When the City Attorney informed Ms Evans that he would bring her to trial a second time, she hired new attorneys who worked out a plea agreement. In exchange for a light sentence, she implicated Kevin Cobb, who, she stated under oath, had ordered her to have the three houses torched. Kevin Cobb was then arrested and is currently out on bail awaiting trial.
Meantime, Noah Sachs, representing Cindy Broderick, filed a civil suit against Margaret Evans, the Cobb brothers and Cobb Industries for malicious destruction of her property. The case will likely come to court within two years.
But Gallagher isn’t finished with the Cobbs. His team has put together a case against them for the Watomi Lake conflagration. Between the three cases, two criminal and one civil, the Cobbs are in a world of hurt.
The Reconstruction of the Locust Street Murals: Cindy and Jase together located an empty two-story industrial space, formerly a welding shop, in East Calista. With funds provided half by Hannah and the remainder raised on the crowd-funding website Kickstarter, they were able to take a long-term lease on the building. They then contracted for the construction of a gazebo the exact dimensions of the original which they had mounted on a platform which could be visited by viewers via a pull-down ladder similar to the pull-down in the Locust Street house.
Art conservators then connected the two salvaged walls of the original murals to Jason’s photographs of the burned half, blown up to exactly the same size. The original and the photos were fitted seamlessly together and installed on the interior walls of the reconstructed gazebo. (Care was taken to differentiate the original paintings from the photographs by printing the photographs in a slightly different set of tones.)
Those of us who had seen the originals visited the reconstruction every day as it was mounted. Every effort was made to recreate the experience of the original. When work was near completion, Penny Dawson Ruiz came up from Key West to take a look. She wholeheartedly approved the reconstruction. She also wept when she saw it.
Once the reconstruction was done, Cindy held an opening party. Artists, art critics and local art collectors were invited, as were critics and gallerists from New York and LA. Press coverage was extensive and soon people were talking about the murals.
A website has been set up (www.TheMurals.net) where people can make reservations for quarter-hour-long visits. The cost of admission is twelve dollars per person, all of which goes toward the maintenance of the project, including twenty-four-hour security protection lest anyone again attempts to destroy the artwork. The only rule is that no more than four people may go up the ladder and stand in the reconstructed gazebo at one time. Since the opening, reservations have been booked three months in advance.
The Visitors’ Book: There’s a Visitors’ Book available in the exhibition space in which visitors are encouraged to jot down their thoughts after visiting the murals. A sampling of some recent comments:
‘Was deeply moved! Mysterious and overpowering.’
‘Don’t really get it, but they definitely set a mood.’
‘Felt like I was being squeezed by those people. Who were they?’
‘Tremendous experience. I won’t forget those murals.’
‘They’re saying something very deep. Not sure what it is.’
‘I felt like I was in the middle of someone else’s nightmare.’
‘Scary!’
‘Eerie!’
‘It’s like you’re surrounded and there’s no escape. Kind of like life if you look at it a certain way.’
‘The most evil people I’ve ever seen. They’ll haunt me.’
‘What screwballs painted this and why?’
‘Crazy, compelling, irresistible.’
‘Like being in the middle of a war between four tribes. Couldn’t stay too long. Afraid I’d be crushed.’
‘Dark, dark, dark. Want to come back and see them again.’
‘Felt a lot of pain in those paintings. You could call them pain-tings.’
‘Inspiring. Makes me want to paint on walls.’
‘Maybe I’ll understand them better after I read the book.’
‘Felt anguished. Felt the artists’ hurt.’
‘This is what things are like these days – people cornering you, closing in on you. No matter which way you turn, you’re being oppressed.’
‘Nothing happy up there. Need relief. Going over now to the CMA to bathe in the warm glow of Monet.’
‘If this is how the world is, I want to stick my head in an oven.’
‘Impressive accomplishment by immensely talented young artists. You can tell they really felt it … whatever “it” was.’
‘Haunting, so haunting.’
‘These murals make me want to rethink my life.’
The Current Status of Courtney Cobb and Others: Courtney still resides at Privatklinik DeJonghe where she continues to create her ragdolls. Anna von Arx is now the exclusive representative for her artwork throughout the world. Courtney occasionally receives visitors, and has been visited by Penny Ruiz several times. Prior to publication, she read through the text of this book. Although she has chosen not to comment about it, nor to grant it her imprimatur, she has not voiced objections to any of its content or its dissemination.
Johnny Baldwin has left the clinic and now lives in Amsterdam. Since settling there, he has visited Courtney several times. He intends to continue doing so.
Shortly before this text was published, lawyers for Jack and Kevin Cobb threatened to sue me for defamation. So far no such suit has been filed. If it is, Noah Sachs will represent me and the publisher pro bono.
What do the Locust Street Murals Mean to Us? Finally, I asked each of us (including myself) to write a line or two in answer to the question ‘Looking back, what do the Locust Street Murals mean to you?’
Jason: To me the murals are about seeing and being seen. The people in them appear to be gazing at us, undressing us. For me they’re all about the eyes!
Hannah: For me the murals are about the healing and redemptive power of art.
Tally: For me the murals are about the role of chance – looking for one thing, then finding another.
Me: Our quest for the meaning of the murals became the story of the murals. If I learned one thing from this experience, it’s that the backstory is always the story.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank the following for advice and suggestions during the writing and editing of this novel: my very supportive agent, George Lucas; Kate Lyall Grant, Carl Smith, Natasha Bell and the gang at Severn House; Carrie Tillie and Eugenia Martino for their helpful early critiques; Bob Butler for boosting my morale, especially during the difficult period following the California Wine Country fires; and to my family, Paula, Nick and Leila for their support and confidence throughout. I couldn’t have done it without you guys.
French artist Anne-Valérie Dupond’s marvellous textile sculptures inspired the face-stitching technique employed by my fictional Ragdoll Artist.
The Murals Page 27
