Here is a chronology of artifacts that have been excavated from 1134 West Washington Boulevard, in ascending order. Clicking on the link will open up a new window with the artifact displayed, usually in pdf format so you can download them if desired. (At 150 dpi default resolution to take less site space and download time, but still decently printable, saved at the original size, so be prepared to maneuver your browser window through some of the newspaper pages.)
Inconsistencies in capitalization and dating are on account of rendering the headlines and datelines verbatim from the sources. In some cases the clippings survive, but without any attribution to publication or date. Original sources may still be unearthed. This current crop of clippings is from the collections of Ed Wesly, Victor Heredia, and Hans Bjelkhagen.
A redaction of these facts will be found here, a paper I submitted and presented at the 2015 International Symposium on Display Holography, (but unfortunately not published), and this is its accompanying PowerPoint.
1909:
The Free Methodist of November 9th, 1909 publishes a DEDICATION NUMBER about their New Free Methodist Publishing House, located at 1134 West Washington Boulevard.
1919:
Florence (Loren) Kasprzak Billings was born on July 21st, 1919.
1931:
Robert W. Billings comes into the world "Like Water" on November 22, 1931.
1974:
Bob and Loren become man and wife.
1974:
The Billings buy the Free Methodist Publishing building from its second owner, the Rudolph Casket Factory.
1976:
The first listing belongs to the GALLERY 1134 INAUGURAL EXHIBITION, which opened on January 23rd, 1976. Faculty (Steve Waldeck, Joe Cavelier Iola Rigacci, and Tony Phillips) and students (Loren Billings, and Al Ornelas, other names not known) from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago were well represented.
In addition to the above, a flyer dated 1/23/76 advertises a "history of video dream child casket factory synthesis with ????: a transformation". For some reason that one word is unreadable. This is is prime example of literal cut and paste wacky collage, designed by j.c. corbett? I queried Kevin Riordan, distinguished publisher of Stare Magazine, and his reply is here.
Mike Truppa, crony of Bob Billings, sent out a Press Release about an ARTISTIC PERFORMANCE ON CLICHES AT GALLERY 1134. The "happening", Deja Vu, would take place on February 2nd at 7:30, while the above exhibition would still be running. Admission was free.
Mike Royko, another crony of Bob Billings, wrote a scathing review of the above show, "Nutty as in fruitcake" in the Chicago Tribune, February 3, 1976. Royko and the Billings eventually kissed and made up, as a hologram of Chicago's grumpiest columnist was eventually recorded.
The next exhibit ran from March 19 to April 18, with the opening reception on Friday, March 19th. (Year may be questionable, would be 1976 if 3/19 were a Friday.) Faculty (Jim Zanzi, Fred Nagelbach) and students from SAIC were the majority of the artists, not unusual as Loren still had ties to that place. There was no other descriptor for the show except for SCULPTURES & PAINTING.
An undated article from an unnamed newspaper by a reporter whose last name is Miller is titled "The festive art gallery in a casket factor" (It mentions the show above so it must fit in the TimeLine here.) The Chevy van in the picture was dubbed "The Squaw" and belonged to Al Ornelas, one of the founders of Gallery 1134.
The first rumbling of Cosmo Campoli's Spumoni Village in the press is by Robert J. Herguth in the Daily News of May 3rd, 1976, informing us that Cosmo "even designed cookies to be eaten at the opening".
An undated press release for the next big show, Cosmo Campoli's Spumoni Village.
Cosmo Campoli's "SPUMONI VILLAGE: Your Portrait in Vegetable" created quite a sensation, with critics praising it (Bess Winakor, Chicago Sun-Times, Thursday, May 6, 1976; John Forwalter, publication unknown, June 2, 1976; George Cohen, Chicago Tribune Magazine, June 27, 1976; Harold Haydon, (publication and date unknown), and panning it (Alan Artner, publication and date unknown; Franz Schulze, publication and date unknown). This is a listing of what other galleries were showing at this time.
ELECTRONICS and KINETICS was the theme of a show that opened on Friday, July 9th. No closing date on the flyer nor the postcard. Again, Faculty (Steve Waldeck, John Boesche) and students (Kevin Huotari, Tom Cvetkovich, Nancy Forrest Brown) from the SAIC comprised the majority of the show.
The Progressive magazine of September 1976 publishes an article on Spumoni Village.
An October 1st, 1976 press release boasts that the brightest and best will be on display in the Critics' Choice show opening the following week.
Another press release that may have come in the same package as the one above.
