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Preserving the Jack Micheline Wall |
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Please help us preserve the Jack Micheline WallThe call came the day after Christmas. It was Jack, a local North Beach poet, a friend who is a great supporter of what we do here at the Beat Museum. “Jerry, have you heard the Abandoned Planet Bookstore in the Mission is closing down at the end of this week? They have a room in the back where all four walls were painted floor to ceiling with poetry and pictures by Jack Micheline” “Yeah, I’ve seen it,” I said. “What’s going to happen to that?” “Well, we’re trying to arrange for someone to remove it and preserve it. It’s an historic piece, it needs to be preserved. It belongs in The Beat Museum.” “Well, that makes sense to me. How would we make it happen?” It’s still coming together. The landlord may want to start renovations right away. We may have to move fast, before the end of the year.” “Jack, I’m outta town. I’m not coming back until January 6th.” “Let’s see if we can make some calls. Delay it for a week or two. Call who you know and I’ll do the same.” I called my friend Matt, a great friend of Micheline’s who would know the scoop. He put me in touch with the building manager. We made a deal to meet on Thursday the 7th to scope out exactly what could be removed and when. I lined up another friend Doug who is a master craftsman at taking buildings apart and putting them back together. So, it took us two days to carefully remove all the wallboards and transport them back to The Beat Museum. It was a big project - one piece is 15 feet wide and 8 feet high. Two others are each five feet wide by 8 high. We even got the door that was an integral part of one of the paintings. We were able to remove everything with little wear and tear other than nail holes and minor flaking. THIS IS WHERE YOU COME IN In order to preserve and rebuild the walls to place them on permanent exhibition at The Beat Museum we estimate we need to raise $5,000 to do it right. The boards need to be cleaned, evaluated and restored before we can even start the task of rebuilding the wall. And certain small areas need to be recreated as they were painted on concrete sections of the old building that could not be removed. Jack Micheline’s poetry and paintings were an important part of the Beat Generation and Jack himself was a beloved figure here in North Beach and all of San Francisco. He was often called the Poet’s Poet, often down on his luck but leaving a legacy of words and images that continue to inspire. In the movie The Source, Jack tells the story in his own words: “I’d walk into a bar and climb on top of the pool table and start reciting poetry. I knew I was either going to get beat up or make fifty dollars. Usually I’d make fifty dollars.” Please donate today to our non-profit, The Foundation for Creative Expression, so The Beat Museum can preserve Jack Micheline’s legacy. |
