Students and teachers at Lane Tech High School know the school is rich with art. They get to see it every day.
The general public, not so much.
Hanging along the hallways, in the school library and the vast cafeteria of the North Side school are 67 murals and frescoes painted in the early half of the 20th century.
Over the past 13 years, all the works have been restored to their original splendor. And now, in celebration of Lane Tech's centennial, 11 of the murals are traveling downtown to the Chicago Cultural Center, where they will be on display through December.
"This is a rare chance to take the murals to a larger audience," said Gregory Knight, deputy commissioner for visual arts in the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. "The murals are important both historically and artistically."
Four of the murals on display date from 1909, when the Public School Art Society held a contest at the School of the Art Institute and commissioned four student artists, including two women and an African-American, to create murals five feet high by 18 feet long.
The paintings would depict industrial scenes to "inspire and instruct" the young men attending the technical high school.
The resulting murals were Margaret Hittle's "Steel Mill," William E. Scott's "Dock Scene," Gordon Stevenson's "Construction Site" and Dorothy Loeb's "Primitive Forge."
Four years later, in 1913, seven more murals were painted by artist George Henry Brandt. Six of them -- "Storytelling," "Transportation," "Hunting," "Dance," "Festival Procession" and "Foundry, Religion, Art" -- are signed by Brandt. The seventh -- "Harvest" -- is unsigned but assumed to be by the artist.
Until 2004, only 10 of these murals were accounted for; Loeb's had been missing for decades.
Through a series of serendipitous encounters, former teacher Flora Doody found the missing mural. After it was restored, she began to plan something special for the school's anniversary.
"The idea of having a lengthy art show in the school was not an option," said Doody, who for 13 years has spearheaded the Mural Restoration Project at Lane Tech. "Someone suggested I try the Cultural Center, and things began to take shape."
Knight had not seen the murals until Doody invited him to Lane Tech for a tour. He was amazed.
"The school was loaded with these murals hanging above lockers," Knight recalled. "They are painted quite beautifully and are large scale, grand works that present a kind of narrative."
When hung in order of creation, as they will be at the Cultural Center, the murals show different aspects of the city and the vista of western expansion across the country.
"They were meant to tell the story of how man can handle anything and to inspire the young men attending the school," Doody said. "I think that can still happen today with young men and women if the murals are seen as more than simply wall decoration."
When Doody first began teaching at Lane Tech, she instantly became enamored with the murals. Soon she began to see their sad state of affairs.
"The oldest murals were in serious disrepair," Doody said. "One had even started to rip out of its frame. I was worried that it would get taken down and would get lost or thrown away."
Doody and Lane Tech principal David Schlichting selected art preservationist Barry Bauman, then owner of the Chicago Conservation Center, to restore several murals. After additional fund-raising, the restoration continued through all the remaining murals, many of which simply needed a good cleaning.
Other Lane Tech murals were created during the Great Depression, including many by the Works Progress Administration/Federal Art Project. The collection is thought to be the country's largest located in a single public school.
Doody's dedicated years of work prodded the Chicago Public School system to check for artwork in other schools. To date more than 400 murals throughout the school system have been restored.
"All of these murals are historically significant not only to the school but to the entire city of Chicago," Doody said.
One of Doody's proudest achievements is awakening the Lane Tech student body to the treasures in its midst.
Over the past decade, students have helped raise funds for restoration, and advanced art students have helped with conservation efforts and gone on to careers in art preservation. Doody also established a student docent group that gives guided tours of the artwork to school groups and the public.
Now, with this exhibit, Doody feels her time with the Lane Tech murals is more or less finished.
"I do believe this is kind of my swan song," she said, with a resigned laugh. "Nothing has been more exciting for me than to have this exhibit as the culmination of this great project."
