bottom center, is highly detailed and textural, displaying craters and mountain ranges littered across the surface. The moon's surface appears as a light greyish tan, well-lit on the right side in shades of warm golden yellow, white, and light green. As we move central on the surface, we see the neutral tone of the rock, accented in white and light blue, as we reach the left side it becomes mostly shadowed in black and dark blues blurring and then ultimately obscuring the textural details. The Space Capsule floats above the center of the surface and closer to the viewer. Its basic shape is a cone attached flush at its base to the top of a cylinder. The capsule is a chrome-like silver, seams faintly seen from the painter's highlighting, with two red stripes that wrap around its width - one framing the bottom edge of the cone's tip (the Command Module) and another at the bottom third of the cylinder (the Service Module). The stripe on the cylinder has USA painted in black, capital letters above it on the left side and we see one four-pronged mechanical arm with a rotatable disc (S-band steerable antenna) stretching out from the capsule on the left and right side of the same stripe. Other mechanical bits include: two curved rods protruding near the tip, a straight rod protruding out from a bracket mounting (the hatch) further down the cone, a cylindrical shape peeking from the center of the bottom of the capsule (the Service Propulsion Engine Nozzle), and a rounded, X-shaped component (the Reaction Control System Quad Thrusters) where the cone and cylinder are joined on the right side.
Moving to the right and up from the moon we see a satellite with its tip pointing up and slightly to the right. The Satellite is light grey with the light shining white and greenish highlights across the structure. The top of the satellite is an upturned dish with a funnel-like shape attached at its center, with the spout pointing out. There is a hole or divot in the tip of the central shape with a circular part pointing out attached on the lip of the tip. Black circles and rings are drawn throughout the structure to show seams and hardware - a line of two shapes of circles are seen on a ledge on the satellite's base. Under that, we see a length of scaffolding with Z shape supports on both sides and some angled bracing internally. The scaffolding holds a few other components at the base. On the left end is a canister shape with a domed top. To the right of that we see a thin, dark rod with 2 smaller rods on each side - 4 total - attached to the central rod so that they are angled away from the dish. This piece then continues as a much larger and light grey rod which threads through the scaffolding and, once clear, becomes an egg shaped end. At the right end of the scaffolding, we see one piece comprised of many shapes - from the bottom, two rounded rectangular prisms are stacked widest side on top of each other, with a thin, rounded board on top, on the most right corner of the board we see a dome shape with two spheres draping over the right side from a blue cord.
Continuing to move to the right, we see a rounded side of Earth coming in from the top of the canvas. It is bright white in the center illuminating light blue of the ocean and light green of land that resembles North and South America. The sides of the planet are shadowed in dark blues, dark purples, and a blue grey.
Moving down right from Earth, we see a tan-ish brown space station glowing bright from an off canvas light source in light red, orange, and golden yellow. The station's outer frame is a torus (doughnut) shape connected together by a central tunnel. At the center of the tunnel is a sphere with a domed shape on top. The dome has a satellite on top and a tube pointed right that curves out at the ends. The station has many rectangles on its structure: one, on the sphere with cross hatching, and the others with vertical lines.
These main focal points are painted atop a large backdrop of space. Wide strokes that move toward the top left cover the background in various washes of blue, from the lightest of blue to a dark navy. Pockets of light and medium violet streaks are seen throughout the top quarter of the work occasionally blended away to a dulled white. Stars are littered throughout the expanse, many clustered in groups of white dots, some larger and more defined with a golden glow. If we look at the panel between Earth and the satellite, we see a trail of stars spiraling from the bottom side and toward the satellite in wide circles. If we then look at the very left side of the mural, we can see stars clustered tightly together in several groupings that seem to form organic shapes such as people and animals, perhaps a nod to constellations. Above these, we see a reddish, black dot with a spiral of white and pink dots swirling over it, resembling a galaxy spiral. Moving to the canvas above the left side of the moon, we see a golden comet, with faint accents of orange and red, streaking up and right across space.