It is hard to imagine where this hand lettered flyer was to be posted, maybe the halls of the School of the Art Institute. Critics Choice (flyer is missing an apostrophe) was "An exhibition of Chicago and Vicinity artists chosen as being most representative and promising in the creation of contemporary and future art". Eight critics chose pieces from 22 artists in a show that ran from Friday, October 8th 1976 to November 21st. We recognize some of the names from this 21st century viewpoint, and even met a few!
Sometime in October of 1976, (possibly the 7th, extrapolating from the 3 week spacing of the other two events mentioned on this poster) is when Loren and Victor Heredia catch the holography bug after witnessing a lecture by holography's ace #1 proselytizer, Dr. Tung Jeong.
Illinois Institute of Technology News of September 3, 1976, jumps on the Spumoni Village bandwagon.
The fame of Gallery 1134 spreads far and wide to Laurence Goodridge, who sends his promotional material to Loren, but doesn't seem to have been in a show there. He may have been responding to an article in ARTnews of October, 1976 by Franz Schulze of Lake Forest College.
An undated flyer advertises available and inexpensive studio space, with show privileges in the attached gallery. Curiously the phone number is not the Billings' usual 226-1007, but someone else's 337-7836.
A Western Union Mailgram confirms that Loren's telegram to Posy Jackson had been sent, probably asking to borrow pieces for the upcoming International Holography Exhibition.
Another undated flyer advertises an Artist Sunday Flea Market, time is given but no date.
One can color 1976 a vintage year for art according to Franz Schulze in the Chicago Tribune, probably of sometime in December of 1976 in this two page handout.
1977:
“To celebrate the first birthday of Gallery 1134, founder and artist Loren Billings has created an environmental piece with manikins (sic), which she feels are ‘highly specialized copies of human beings that evoke a wide range of sensations in viewers.’” touts a press release released on January 13, 1977, regarding the Group 77 show.
Was the installation mentioned by Harold Haydon in an undated Tribune column in the above birthday gala? A year or two earlier or later? This seems like the best guess.
GROUP 77's flyer was a bit more elaborate than the above hand-written and rub off lettered ones, looking like it was professionally typeset, with a fold even! Except for the show's run dates, January 21 to February 27, 1977, which were rubber stamped in, probably due to poor proof reading before going to press.
Invitations for participation in the International Holography Exhibition were sent out on February 19th, 1977.
"Holography is more than a new dimension; it is a new sense" breathlessly pronounces the press release for the inaugural exhibition for Gallery 1134's new holographic research center. A postcard announces that May 20 through July 3 was the run of the "International Holography Exhibition", Gallery 1134's new focus.
Here is a list of the holograms in this show. Here are 3 drafts of the show catalog: comprehensive, one missing schematics but has a chronology, the third missing the chronology but has schematics.
Here is a deluxe invite! (Courtesy Hans Bjelkhagen.)
Spectrum Communications Associates issues a press release announcing a talk by Dr. Tung Jeong to be given at Gallery 1134 on June 9th, 1977, on the use of holography as an art medium, in conjunction with the show below.
"Holy photography, that's holography!" exclaims a review in the Chicago Sun-Times by Franz Schulze (of the Lake Forest College Art Department, notice he gives a shout out to Tung Jeong) of the International Exhibition of Holography. This one is not unlike the extremely controversial Hilton Kramer pan of a holography show at the International Center of Photography. Probably what would have put him on Loren's shit list forever was "A more relevant observation is that, engineering aside there is virtually nothing on view worth the name of art." There is no date, but must have been during the run of the above.
John Forwalter in The Herald of June 6th and Alan Artner in the Chicago Tribune Arts & Fun section of June 12, 1977 share similar sentiments to the above.
A couple of weeks later, Harold Haydon doesn't seem to be adding fuel to the fire in the Sun-Times.
Perhaps this undated History of Holography (we are guessing according to Bob, note the misspellings) was handed out at the above show.
The Chicago Daily News of November 2nd, 1977, verifies that Bob and Loren Billings are indeed “Urban Pioneers on West Side” of our fair city.
Holography is characterized as a "...New revolution" in Sidetracks of November 3rd, 1977.
TJ is characterized as a "Modern day Merlin" by Gary Wisby in the Sun-Times of November 7th, 1977.
The Downtown News for the week of November 22 to November 28, 1977, announces a holographic exhibit at Montgomery Ward. It also mentions the first hologram "was done in Scotland."
The first Gallery 1134 Fine Arts Research and Holographic Center School of Holography Catalog is printed, guessing September/October 1977 as classes start on January 9, 1978 and it is mentioned below.
