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Fair Preserving Mepham's - and L.I.'s -- past
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The 80-foot-long, 16-foot-high, hand-painted map, which may well be the largest in existence, was restored to its original splendor this month, thanks to members of the Mepham High School Alumni Association.
The $40,000 restoration was funded by alumni donations. "There was an incredible outpouring of support," said Frank Setteducati, a 1970 graduate a and past president of the alumni association. "We're very fortunate to have so many caring people who were able to help us."
"The alumni funded the entire cost," said the high school's principal, John Didden. "We're very, very grateful to the alumni association." Mepham graduates are incredibly loyal to their alma mater, Didden said, adding that each year alumni donate about $20,000 in awards to graduating seniors, and have made several other donations over the years, including photography equipment and a baby grand piano.
"They're always looking to do something special for the school," Didden said. "They look to link Mepham of yesterday with Mepham of today."
Setteducati said he wasn't surprised by former students' interest in helping to fund the mural project. "Anyone who was in a chorus, band or orchestra, or was a drama enthusiast, spent a lot of time in the auditorium," he said. "I imagine everyone who attended the school spent some time looking at the map, thinking about places they'd like to visit or places they'd been and recalling what they did while they were there. I'd imagine parents attending functions there had the same thoughts."
Drama in the details
When Mepham was first built, the U-shaped school cost about $800,000, according to Setteducati. In 1937, Franklin Roosevelt began his second term as president, and World War II was just around the corner. Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific, the Hindenburg exploded and "Gone With the Wind" won the Pulitzer Prize.
In many ways, the mural is emblematic of this bygone era. Against a variegated blue, wave-textured background, the map is replete with hand-lettered town and community names (including the charmingly incorrect spelling of "East Meadaw" and the singular "Kew Garden"), art deco-style signage and decorative elements, and other elaborate touches.
Near the center, a large, raised blue star marks the high school's location in Bellmore. To the left of the map is a rendering of the official New York state seal. At right, the year is painted on a Long Island sign featuring a great sailing ship.
The auditorium also boasts two inspirational maxims. One underneath the map quotes Diogenes, "The foundation of every state is the education of its youth." The other, below the wall of windows on the opposite side, is a motto by English statesman Richard M. Milnes, a.k.a. Lord Houghton: "The virtue lies in the struggle not the prize."
The mural is as interesting for what it does not contain as for what it does. There are illustrations of a number of lighthouses, in Nassau County in particular, that no longer exist. The current Flushing Meadows Park is noted as the site of the New York City World's Fair, an event that was to take place in 1939. The Southern State Parkway extends only to what is now Exit 32, the county border, and the Long Island Expressway is nowhere to be found, since it was barely on the drawing board.
The most significant geographic features of the map are a much less eroded Jones Beach and a continuous barrier beach extending to Fire Island. The Shinnecock Inlet and the widening of the Moriches Inlet had not happened yet; both came about the following year, owing to the great hurricane of 1938.
The restoration process
"In spring 2003, one of the custodians reminded me that the mural had not been cleaned since a major expansion and renovation project during the early 1960s," Setteducati said. "Since the auditorium was slated for a facelift during the following school year, it made sense to try to get the mural cleaned and repaired at the same time."
An alumni committee was formed, which set out to find the right person to restore the mural. Setteducati and fellow alum Dixie Simonetti were instrumental in the selection process. "We knew that 'just anybody' could not be trusted with the project," Setteducati said. Five conservators were interviewed, all with varied backgrounds and interests. "Two seemed more intent on 'improving' the piece," he said, which included computer-generated images and repainting, which the committee opposed.
Jonathan Sherman of Sea Cliff was ultimately selected. "Jonathan was the artist who was most in tune with what we wanted to accomplish and whose references and past work aligned with it," Setteducati said.
"It's so great to see that the alumni association has such an interest and such great respect for it," Sherman said just after he had removed the scaffolding, his work completed, earlier this month. The map and other elements of the mural were originally sketched on paper and then glued onto canvas, and the canvas was glued onto the wall, he said.
