A couple of weeks ago, I received an invitation from the historic old Spanish mission in San Luis Obispo to help them figure out best conservation treatments and practices  for preserving, restoring the art collection and exhibiting several important items in the collection. 

I loved the Jacaranda trees in bloom around the mission. It reminded me of our last trip to Spain.

The establishing of the chain of old Spanish missions along the California coast at the end of the 1700s was of supreme importance in the history of the formation of early California for the immigration and expansion to the western side of the continent. This was the earliest “modern day” effort to organize a political system. The San Luis Obispo mission was founded in 1772 and was the fourth of 20 missions Spaced one day of travel apart from each other in the system of colonizing “upper California.“ It was completely unusable in 1877 and restored in 1933.

The violent takeover, conquering and resettling of “their” acquired lands (the Spain’s “New World”), overshadowed all feelings, military, and religious agenda, and opinions about land rights, human rights and political power. Manipulated by the military, allegiance to the Spanish monarchy and being part of the imperialistic Catholic politics, the establishing of the old Spanish missions was not, as a result, a peaceful process. The indigenous population was considered a conquered people throughout the Western hemisphere. The Spanish plan of expansion was not unique to them, but was a practiced repeated transfer of wealth between civilizations for all of recorded time. 

A thought comes to mind; what if the Pope had decided to fund Christopher Columbus’ voyages instead of the Spanish monarchy? We would not have mariachi music, tacos, nor the entire Spanish-speaking hemisphere. Instead, would everyone be speaking Italian and eating pasta? 

The old Spanish missions contain the oldest narratives and storytelling artifacts of settlers and of our state’s history. I’m honored to get the call to assist in the very meaningful preservation, restoration and collection maintenance associated with the San Luis Obispo Mission. I am as proud to be identified with this effort as I have been at any time in my career. We are also currently working with the Santa Barbara Mission Archive and Library (which is the archive for all of the California Franciscan missions), Mission Santa Barbara, and Mission San Juan Capistrano. We have also done major work for the Carmel Mission, among which we felt honored to be entrusted with preservation and restoration of the actual painting that Father Serra commissioned for his tomb plus a dozen other paintings in the main church chapel. We’ve been working with one of the major Royal Spanish land grant ranches, the Palomare’s Adobe (also known as  the Ygnacio Palomares Adobe, and as Adobe de Palomares) historical site in Pomona, Southern California. On sporadic projects, we have also worked with the Mission Santa Ynez, and the Mission Santa Buena Ventura.  

More prevalent than the influence of the Catholic Church faith that could be promoted through the missions of California, from the dust of neglect and ruin at the end of the 1800s, from a huge restoration movement of the missions and due to an “aligning of circumstances,” the missions of California inspired a romantic Old Spanish Days vibe that has influenced deeply culture and art throughout the western United States and beyond.

Mission San Luis Obispo painted by Henry Chapman Ford in about 1880 – during cleaning of grime and discolored varnish in our lab years ago for the Mission Inn in Riverside CA. In fact, the PBS did a special feature program on this project.

Since the beginning of my career in Italy in 1975, the Catholic Church has provided many many opportunities to help save important, cultural heritage, historical items, and devotional objects …. here we go again!!! More on this later!