Coos Bay, OR — After being closed in early 2011 as a result of an engineering study commissioned back in 2010 by the City of Coos Bay, and their determination that the building was not safe for occupancy, The Egyptian Theatre has been making leaps and bounds toward reopening it’s doors. Over the course of a year and a half, the ETPA (Egyptian Theatre Preservation Association) managed to raise over $1,000,000 which was $250,000 more than what they needed to accomplish the necessary structural repairs. Over $316,000 was raised from the local community and over $690,000 was obtained through the support of various foundations and organizations.
Former Coos Bay resident, Jesse Guiher of Tiger Tail Studios, heard about the theatre’s renovations and wanted to help out in whatever way he could. Having grown up in Coos Bay and having visited the theater as a child, he had fond memories of it and felt inspired to help in the preservation of the theatre for future generations.
Guiher had this to say about The Egyptian,
“I really wanted to be a part of helping save such a beautiful historic place. This theatre is one of only about four in the entire United States left that was decorated in an Art Deco Egyptian revival motif, and one of the most still intact inside making it an absolute lost treasure that HAD to be saved. Few theaters from this time period (1925) have survived at ALL let alone mostly intact. At one point I almost became an archaeologist due to my love of ancient civilizations, which I think probably started with beholding the splendor of The Egyptian as a kid.”
So, he shot off an email explaining that although he can’t make a monetary donation he would be willing to create some kind of art piece for them to sell to raise money. They thought it was a great idea and after a few emails back and forth they got the ball rolling.
Guiher talked to us about the process he went through with his painting:
“The painting for the Egyptian was the single hardest piece of art I have ever tried to create. I wanted to depict what the interior of the main auditorium looked like on opening night in 1925. Every art piece I do starts with extensive research before I start on anything concrete.
The problem with the Egyptian was; there are almost no photographs or detailed descriptions of how the interior looked so it is really difficult to know what changed. I had to incessantly bother some of the older volunteers on the Egyptian board about what they could remember of how it looked when they were young.
I did find out a few key details; the huge stage pillars that are made to look like Egyptian lotus flower pillars, were moved from their original position around the 1950’s. Originally the pillars were farther in on the stage, framing the original square movie screen size from the 1920’s through the 40’s. They had to move the pillars later to accommodate the enlarging size of the screen, and as such built a new place off the side of the stage for them to stand on.
I started the painting with the pillars in today’s position and was nearly done when one of the volunteers let me know that little tidbit. I wanted it to be as accurate as I could make it, so painted over them and started over with all those intricate hieroglyphics. It threw off other carefully planned aspects of the painting with the new pillar position too; I had to reconfigure the archway and lower the view of the stage to fit in the pillars correctly.
I had no idea at the time what movie was there on opening night so chose Charlie Chaplin’s 1925 classic “Gold Rush” as the movie for the audience to be watching. The audience in the painting was both sheer frustration and utter fun to paint. I put in little Norman Rockwell-esque vignettes of various human stories playing out; such as an exasperated father trying to absorb himself in the comedy on the screen as one of his twin daughters tries to tattle on the other for talking to a boy behind her. The other occupation I once longed to do was be an Imagineer for Disney’s park attractions, so it is always important to me to tell a complete story in all the details, which is why I research with so much care.”
Although it was Guiher’s intention to donate the painting to the theatre for them to sell, that didn’t quite work out when the theatre folks loved it so much that they decided to have it framed to be put on permanent display at the theatre. However, they will also be selling a limited number of signed giclée prints of the painting at the grand re-opening event to raise money for the second stage of the renovation.
The Grand Re-Opening will be taking place this Friday, June 20th, with a “Sneak Peek” 2014 ETPA members-only tour and organ concert on Wednesday, June 18, starting at 6:30 p.m. To learn more about The Egyptian Theatre’s past and future renovation plans as well as upcoming events, please visit: http://egyptiantheatreoregon.com/
About Jesse Guiher
Jesse was born in Honolulu and later moved to Oregon, though he never lost touch with his Hawaiian heritage as is evident by much of his art. He is an Illustrator, Artist, and Graphic Designer, graduated from The Art Institute in Portland with a B.A. in Art, and has done work for such companies as Nike, Google, and Museum Masterworks. You can find Jesse on Facebook under Tiki Tiger Studios where you can view more of his art as well as his in-progress shots of the Egyptian Theatre painting.
About The Egyptian Theatre
The Egyptian Theatre, built in 1925, is located downtown at 229 South Broadway on the main street of the City of Coos Bay. The Historic Preservation League of Oregon (Restore Oregon) listed Coos Bay’s Egyptian Theatre on Oregon’s Most Endangered Places list in May of 2011.
Northwest Artisanal Hub 
I would love to purchase a print of the theatre painted by Jesse Guiher. Is this even possible? Thank you, Niki