Event shows virtual restoration of murals

A group of New Mexico Highlands University students and an artist who specializes in "augmented restoration" showed how a faded advertising mural and other images that long had been covered were brought to life in vivid detail on Friday night.

Craig Winslow and five students from Highlands' School of Art spent about 12 hours in Tucumcari examining the faded Center Gift & Frame Shop mural created years ago by Tucumcari sign artist Rudy Gonzales on the west side of the Arteformz building, near Third and Center streets.

Lauren Addario, a media art and technology faculty member at Highlands, said the Tucumcari was part of the "Learning from the Mother Road: Recording and Preserving the Cultural Landscape of Tucumcari's Route 66 Corridor" project using a grant from the National Park Service.

During their research at the site, Winslow and the students discovered long-covered Dr Pepper and Goodyear Tires images under the peeling existing mural.

The students hunkered down at the nearby Carlson Coffee Co. with computers to bring the current and former images back to life using computerized imaging.

For about 90 minutes on Friday night, they used a projector to show the "restored" Center Gift & Frame sign, along with the Dr Pepper and Goodyear Tires signs and new animated elements that celebrate Tucumcari's Route 66 heritage.

A video of the virtual images can be seen on Tucumcari MainStreet's page on Facebook.

Winslow drew national attention last year for his computerized "augmented restoration" that brought long-defunct neon signs from the Las Vegas Strip seemingly back to life.

Earlier this year, Winslow earned a National Trust for Historic Preservation grant for "Light Capsules," which seeks to virtually restore remnants of faded mural signs – often called ghost signs – along Route 66 in Oklahoma. He said Friday he's identified 240 signs in Oklahoma so far.

Winslow said he also is working with the Route 66 Road Ahead Partnership on possible future projects.