[narrator] Art Loft is brought to you by.

[narrator] Where there is freedom, there is expression.

The Florida Keys & Key West.

[narrator] The Miami-Dade County Tourist Development Council.

The Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs.

And the Cultural Affairs Council.

The Miami-Dade County Mayor and the Board of County Commissioners.

And the Friends of South Florida PBS.

[narrator] Art Loft, it's the pulse of what's happening in our own backyard, as well as a taste of the arts across the United States.

In this episode, evoking a mood.

From massive paintings designed to fool the eye.

To a sense of home and finding your place.

We explore the backdrops to our lives.

Hollywood created an entire industry dedicated to setting a mood and evoking feeling.

But few of these amazing works of art remain.

And even fewer have been seen up close by the public, until now.

Hollywood started as a green industry.

I know you think of it.

When it first was conceived, it was the other side of the continent.

There was no national highways, there was just a little bit of a railroad.

You had to get things there by boat or train.

And so they learned very early on to be very thrifty and to manage their resources really well.

And in the case of the studios, they were all managed like businesses.

So, everything was reused.

Everything possible they could was recycled, even hammered out nails, I mean.

And so, the same thing was true with the larger physical assets.

Whether it was set pieces like doorways, windows, walls, staircases or in the cases of the scenic arts, they would paint these backdrops for films and then inventory them and put them in storage and catalog them.

Beautiful black and white stills they would shoot of them.

And when another movie needed Rome in the background or a nice hallway or a ballroom, they would pull those out first and let the art department figure out whether it would work with the set they were laying out.

And it wasn't until the decline of the studios, I always call the decline, like the burning of Rome, when Kerkorian sold MGM and literally sold all the assets that they could.

And what they didn't sell, they threw into the landfills in Los Angeles or the dumpsters.

So we lost a great deal of legacy and heritage.

As an artist, seeing these cinematic backdrops for the first time, was astounding.

And it was jaw dropping for me.

Having been a scenic artist for 25 years and a practicing studio artist, I was astounded and marveled at the eye and training and ability of the painters who were executing these pieces.

Because I could tell that they were bringing knowledge of painting from direct observation.

And imbuing these backdrops with that naturalism sense of color palette, sense of atmosphere and depth, for film.

And when you look at these paintings under a lens, they're astonishingly real.

I'm gonna air quote, real.

But astonishingly real feeling.

These paintings were designed to be seen relatively closely but be perceived as infinite.

And it was magical.

The opportunity to bring together the art of the Hollywood backdrop, was just too good to pass up.

We were able to bring these backdrops to Boca Raton, to have its premier here in our city and at our museum.

And of course, this Mount Rushmore from, "North by Northwest" was just the climax of this film that lasted, what, two minutes.

And yet, Carrie Grant and Eva Marie Saint, climbing Mount Rushmore.

I mean, who knew?

But it fools the eye.

I think there'll be a whole generation that has never seen "Sound of Music" or "Ben-Hur" or "North by Northwest," "Singing in the Rain."

This one is really kind of the Whitman sampler of genres of scenic painting.

And it was important that we got some signature painting titles as well like, "Ben-Hur" or "Singing in the Rain" or "The Sound of Music" or "North by Northwest."

And they all fit in the museum.

Go figure that.

Including Mount Rushmore.

And you know, you try to get a 90 foot painting into a conventional museum space.

We had to fold it back a little bit but we got the full height and it's the first thing you see when you come into the museum, is in the Grand Hall, is, they're the guys.

These scenic artists had to be both technicians and fine artists.

They had to release their ego to paint in collaboration with one another.

And they had to have the courage to face up to a 100 foot wide piece of fabric, 30 feet tall and begin as one of the artists shared with me, begin waging battle.

When you approach a canvas that large, you have to prepare yourself to engage.

Because, that is not going down lightly.

And to bend something that large to your will, it takes courage and also a deep knowledge of how to execute it from start to finish.

And that was passed on generationally, from one artist to the next, to the next, to the next.

There was nowhere to really learn how to do any of this craft, unless you were working in the industry.

The secret to scenic painting for the cinema, I mean 'cause you're painting for the camera lens, you're not painting for an audience, you're not painting for your eye.

And truly a good backing is one you never notice in the films, which is why they never notice what these guys did because they were painting for the lens.

The most important thing in cinematography is lighting.

Anyone can expose film how it's exposed is important.

So, to create an environment and for the studios, they wanted to control everything.

So the only reason why these backdrops currently exist is because they were working assets.

They were not saved because they were precious to history.

Most of Hollywood's history, in terms of backdrop painting is gone.

It was very ephemeral, destroyed almost as quickly as it was made.

Unless the studio had the forethought and the ability to manage a collection.

Fortunately, J.C. Backings Corporation, who had a lineage and a connection to J.C. Backings and then 20th Century Fox understood the value of these paintings as rental assets and made a business out of it.

And that's why these paintings exist, still.

It was a whole science.

And these weren't scientists, these were intuitive artists for the most part, that brought their techniques, a lot of them studied plein air painting, which is where they would go out, obviously, in the field and study light at different times of day and it's reflection and reaction to surfaces.