1978:
“Holography at UICC (University of Illinois Chicago Circle, now known as UIC, University of Illinois Chicago) creates no illusions” boasts the Chicago Illini of February 27, 1978.
Bob Billings gets fired from his $46,500/year public relations job as the Teamsters' Union Pension Fund "Because we were unhappy about the work they were doing and couldn't justify the expense repoorts the Chicago Tribune on March 20, 1978.
Ms Billings must not have given the rookie reporter from the Circle Alumni News her business card, as "Lydia Billings" "...enthusiasm...was super" in July of 1978.
A slightly soggy copy of the summer 1978 Communique published by the Columbus Society of the Communicating Arts dedicate a whole well-written and illustrated issue to "HOLOGRAPHY".
Probably published in the Summer of 1978, the School of Holography Catalog 1978/79 boasts and all star cast of Faculty & Staff with Dr. Tung Jeong and Rudy Guzik as special consultants, and Al Ornelas, Harald Salaba, John Hoffmann, Kevin Houtari, Victor Heredia and Lon Moore as instructors.
The Internal Revenue Service grants the Fine Arts Research and Holographic Center tax-exempt status on September 11, 1978.
Their friend, Harold Haydon, Chicago Sun-Times Art Writer, on Friday October 6th, 1978, quoted Loren Billings in an article named "Wedding of science and art" claiming that "Actually, it is the first school of holography in the world." She must not have read Lon Moore's (down as one of their faculty in the brochure) transcript from Lloyd Cross's School of Holography in San Francisco, which opened in October 1971, and Lon was Lloyd's first student.
October 14th, 1978, was the date of "The Day That Changed Ed Wesly's Life", a project done for a grad school class called "Digital Storytelling".
It would be nice if it turned out that the “Future image is here to stay” as stated in the Suburban edition of the Chicago Tribune for October 18th, 1978, starring TJ, who shouts out the obligatory 1134 plug.
The Chicago Tribune on Friday, November 17, 1978, announced an intensive two 12 hour session holography workshop coming up on Saturday December 2nd and Sunday December 3rd. This may have been the first class of the so-called "first holography school in the world" in the article above.
This History of Holography could be dated to no later than Fall of 1978, when this author first visited the place and picked up this flyer, the Class Catalog for 1978/79. Spelling and grammar were cleaned up for the typesetting, plus they cut and pasted in some diagrams which they appropriated from the Holex Corporation.
"Like magic, It's holography" in the Pioneer Press of November 1978 is about Tung Jeong but mentions Gallery 1134.
A typewritten "PROJECTED STATEMENT OF CASH RECEIPTS & DISBURSEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1978" gives some insight into the finances of the place, although it looks like most of it is fabricated. Notice that it is "unaudited".
1979:
The world was not looking too bright on March 2nd, 1979, for Loren and Bob when they received this letter from the real Museum of Holography’s lawyers.
And a reminder a month later.
Surprisingly Loren acquiesced by the end of the month!
Robert Billings is mentioned in the Chicago Tribune of June 1st, 1979, in connection with shady dealings regarding Chicago City Parking meters. "If it can be said anyone welcomes a lawsuit, we welcome this lawsuit."
Chicagofest 1979 lasted from August 3rd to 12th, and Bob Billings somehow finagled a spot for Gallery 1134 at the end of Navy Pier! Here is a pdf Slide Show of the installation. Melissa Crenshaw, Victor Heredia, and Ed Wesly almost got arrested selling Glow Necklaces without a Vendor’s License, but Bob came to the rescue.
On the last day of Chicagofest, Sunday, August 12th, Sun Ra and his Arkestra played to about a dozen people at the very end of Navy Pier behind the Holography Exhibit. Ed Wesly got backstage and sold Sun Ra a hologram of his home planet, Saturn, the famous one by Lon Moore. It cost $40 on a plexiglass frame, but the band only had a $50 bill, luckily Steve LaserSmith saw the predicament and brought change.
Probably published in the Summer of 1979, the School of Holography Catalog 1979/80 introduces Holography II to better prepare students for Holography III. Kevin Huotari is no longer on the faculty, having been badgered by Bob Billings a little too much for his tastes.
"Hello Holography" An Introduction to Holography by John Hoffmann-Artist & Research Holographer kicks off the Fall 1979 Lecture Series on October 3, followed by "Lasers-Light of the Future" by Rudy Haidle-Analytic Chemist and Laser Researcher on October 10, then "Through the Optic Glass & Into Wonderland" with David Wender-Pioneer Holographer, Optical Expert, ending on October 23 with "Welcome to the Future" by Tung H. Jeong-Professor of Physics, Pioneer Holographer.