"Once on the wall, I think it was repainted and simplified," Sherman said. As he worked on the map, he said, he noticed much more detailed sketching and additional, larger lettering in places behind the original painted map. Whether it was simplified due to a time crunch, costs, or because a simplified map was more aesthetically pleasing to the school administrators, architect or painters at the time, he said he could only speculate.
Sherman and two other artists began the restoration when classes ended in June. "Whoever did the cleaning in the 1960s did a good job," he said, pleased that there was no application of protective polyurethane or "painting over," as had been the case in some of his other projects, including theaters in Manhattan, which would have made the process more difficult and time-consuming.
"We cleaned, re-adhered pieces that were coming loose, and touched up the paint," he said, a painstaking process intended to bring the mural back as close as possible to its original state.
Mystery of the map-makers
The mural's original artist or art company remains a mystery. "We were under the misconception that it was a WPA project," Setteducati said. Another alumnus, Kevin Gallagher, researched the Works Progress Administration archives, he said, which did not list the mural.
"We are really trying to find out who was responsible for it still," Setteducati said, adding that he hoped someone would come forward with answers, perhaps a member of the community or someone who had an affiliation with the school's original architects, Wiedersum Associates, which still operates out of Hauppauge.
The map did not have an inscription of an artist's name, Sherman said. "It was probably a team of artists working for a firm hired by the architect at the time," he theorized. He could see variations in the lettering and the brush strokes that made him think it was not done by one person, he said. Since the map was sketched and painted in sections, he envisioned a series of painters working on it, each doing one section at a time, he said
"We wish we knew who painted it," Didden said.
Rededication planned
The unveiling and rededication of the restored mural will take place at the school's 70th anniversary commemoration, "Celebration 2007 -- A September to Remember," on Sept. 9, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., in the auditorium. The event will include a memorial installation of a bronze plaque to honor the late coach Nick Sabetto and the presentation of meritorious service honors to five Mepham alumni.
Anyone wishing to attend -- and anyone with information about the mural's creators -- is asked to contact the alumni association by e-mail at info@mepham.org, or call Setteducati at (631) 537-3913.
Comments about this story? NHiler@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 234.
The $40,000 restoration was funded by alumni donations. "There was an incredible outpouring of support," said Frank Setteducati, a 1970 graduate a and past president of the alumni association. "We're very fortunate to have so many caring people who were able to help us."
"The alumni funded the entire cost," said the high school's principal, John Didden. "We're very, very grateful to the alumni association." Mepham graduates are incredibly loyal to their alma mater, Didden said, adding that each year alumni donate about $20,000 in awards to graduating seniors, and have made several other donations over the years, including photography equipment and a baby grand piano.
"They're always looking to do something special for the school," Didden said. "They look to link Mepham of yesterday with Mepham of today."
Setteducati said he wasn't surprised by former students' interest in helping to fund the mural project. "Anyone who was in a chorus, band or orchestra, or was a drama enthusiast, spent a lot of time in the auditorium," he said. "I imagine everyone who attended the school spent some time looking at the map, thinking about places they'd like to visit or places they'd been and recalling what they did while they were there. I'd imagine parents attending functions there had the same thoughts."
When Mepham was first built, the U-shaped school cost about $800,000, according to Setteducati. In 1937, Franklin Roosevelt began his second term as president, and World War II was just around the corner. Amelia Earhart disappeared over the Pacific, the Hindenburg exploded and "Gone With the Wind" won the Pulitzer Prize.
In many ways, the mural is emblematic of this bygone era. Against a variegated blue, wave-textured background, the map is replete with hand-lettered town and community names (including the charmingly incorrect spelling of "East Meadaw" and the singular "Kew Garden"), art deco-style signage and decorative elements, and other elaborate touches.
Near the center, a large, raised blue star marks the high school's location in Bellmore. To the left of the map is a rendering of the official New York state seal. At right, the year is painted on a Long Island sign featuring a great sailing ship.