In the bottom right hand corner, we see the artist's signature L. Sanchez painted in white flowing script with the year 1963 painted below it. When Sanchez painted this mural, mankind was in the early stages of space exploration and knowledge with the first human in space - Yuri Gagarin - only occurring two years before (April 12, 1961) and the first American to orbit the Earth - John Glenn one year prior (February 20, 1962). This commissioned piece showcased a look to the future with a vision of possibilities.
Lawrence Sanchez graduated from Boston Museum School of Fine Arts after he spent 4.5 years serving in the Army post graduating high school. After graduation, he worked as a sign painter, eventually opening his own business. He later moved to technical illustration and relocated from Boston, MA to Neosho, MO to work for Rocketdyne.
In 1956 about 2,000 acres of the former Camp Crowder were sectioned off and transferred to the United States Air Force. That same year, Air Force Plant No. 65, which was a Rocketdyne run site, employing around 1,250 workers, opened. This was a government owned-contractor operated liquid propelled rocket engine manufacturing facility. Rocketdyne manufactured and tested rocket engines at the site, including rockets used in the Mercury and Gemini Space Programs.
Most famously, these workers built and tested the liquid-propellant rockets for space missiles Thor and Jupiter, the booster for Atlas rockets, and components of the Saturn V engine which brought Apollo 11 to the moon.
In 2013, the mural was relocated to the science department in Davidson Hall at Crowder College. In 2023, Neosho Arts Council funded the repair and restoration of the mural by a team of conservation specialists on site at Crowder College.
The main focus of the work is a Space Capsule floating in front of the moon which spans much of the center of the piece. A rounded side of the moon, visible from the bottom center, is highly detailed and textural, displaying craters and mountain ranges littered across the surface. The moon's surface appears as a light greyish tan, well-lit on the right side in shades of warm golden yellow, white, and light green. As we move central on the surface, we see the neutral tone of the rock, accented in white and light blue, as we reach the left side it becomes mostly shadowed in black and dark blues blurring and then ultimately obscuring the textural details. The Space Capsule floats above the center of the surface and closer to the viewer. Its basic shape is a cone attached flush at its base to the top of a cylinder. The capsule is a chrome-like silver, seams faintly seen from the painter's highlighting, with two red stripes that wrap around its width - one framing the bottom edge of the cone's tip (the Command Module) and another at the bottom third of the cylinder (the Service Module). The stripe on the cylinder has USA painted in black, capital letters above it on the left side and we see one four-pronged mechanical arm with a rotatable disc (S-band steerable antenna) stretching out from the capsule on the left and right side of the same stripe. Other mechanical bits include: two curved rods protruding near the tip, a straight rod protruding out from a bracket mounting (the hatch) further down the cone, a cylindrical shape peeking from the center of the bottom of the capsule (the Service Propulsion Engine Nozzle), and a rounded, X-shaped component (the Reaction Control System Quad Thrusters) where the cone and cylinder are joined on the right side.
Moving to the right and up from the moon we see a satellite with its tip pointing up and slightly to the right. The Satellite is light grey with the light shining white and greenish highlights across the structure. The top of the satellite is an upturned dish with a funnel-like shape attached at its center, with the spout pointing out. There is a hole or divot in the tip of the central shape with a circular part pointing out attached on the lip of the tip. Black circles and rings are drawn throughout the structure to show seams and hardware - a line of two shapes of circles are seen on a ledge on the satellite's base. Under that, we see a length of scaffolding with Z shape supports on both sides and some angled bracing internally. The scaffolding holds a few other components at the base. On the left end is a canister shape with a domed top. To the right of that we see a thin, dark rod with 2 smaller rods on each side - 4 total - attached to the central rod so that they are angled away from the dish. This piece then continues as a much larger and light grey rod which threads through the scaffolding and, once clear, becomes an egg shaped end. At the right end of the scaffolding, we see one piece comprised of many shapes - from the bottom, two rounded rectangular prisms are stacked widest side on top of each other, with a thin, rounded board on top, on the most right corner of the board we see a dome shape with two spheres draping over the right side from a blue cord.