Another typewritten "PROJECTED STATEMENT OF CASH RECEIPTS & DISBURSEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1979" gives some more insight into the finances of the place, and no CPA in their right mind would sign off on this one either.
1980:
"Holography making its mark in lesson plans". Wishful thinking on the part of TJ in the Sun-Times of February 2, 1980, or did it come true?
"Once a casket company..." begins an article in the Chicago Tribune Magazine from February 3, 1980. Loren appears to be scooping up Lon Moore's "Mirror Girl".
Robert Billings is again mentioned in the Chicago Tribune of March 9th, 1980, for the same shady dealings regarding Chicago City Parking meters.
Some kind of deal was brewing for the Holographic Arts Company (HACO) Multiplex machine as can be seen in this May 10th, 1980 letter from Lee Lacey. Pieces of the machine, the liquid lenses, were found during the 2014/15 excavation.
FUTURESCOPE ran from May 12 to 20 1980 at Carson, Pirie, Scott and Company, a large department store on State Street, that great street.
Ed Wesly photographs John Hoffmann hamming it up in the lab in May for publicity photos, for which he never received any credit or money.
Probably published in the early June of 1980, the School of Holography Catalog 1980/81 and adds Larry Lieberman and Ed Wesly to the Faculty.
If you had been a student in 1980 you may have been awarded a "CERTIFICATE OF Achievement". Melissa Crenshaw waited until 2015 to receive hers.
The first issue of HOLOBRIEFS must have come out in June of 1980, as Ed Wesly came on board after the end of the grade school year in June, and Larry Lieberman was gone by July, see below.
This undated ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE AND PLANNING document must have come out in a similar time frame.
Sometime in 1980 The Holography Book by Jeff Berner came out with a listing for Gallery 1134. Loren waxes eloquent: "In holography, we are manipulating the medium which forms the information structure of our visual universe, light itself. We are not speaking of objects now, but of what causes an object to be perceived as physical reality. We are learning how to control the transmission channels and recording mediums. We are working to create spatia memeories. We must now study the spatial language of light, and evolve a new realm of visual semantics."
On July 5th, 1980, Larry and Peggy Lieberman return to Gallery 1134 from a trip to Columbus, Ohio, their hometown, from their 4th of July holiday, and tell Loren that they are leaving her employ on the advice of their attorney for a variety of reasons. While they are out to lunch, Loren tells Ed to take pictures of Larry’s printer. He did so under so much duress, so if the images are blurry on this contact sheet, it’s because he was shaking so, betraying a friend, but otherwise Loren would make his life miserabler. His resolution was to take the pictures, but never gave her any copies. Luckily the machine had been disassembled in the morning. Click here for a pdf Slide Show of a few prints of that fateful lunchtime, and another of what the lab looked like when excavated in 2014/15.
Dr. Henry Morgan presented a LASER LECTURE DEMONSTRATION on Wednesday, July 7th, 1980 wherein he assembles a He-Ne in front of an audience. For the comi-tragedy that befell Dr. Morgan on his stay, click here. For the postcard Ed designed, plus added correction, click here.
Bob tells the Chicago Tribune of August 17th, 1980, that "he has no prior display advertising experience" when he is the sole bidder on a lucrative contract to sell display advertising at McCormick Place, one of Chicago's largest convention centers, with gross revenue exceeding $800,000.
The southwest area cultural arts council newsmonger of September 1980 ran an article written by one of the Gallery 1134 CETA workers, Suzanne Arist, on "Holgraphy (sic) - The New Space Age Art Form". there was a sidebar on the "History of the Holograph", although there is no mention of handwriting in it.
Looks like Larry Lieberman had gone from the frying pan into the fire reading between the lines of this September 9th, 1980 letter from Murphey, Young, and Smith, a Legal Professional Association.
Loren washes the institution's hands of Lieberman with this letter of September 15, 1980.
Emmett Leith, Steve Benton, Andreas Graube Jean-Marc Fournier, Francis Yu, Glen Sincerbox, Bill Graver and other holographic scientists visited Gallery 1134 on their ways to the airport after an Optical Society of America held downtown. Click here for the invitation on overhead transparency stock. Click here for details of the hilarious escapades.
The Reader, Chicago's Free Weekly, ran a much more authoritative article, "Shedding light on holography", which featured Ed Wesly on October 7, 1980. Curiously the pile of copies that Loren ran off of this article has a date of March 19, 1982, probably as a result of cutting and pasting just any old mast head on the copy to show where it was from, as he was long gone from 1134 by 1982. (And suffering at the second worst job he had ever had, at School District 99 in Cicero.)
