Highland students have fair claim to Texas diorama
April 14th, 2008, 3:22 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Le Templar
I didn’t get anything posted on my blog last week as I spent most of my free time researching the furor over the Battle of the Palmetto Ranch diorama. This 10-foot-long display portraying the final battle of the Civil War was built by students at Gilbert’s Highland High School for use at the Texas Military Forces Museum. The diorama was “dismantled” a few weeks later after it arrived in August by new museum director Jeff Hunt.
A column I wrote for Sunday’s Perspective section explores why Hunt’s explanation for taking apart the diorama doesn’t make much sense. My underlying conclusion is that Hunt made a horrible decision to essentially destroy thousands of hours of delicate work by the Highland students. The best way for him and the museum to rectify that mistake is to send the pieces of the diorama back to Gilbert so the students can try to restore it.
One issue not discussed in my Sunday column is how Hunt acted recklessly without any clear authority to even touch the diorama, much less to “dismantle” it.
Hunt insists the diorama belongs solely to the museum, a claim backed up by the Texas National Guard which owns the museum building and employs its staff. But neither Hunt nor his predecessors ever signed any written agreements with Highland or history teacher Glen Frakes, who oversaw the team of students who worked on the diorama after school hours.
Frakes spent about $23,000 for supplies, primarily for thousands of pieces of wood and metal used in the soldier figurines that were hand assembled and painted. That money was provided by the museum’s foundation, a separate nonprofit group that raises funds to support the museum’s mission. Frakes estimates the labor donated by the students should be valued at somewhere between $60,000 and $130,000.
Frakes has a fair argument that the diorama is co-owned by him, the students and the foundation and was only on loan to the museum itself. Certainly, Hunt should have received approval from the museum foundation and Frakes before he moved to dramatically change its appearance.
But Hunt acted on his own, apparently without anyone else present, to remove all 750 figurines and then leave behind an empty shell of a diorama under a tarp.
Hunt has said he wants to use the figurines in a smaller and more accurate diorama. First, he might have to prove he has the right to keep possession of them.