Continuing to move to the right, we see a rounded side of Earth coming in from the top of the canvas. It is bright white in the center illuminating light blue of the ocean and light green of land that resembles North and South America. The sides of the planet are shadowed in dark blues, dark purples, and a blue grey.
Moving down right from Earth, we see a tan-ish brown space station glowing bright from an off canvas light source in light red, orange, and golden yellow. The station's outer frame is a torus (doughnut) shape connected together by a central tunnel. At the center of the tunnel is a sphere with a domed shape on top. The dome has a satellite on top and a tube pointed right that curves out at the ends. The station has many rectangles on its structure: one, on the sphere with cross hatching, and the others with vertical lines.
These main focal points are painted atop a large backdrop of space. Wide strokes that move toward the top left cover the background in various washes of blue, from the lightest of blue to a dark navy. Pockets of light and medium violet streaks are seen throughout the top quarter of the work occasionally blended away to a dulled white. Stars are littered throughout the expanse, many clustered in groups of white dots, some larger and more defined with a golden glow. If we look at the panel between Earth and the satellite, we see a trail of stars spiraling from the bottom side and toward the satellite in wide circles. If we then look at the very left side of the mural, we can see stars clustered tightly together in several groupings that seem to form organic shapes such as people and animals, perhaps a nod to constellations. Above these, we see a reddish, black dot with a spiral of white and pink dots swirling over it, resembling a galaxy spiral. Moving to the canvas above the left side of the moon, we see a golden comet, with faint accents of orange and red, streaking up and right across space.
In the bottom right hand corner, we see the artist's signature L. Sanchez painted in white flowing script with the year 1963 painted below it. When Sanchez painted this mural, mankind was in the early stages of space exploration and knowledge with the first human in space - Yuri Gagarin - only occurring two years before (April 12, 1961) and the first American to orbit the Earth - John Glenn one year prior (February 20, 1962). This commissioned piece showcased a look to the future with a vision of possibilities.
Lawrence Sanchez graduated from Boston Museum School of Fine Arts after he spent 4.5 years serving in the Army post graduating high school. After graduation, he worked as a sign painter, eventually opening his own business. He later moved to technical illustration and relocated from Boston, MA to Neosho, MO to work for Rocketdyne.
In 1956 about 2,000 acres of the former Camp Crowder were sectioned off and transferred to the United States Air Force. That same year, Air Force Plant No. 65, which was a Rocketdyne run site, employing around 1,250 workers, opened. This was a government owned-contractor operated liquid propelled rocket engine manufacturing facility. Rocketdyne manufactured and tested rocket engines at the site, including rockets used in the Mercury and Gemini Space Programs.
Most famously, these workers built and tested the liquid-propellant rockets for space missiles Thor and Jupiter, the booster for Atlas rockets, and components of the Saturn V engine which brought Apollo 11 to the moon.
In 2013, the mural was relocated to the science department in Davidson Hall at Crowder College. In 2023, Neosho Arts Council funded the repair and restoration of the mural by a team of conservation specialists on site at Crowder College.
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Mural Restoration Project
The “Rocketdyne Mural” received over $20,000 worth of restoration work in March 2023. A team of four conservation specialist worked on the mural during the week of spring break. Work was completed on site in Davidson Hall on the Crowder College Neosho Campus.
Top Reasons for Restoration
• Accumulation of airborne grime. • Exposed bolts holding panels to the wall. • Extensive losses of bolt covers and uneven finish of remaining panel bolt covers. • Panels bowing due to humidity. • Poor paint match from previous repairs after moving mural from original location at the former Rocketdyne facility to Crowder College. Restoration Work Completed • Cleaned the surface removing grime. • Removed remaining bolt covers • Replaced all bolt covers with conservation grade acrylic putty. • Leveled all bolt covers. • Leveled bowing panels. • Inpainted and airbrushed losses with conservation-grade raw pigments to match original color and design. • Sealed with UV matte varnish. • Tightened frame corners and molding. |
A conservation specialist working with conservation grade raw pigments to match original colors to repair damaged section of the "Rocketdyne Mural"
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