UNION SPRINGS - The Frontenac Museum is rich with paintings by local artists, depicting scenes and places from Union Springs.
Saturday evening the Frontenac Museum unveiled its latest display, a massive mural by local artist Kari Ganoung Ruiz.
The mural, which takes up an entire back wall of the museum's rear exit, incorporates two 1800s jail cell doors that according to Pat Kimber, president of the Frontenac Historical Society have been in the museum's possession since its inception.
The doors were donated years ago by Bill Haight, who at the time owned what is now the village liquor store, but in the 1800s served as the village firehouse, jail and town hall.
“He had a TV repair shop,” Kimber said. “And he found and donated these jail cell doors to the museum. We aren't exactly sure if the jail was on the first floor or in the basement, but we do know that is the building they came from.”
And while the museum has not been able to place an exact date on the doors, they have been able to narrow them down to a time period.
“The building they come from dates back to the 1820s,” Kimber said. “But we think they are circa 1840s at least. They are flat front bars, so we know they are pre-Civil War because that is the time period when round bars were introduced.”
The idea of using these doors for a display had been floating around for some time, when the museum approached Ruiz.
“We'd been mulling it over about what to do for a while,” Kimber said. “It is an idea that goes back to our previous curator Nancy Downing and we decided it was time to move forward and this seemed like the perfect idea.”
Ruiz, who is originally from Interlaken went on to study and earn a bachelor's degree in art from Ashland University in Ohio.
In 2002 Ruiz moved to Union Springs with her husband, Diego, and currently works at MacKenzie-Childs.
Ruiz has done several other area murals, including the '50s style diner in the cafeteria at Cayuga Elementary School and a New England style beach scene at A.J. Smith Elementary.
Ruiz said that to get started she spent several weeks researching 1800s era jail cells.
“I looked up all the info I could about jails,” Ruiz said. “I looked on line at the museum and talked to some historians from the area to collect information.”
Ruiz may well have been the perfect choice for this job; she said that she liked to create scenes that take the viewer to a different time and place.
Using a technique called “trompe l'oiel” a French term that means to trick the eye, Ruiz created a scene that has the depth and texture of a three dimensional image which helps to set off the doors which have been framed into the walls.
Ruiz also incorporated two local figures Ward O'Hara of the Agricultural Museum in Auburn and Bill Hecht, a local photographer and historian that does a lot of work with the Frontenac Museum.
“We needed to have a couple of people in the cells,” Ruiz said. “The museum decided that they would be good subjects to use. After that it took me about a month working weekends and after work on the whole painting.”
Ruiz said that after all the work she was pleased to officially unveil the piece.
“It feels great,” Ruiz said. “I love to see the reactions of people to it, I'm really happy with the way it came out.”
The mural, which takes up an entire back wall of the museum's rear exit, incorporates two 1800s jail cell doors that according to Pat Kimber, president of the Frontenac Historical Society have been in the museum's possession since its inception.
The doors were donated years ago by Bill Haight, who at the time owned what is now the village liquor store, but in the 1800s served as the village firehouse, jail and town hall.
“He had a TV repair shop,” Kimber said. “And he found and donated these jail cell doors to the museum. We aren't exactly sure if the jail was on the first floor or in the basement, but we do know that is the building they came from.”
And while the museum has not been able to place an exact date on the doors, they have been able to narrow them down to a time period.
“The building they come from dates back to the 1820s,” Kimber said. “But we think they are circa 1840s at least. They are flat front bars, so we know they are pre-Civil War because that is the time period when round bars were introduced.”
The idea of using these doors for a display had been floating around for some time, when the museum approached Ruiz.
“We'd been mulling it over about what to do for a while,” Kimber said. “It is an idea that goes back to our previous curator Nancy Downing and we decided it was time to move forward and this seemed like the perfect idea.”
Ruiz, who is originally from Interlaken went on to study and earn a bachelor's degree in art from Ashland University in Ohio.
In 2002 Ruiz moved to Union Springs with her husband, Diego, and currently works at MacKenzie-Childs.
Ruiz has done several other area murals, including the '50s style diner in the cafeteria at Cayuga Elementary School and a New England style beach scene at A.J. Smith Elementary.
Ruiz said that to get started she spent several weeks researching 1800s era jail cells.
“I looked up all the info I could about jails,” Ruiz said. “I looked on line at the museum and talked to some historians from the area to collect information.”
Ruiz may well have been the perfect choice for this job; she said that she liked to create scenes that take the viewer to a different time and place.
Using a technique called “trompe l'oiel” a French term that means to trick the eye, Ruiz created a scene that has the depth and texture of a three dimensional image which helps to set off the doors which have been framed into the walls.
Ruiz also incorporated two local figures Ward O'Hara of the Agricultural Museum in Auburn and Bill Hecht, a local photographer and historian that does a lot of work with the Frontenac Museum.
“We needed to have a couple of people in the cells,” Ruiz said. “The museum decided that they would be good subjects to use. After that it took me about a month working weekends and after work on the whole painting.”
Ruiz said that after all the work she was pleased to officially unveil the piece.
“It feels great,” Ruiz said. “I love to see the reactions of people to it, I'm really happy with the way it came out.”
