Within Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital

Описание: Photographer Phil Buehler recounts how he began documenting Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital, where he discovered thousands of intake and discharge photos and learned that Woody Guthrie had been a patient there.

Through access to the Woody Guthrie Archive, Buehler retraced Guthrie’s time at the hospital, photographing locations from old family photos and creating a cyclorama, a walk-in panoramic image installation, of Guthrie’s ward. Buehler found a wall painting in the hospital, a reproduction of Thomas Hart Benton's "Music Lesson," that Guthrie had written about in letters. Just before the building was demolished, he enlisted conservators Jean Dommermuth and Debbie Selden to help save the painting. The conservation process involved using techniques from fresco restoration, carefully removing the painting from the wall and later preserving and restoring it over a long period. Dommermuth explains the technical challenges of preserving the fragile mural, including removing layers, reinforcing it and restoring lost paint. The painting ultimately became a tangible reminder of Guthrie’s time in psychiatric care.

The project sheds light on historical mental health treatment and preserves a significant, often hidden chapter of Guthrie’s life. Plan your visit today to see Buehler’s cyclorama of Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital and the painting that took Dommermuth close to four years to restore.