Mike Denering, a wonderful scenic artist who had worked at Warner Brothers for 30 years and was incredibly helpful throughout all of this research.

He said, Karen, everything you need to know about painting, is in these paintings.

Everything you need to know about the mastering scenic artistry is here.

[narrator] Combining the beauty of permanent structure with the fluidity of bodies in motion, to highlight unexpected spaces, it's photographer Jeffery Salter's, "42 Bridges," a key dance project.

My name is Jeffery Salter.

I'm a fine art and commercial photographer from Miami, Florida.

I've driven to the Florida Keys many times and each time I was fascinated by the architecture of the bridges.

There's 42 little bridges that are connecting these islands.

And they fascinated me.

And hearing all the stories about what it took to get those bridges built, made me want to do something to kind of honor the bridge.

Now I didn't wanna just photograph a bridge.

I wanted to put the human element in the bridge.

Another love of mine, is contemporary dance.

So I thought, well, why don't I pair the permanent structural beauty of the bridges, with the temporary moment of beauty of dance?

I didn't want to have to tell the dancer how to dance.

I just want them to organically express how they felt about the environment.

They seemed to want to just bear their souls to the project.

And, I don't know why, I just, some of the dancers are Cubans and they talked to me about how they've always felt a bond with that body of water going to the Keys because it's so close to Cuba.

But I'm seeking all types of dancers.

From modern dancers to ballerinas, to tango dancers, just whomever feels that they can add something to the project.

And whoever has something to say.

It's about someone who could really bond with the bridge and understand the vision of the project.

There's a little bridge and it has these bumps.

I don't know what they are, they look like giant sandbags.

And the sun was setting and I photographed one of my favorite dancers, his name is Adam, Adam LeGuerre.

But I like Adam 'cause he's very physical.

And I had him soar through the sky and the sun was setting in front of him but there was a moon in the background.

And I just, that was just beautiful.

And to me, a long-term project is a challenge because you don't want the pictures to be redundant.

You want each bridge to have a feeling evolve.

And every time I go down there, I find something unique.

I find a way to move the story forward.

To move the essay forward, to say even more.

It's a three part process.

Learn the bridge, learn the dancer and learn myself.

And then put them all together into a beautiful picture.

[narrator] From our partners at Commissioner, a sense of home, a sense of history and finding comfort and family.

Those are just some of the inspirations for The Front Room exhibition at the New World School of the Arts.

My name is Zee Lopez and I am the curator for The Front Room exhibition that we'll be hosting at the New World School of Arts Gallery.

So the inception of the exhibition was really the Dean of Visual Arts, Gustavo Plascencia, who reached out to Friday, Shia and Loni and wanted them to have an exhibition for alumni.

They have yet to have a show that centered all women artists.

And at that, all black women artists.

We found this to be a critical juncture because all of them have a connection to the school and they have an influence and a deep, deep impact on the students that walk those halls now.

So for me, the show is really about this idea of what home looks like and creating space for healing, safety.

For black women, I think the three of us as artists really confront and address that through our work.

Each of us has our own way of interpreting the front room.

Because I'm from the Midwest, the things that were in my front room are a little different than people who were raised in the south.

So we like that we can kind of compare these different ideas about comfort and safety and what it's like to be home.

When I think of home, I think about my mother and the home that she made for us.

And then I think about myself being a mother of two children and the home that I make for them and how we fill it with like, things that we say.

I think that's where my mind went.

So in my work sometimes I try to bring things into reality that didn't get to exist for black people.

So what kind of objects can I make that directly reflect black life?

This has been the best project I have ever had in my life, honestly.

One because I'm working with pillars in my community and women from South Miami-Dade.

I'm from South Miami-Dade and we do not get enough shine.

Us being in that space is important.

I don't see it as like a homecoming.

I see it as this possibility, this exhibition being a gateway for young people and the folks at that institution to see that we are here.

[narrator] The art world is changing.

Museums are rethinking their role in the cities they serve.

Galleries are adopting new models of selling work.

And aspiring collectors want direct connections with the artist.

Amid these changes, Commissioner's redefining arts patronage.

with the collaborative platform for collecting art, we're building a community centered on learning and exposure.

Our membership program allows new collectors to acquire limited edition works for local artists.

Visit artist studios, collector's homes and creative places around our cities.

Building a stronger arts community means developing a deeper connection with the broader communities where we live.

Since launching in 2018, we've placed hundreds of new artworks with mostly first-timer beginner collectors.

Commissioner is what we wanna see in the world.

More learning and understanding.

More believing in artists.

And more collaboration and community.

[narrator] Kind of familiar, yet a little strange.

Multimedia artist, Jen Clay brings us her first "Art in Public Places" piece.

Taking root in a common space.

I really enjoy daydreaming about these tree creatures that are sentient and have some type of control of the environment.

I love thinking about it.

My name is Jen Clay and my project for "Art in Public Places" is titled, "We Grew When You Weren't Looking."

