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These original colors were then
matched to paint colors available in the current market, Johnson
said. “We put them on a sample board and studied them to make
our decisions. We wanted to retain as many of the original
colors as possible, but we also had to take into consideration
the color scheme of the newly renovated interior space.” Once
colors that could be transferred to ink colors were selected, Simmon’s tracings were forwarded to Larry Kleiboeker, vice
president and general manager of Kansas City Poster and Display
Company, a local screen printing company that had agreed to
produce the ceiling’s wallcovering panels through silk
screening.
In addition to the tracings, a Kansas
City Poster Company artist, Sandy Fuhrmann, also used videotapes
and photographs to recreate and complete the design before
transferring it onto translucent film. From that, Fuhrmann
overlaid rubylith, a photographic film, to produce a positive
image onto a silk screen. Once she had the positive image, she
painstakingly hand cut the stencils for each color.
In all, Kleiboeker said, nine different
colors and 54 printing plates were used to print the designs
onto five foot by 13 foot sections of vinyl material similar to
wallpaper. Colors were then impregnated into the vinyl to give
it a more permanent color. “The project took approximately
three months to complete and required approval by the owner, the
lessee, the architect, and the Historical Society at each step
of the process,” Kleiboeker said.
“Precision sheet and color rotation
planning were also essential because of the design and the way
it flowed from sheet to sheet. No one wanted noticeable seam
lines and, of course, the colors and images had to match and
align perfectly.
“We had little margin
for error,” Kleiboeker added, “because of the availability
of the material we were using due to the necessity of printing
from a single dye lot.”
Goens concurs that seam
lines would have detracted from the finished product, and it was
his crew of paperhangers who were responsible for minimizing
them during the final phase of the project. |
