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Thanks to Illinois State University’s Mike Henning, Barry Blinderman, Bill Waters, Susan Thetard, Bob Dean and many carpenters and movers, a gift of replica plaster reliefs of the Elgin Marbles has been improved and re-assembled in the renovated Stroud Auditorium at University High School.

English and theatre faculty member Susan Thetard said the plaster reliefs, which are copies of marbles from the Greek Parthenon that were saved by Lord Elgin of England and located in the British Museum, were a gift from two University High School classes in the early 1900s. The reliefs were part of University High School when it was located in either the Metcalf Training School building or Moulton Hall. University High School has been a model school since 1860, with the first graduating class in 1865. The high school originally occupied space in Majors Hall in Bloomington and Old Main in Normal. When the current University High School was built in the 1960s, the reliefs were moved to Stroud Auditorium. Former English faculty member Ruth Stroud was responsible for having the reliefs saved, stored and hung in the University High School auditorium, which was subsequently named for her.

Project Manager Bill Waters said when the University began the renovation of Stroud Auditorium in 2009, the 10 reliefs were too damaged to take down and put back up again as they were.  After consultation with movers Tony Thompson, Mike Crutcher, John Williamson, Eric Short and Rich Robbins and University Galleries Director Barry Blinderman, the reliefs were carefully taken from Stroud Auditorium walls and placed in an enclosure the carpenters built.  Waters said they were cracked and peeling and were hung on an outdated system that could not be reused. Thetard said Stroud Auditorium had water and humidity issues, which contributed to the deterioration of the reliefs.  

Artist and University High art teacher Mike Henning then took on the task of restoring them. Henning said after an extensive cleaning, the cracks in the delicate plaster were filled with an epoxy adhesive.  Most of the cracks ran through the two-to three-inch plaster.  Next he used a fiberglass mesh and resin to fill in and model missing and damaged areas.  A thick polymer sealant was used to coat the reverse side for reinforcement. The sculptures were then primed and finish coated.

Blinderman and gallery curator Tony Preston-Schreck helped with a design for re-installing the reliefs in the newly renovated Stroud Auditorium. Waters said the design uses L-brackets, which create the effect of the reliefs floating on the east and west walls of Stroud Auditorium. They are numbered and were hung in sequence by University carpenters Dan Grant, Greg Reeves, Barry Wirtz, John Spencer, Mark Weissinger, Rafael Macias and Scott Russell.

All individuals involved in the process worked collaboratively to assure that the reliefs, which have been a part of University High School’s history for close to a century, were a prominent piece of the renovation of Stroud Auditorium.