So my project is made up of quilted textiles that are hand dyed and then they're overlapped inside of a wooden case frame, in the shape of two like, seeds or womb shapes.

And then they have a plexi on the outside that's etched.

And the etching is of like a growth and of hands, to add like a layer to the textile.

These pieces are to me like an indicator of a beginning of a growth.

I wanted them to be playful, so they talk to you through messages.

I want there to be, like a feeling of dialogue between the work and the viewer.

I think there is like a whimsicalness that's really approachable but also, this kind of like, slight eeriness.

But, I'm hoping that visitors will have kind of imagined conversations.

I was able to make this project because of the Miami-Dade "Art in Public Places."

It is important to me because it's my first public project that will be on view, forever.

This project has expanded my practice through allowing me to work with other people and not just do everything myself and work with people who do things really well.

People I care about too.

The project is located in a multipurpose room, by the entrance of this apartment building.

And, it's made to surround this couch, so that it's like a place to lounge and relax and to, maybe lounge and relax with other people.

And I'm hoping that people can keep revisiting the space and find new things sewn into the work and read the messages and kind of think of the environment I'm trying to create.

[narrator] Music chose Siobhan Monique.

We catch up with the singer as she returns to and flourishes in her hometown.

I am Siobhan Monique.

I am a conduit for my ancestors and the daughter of St. Petersburg, Florida.

I am here to fulfill my purpose, walk in my destiny but more importantly, I am here to let my light shine.

My very first performance, I was three years old, I was selected to perform in front of the church.

She got on stage, in front of an entire packed church, for a Christmas play.

She grabbed the microphone and just ad-libbed her entire part and just brought the church down.

So we were like, oh, okay, well, this is what she wants to do.

Temptation That moment was when I connected to my purpose.

I didn't choose music, it chose me.

[melissa] Her personality was an old soul from day one.

Her facial expressions had this kind of old soul type of feel to it.

She had a very unique, beautiful darkness to her.

And I think that's part of this artistry that we see now.

Southern trees A strange fruit I was in awe of the first time that I heard her.

She was such a demure person, a small person.

But this huge voice would come from her.

And it was so moving.

In Southern I can definitely see her sound and her music being something in the 40s and the 50s and connecting with that.

And when you hear her voice, it's like, this voice has been here before.

This isn't a new voice.

This isn't a pop voice.

This is a voice that has a story that needs to be told.

So she's continuing to tell the story.

So it really resonates with all generations.

My Uncle Buster was a very essential part of the jazz era.

He played with the Duke Ellington jazz band.

And now that I look back on it as an adult, I can see the seeds that he planted for me and for my life.

Buster Cooper is my uncle.

He is my father's brother.

That connection and Siobhan's gift of having that type of ancestral voice and connection to the great jazz legends, allowed the two of them to really connect when it came to music.

He would always say, my family calls me Boo.

So Boo, never give up.

I got a degree in classical voice.

I went to New York and I was the leading role in an off-Broadway show.

And then he got sick and I was missing my family at the time.

And my mom was like, listen, your uncle, he doesn't have much time left.

So I'm like, okay, I'm gonna pack up my stuff.

I'm gonna come home.

I already miss my family.

I need to see my uncle.

On his deathbed, he pulls me to him and he said, "Listen, I want you to carry on the family legacy.

It's your time.

I give you my blessing and I want you to carry this through."

And I'm like, oh, okay, that's you know, nothing major.

And so, with him saying that, I embraced and I accepted the calling and what he was passing down to me.

And that is what you see before you.

To break the spell Holding on the wall Community is important to me because there is strength in numbers.

And, my community has shaped and molded me into a queen.

You have to give back to what has been given and poured into you.

One thing I can say about St. Pete, especially the south side of St. Pete, we are still a generational city.

We know people, we know their father, their grandfather, their great-grandfather.

So there's still that generational connection, that I think makes it very unique.

It takes a village.

It takes a village that believes in you.

And in this case, establishing that base.

You know you can go home.

[melissa] She's actually taken on that field to go to New York, to L.A. She always wants to come back to that feeling of family.

You don't need no love If it wasn't for my village, my community, my family, my ancestors who constantly reminded me, no you are beautiful.

You are smart.

Your voice ain't too loud.

It's not loud enough, girl sing.

Be you.

The moment that I decided to do that, all of the beauty, all of the beauty.

So what I will say to you, little black girl that's watching this right now, you're beautiful.

You're more than just a strong black woman.

You're magical.

Be yourself, love yourself.

Know that self.

That's where all of this comes from.

I'm me.

[narrator] Art Loft is on Instagram, @artloftsfl.

Tag us in your art adventures.

Find full episode segments and more, at artloftsfl.org.

And on YouTube, @SouthFloridaPBS.

[narrator] Art Loft is brought to you by.

[narrator] Where there is freedom, there is expression, the Florida Keys & Key West.

[narrator] The Miami-Dade County Tourist Development Council.

The Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs.

And the Cultural Affairs Council.

The Miami-Dade County Mayor.

And the Board of County Commissioners.

And the Friends of South Florida PBS.