The auditorium also boasts two inspirational maxims. One underneath the map quotes Diogenes, "The foundation of every state is the education of its youth." The other, below the wall of windows on the opposite side, is a motto by English statesman Richard M. Milnes, a.k.a. Lord Houghton: "The virtue lies in the struggle not the prize."
The mural is as interesting for what it does not contain as for what it does. There are illustrations of a number of lighthouses, in Nassau County in particular, that no longer exist. The current Flushing Meadows Park is noted as the site of the New York City World's Fair, an event that was to take place in 1939. The Southern State Parkway extends only to what is now Exit 32, the county border, and the Long Island Expressway is nowhere to be found, since it was barely on the drawing board.
The most significant geographic features of the map are a much less eroded Jones Beach and a continuous barrier beach extending to Fire Island. The Shinnecock Inlet and the widening of the Moriches Inlet had not happened yet; both came about the following year, owing to the great hurricane of 1938.
The restoration process
"In spring 2003, one of the custodians reminded me that the mural had not been cleaned since a major expansion and renovation project during the early 1960s," Setteducati said. "Since the auditorium was slated for a facelift during the following school year, it made sense to try to get the mural cleaned and repaired at the same time."
An alumni committee was formed, which set out to find the right person to restore the mural. Setteducati and fellow alum Dixie Simonetti were instrumental in the selection process. "We knew that 'just anybody' could not be trusted with the project," Setteducati said. Five conservators were interviewed, all with varied backgrounds and interests. "Two seemed more intent on 'improving' the piece," he said, which included computer-generated images and repainting, which the committee opposed.
Jonathan Sherman of Sea Cliff was ultimately selected. "Jonathan was the artist who was most in tune with what we wanted to accomplish and whose references and past work aligned with it," Setteducati said.
"It's so great to see that the alumni association has such an interest and such great respect for it," Sherman said just after he had removed the scaffolding, his work completed, earlier this month. The map and other elements of the mural were originally sketched on paper and then glued onto canvas, and the canvas was glued onto the wall, he said.
"Once on the wall, I think it was repainted and simplified," Sherman said. As he worked on the map, he said, he noticed much more detailed sketching and additional, larger lettering in places behind the original painted map. Whether it was simplified due to a time crunch, costs, or because a simplified map was more aesthetically pleasing to the school administrators, architect or painters at the time, he said he could only speculate.
Sherman and two other artists began the restoration when classes ended in June. "Whoever did the cleaning in the 1960s did a good job," he said, pleased that there was no application of protective polyurethane or "painting over," as had been the case in some of his other projects, including theaters in Manhattan, which would have made the process more difficult and time-consuming.
"We cleaned, re-adhered pieces that were coming loose, and touched up the paint," he said, a painstaking process intended to bring the mural back as close as possible to its original state.
Mystery of the map-makers
The mural's original artist or art company remains a mystery. "We were under the misconception that it was a WPA project," Setteducati said. Another alumnus, Kevin Gallagher, researched the Works Progress Administration archives, he said, which did not list the mural.
"We are really trying to find out who was responsible for it still," Setteducati said, adding that he hoped someone would come forward with answers, perhaps a member of the community or someone who had an affiliation with the school's original architects, Wiedersum Associates, which still operates out of Hauppauge.
The map did not have an inscription of an artist's name, Sherman said. "It was probably a team of artists working for a firm hired by the architect at the time," he theorized. He could see variations in the lettering and the brush strokes that made him think it was not done by one person, he said. Since the map was sketched and painted in sections, he envisioned a series of painters working on it, each doing one section at a time, he said
"We wish we knew who painted it," Didden said.
Rededication planned
The unveiling and rededication of the restored mural will take place at the school's 70th anniversary commemoration, "Celebration 2007 -- A September to Remember," on Sept. 9, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., in the auditorium. The event will include a memorial installation of a bronze plaque to honor the late coach Nick Sabetto and the presentation of meritorious service honors to five Mepham alumni.
Anyone wishing to attend -- and anyone with information about the mural's creators -- is asked to contact the alumni association by e-mail at info@mepham.org, or call Setteducati at (631) 537-3913.
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