GHS Art Collection

A Fundraising Campaign for Wachtel Painting Conservation

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

We appreciate the donations for the Wachtel conservation from the following alumni and friends:

Yvonne Boseker, Frank Davies, Ronald Evans, Paul and Joanna Giuliano, Sheldon Keith, Margaret Locarnini, Susan Negrete, Robert and Gloria Paulus, Perry Saupe, Glen Keith, Emily Woo, Stephen and Debra Dinsmore—In memory of Michael Chaffin Dinsmore, Terreah Dietel, Elena Boulter, Meiko Inaba, Thomas Kibler, Russell Morimoto, Paula and Andrew Pentaleri, Roth Fine Art Appraisals, Nick Williams, John Young, Carol Langston, Jo Anne Yamato, Jacqueline Ledbetter, Dennis Perkins, Joyce Ishimoto, Loren Sanladerer, Judy Larson—In memory of Gary Block, Nancy Roebuck, Barbara Bauer, Tony Bressickello, Melissa Cronin, Bruce Harvey, Calvin and Marsha Hobel, Richard Barnes, Stephen Andress, Stephen and Debra Dinsmore in memory of Michael Chaffin Dinsmore, Carol Langston, Amy Grat, Steven Kimberly, Dave Gregerson, the Cobble Family—In memory of Joan Cobble, Joyce Yamagishi, Carol Cromer Szuba, Edwin Wong, Karen Langston—In memory of Arlene Strunk, Rosemary Gambrell Krumme, Myron K. Schlaegel, Richard and Marian Enright, Juanita Veil, Patrick Greene, David Miyoshi, Nick Polizzi, Teresa Rosales, Edmund Russ, Mary Jane Dench Rudie in memory of Darlene Dench Becktel and Robert Becktel, Rosemary Gambrell Krumme, Sheila & Gary Younkin, and The Palos Verdes Art Center: The Circle.

Contributions made in memory of Eiko Moriyama:

Bruce Dalrymple, Michael and Margie Draper, Craig Ihara, Carol Kofahl, Los Angeles County Art Education Council, Florence McAlary, Pamela Nokes Rockwell, Janet Halstead Sinclair, Jane Tokubo, Bea Walker, Kathy Zimmerer-McKelvie, Jean Sloss Sargeant, Steve Lock, and Nancy Lindahl.

The Santa Barbara Coast, 1924

Elmer Wachtel (1864-1929)
84 x 48 inches, oil on canvas
Winter Class of 1926

Updated Spring 2023

Dear Supporters of the Gardena High School Art Collection,

This is the current status of the art collection in Spring 2023.  Most of the paintings in the collection have been cleaned and conserved. They are insured and are currently in professional art storage.  Over the past four years the collection has been exhibited at the Hilbert Museum at Chapman University, the Fresno Art Museum, the Oceanside Museum of Art, the Thousand Oaks Museum of California Art, and the Palos Verdes Art Center.  In June this year, for the first time, we are excited to announce that fifty of the paintings will be traveling out of state to the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum in North Carolina.  This will be the first appearance of the collection on the east coast.

The extensive restoration of “The Santa Barbara Coast” by Elmer Wachtel (a gift from the winter class of 1926) will soon be finished.  Many thanks to all those of donated towards this costly restoration.  

Our long-range plan is to find a permanent home at an established museum so that the paintings will be displayed for the public to appreciate, and for students in the Gardena community to have access to them during field trips. The museum would take on the responsibility and expense of properly caring for the collection,  including costly insurance and storage. The GHS Art Collection Board is currently responsible for the ongoing expenses of the collection and does not have the resources to support these costs indefinitely. We are hopeful that a permanent home can be secured within the next few years.

A beautiful book, Gifted: Collecting the Art of California at Gardena High School, 1919-1956, was published to accompany the collection.  It includes photos of all the paintings and a history of the collection written by art historian Susan M. Anderson.  This book is available for purchase on our website (www.ghsac.org).

Please consider donating to the GHS Art Collection so that we may continue caring for the collection and making it available for the public. To donate, please send a check to GHS Art Collection, P.O. Box 111, Gardena, CA 90248. You may also donate on this website.  Your support is greatly appreciated.  

Donations are tax deductible.

Tax ID#:  37-1591566