October 17th was the kickoff date for the 1980 Fall Lecture Series, organized by Ed Wesly, and here's an uncut sheet of tickets.
You need to Sprechen Sie Deutsch to understand this article in the Sonntagpost of 19 Oktober, 1980.
The second issue of HOLOBRIEFS relates some interesting news tidbits, presumably in December 1980.
And a very special issue must have been given out a little later in December. Bob did not sign it. Our feelings are hurt.
A typewritten "PROJECTED STATEMENT OF CASH RECEIPTS & DISBURSEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1980" gives some rather exaggerated incomes, like $40k in tuitions. The average price per class that year was $200, so that would mean 200 student-classes, which is wildly optimistic.
1981:
The emphasis should be put on odd when it comes to Gallery 1134 in the Tribune article of February 6th, 1981, “From odd to off-the wall; Specialty museums offer side trips to the unusual”. An uncredited photo of John Hoffmann by Ed Wesly adorns the article.
"All you have to do is look at them and you know there's no artistic interest in them" said Luther Smith, assistant professor of photography at the University of Illinois's Urbana Campus in a Daily Illini article of February 11, 1981. (He was Ed Wesly's teacher for his final photography class there.)
Athough Larry Lieberman left Gallery 1134 in 1980, he is credited as being the president and laser specialist in the Gallery 1134 listing in the Laser Focus Buyers' Guide for 1981.
Victor Heredia was ousted sometime in the spring of 1981, when John Hoffman put the final nail in his coffin by telling Loren that Victor had bought some weed from Steve (Laser)Smith.
Seeing the writing on the wall, Ed Wesly leaves the employ of 1134 when he receives his official letter of employment fro School District 99. Loren's last words to Ed, as she was hammering a desk with her fist were "This institution will succeed in spite of me!"
Exact dates are missing, but sometime in the first half of 1981 3 or 4 people die as a result of Loren's actions or inactions.
Probably published in the Summer of 1981, the School of Holography Catalog 81/82 removes Victor Heredia, Larry Lieberman and Ed Wesly from the faculty.
Loren Billings, acting on behalf of the Board of Trustees, invites Hans Bjelkhagen to become a member of the Fine Arts Research and Holographic Center Advisory Board.
"It's not yet picture perfect, but holograph is photo of future" declared the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday, November 25, 1981. Along with the misappropriate word, the article gives several experts predictions of the yet to come (and whose time has past from this vantage point), including Steve Benton, who apparently gave a talk at Gallery 1134 on behalf of SPSE (Society of Photographic Scientists and Engineers), which I knew nothing about. Need to find more details.
In a letter dated March 3, 1981, Loren makes it clear that holography is the only medium that Fine Arts Research will exhibit.
"Bank your money on holograms" urges Jim Sulski in the December, 1981 issue of the Illinois Entertainer in "Holograms: seeing is believing". Also of interest are the bands featured in the issue!
1982:
The Reader in 1981 or 2 waxed eloquent about "Three Dimensions", although still referring to holographs, and a few exaggerations. The other article on the page mentions artist/model Michelle Fitzsimmons, who later became a colleague of mine at Harrington College of Design.
Benefit your fringes while shaking to The Pulsations at Victor’s loft on February 8th, 1982. (Flyer designed by Victor Heredia.)
Was Bob behind the wheel on "The bumpy road to Chicago's home show"? See the Chicago Tribune of March 21, 1982 for details.
An undated AP article sings the praises of a small museum. Judging from the holograms described, this article must be from before summer of 1982, when Dr. Jeong took back his pieces of the world's first holographic cinema footage.
From a similar time frame, Laraine Bilings (sic) welcomed the International Televison Association for their March meeting to be held "on, not in, another dimension".
The first International Symposium on Display Holography began on July 12, 1982, at Lake Forest College; for John and Loren's involvement with the event click here.
On June 23, 1982, Loren thanks Hans Bjelkhagen for bringing Dr. V. C. Sainov to Gallery 1134 for a visit and she ended up with one of his holograms of Stalin. (Courtesy Hans Bjekhagen.)
Probably published in the Summer of 1982, the School of Holography Catalog 1982/83 has no faculty members, only administrators, but does have an In Memorium to Al Ornelas, one of the founders of Gallery 1134, who passed away in the summer of 1981. And Dr. Jeong is no longer a special consultant, see above for the reason why.
HOLOGRAPHY: A PERCEPTUAL ODYSSEY opened on Monday, September 27, 1982, and ran until October 8, 1982. Curiously the plaques next to the pieces gave only the title of the hologram and location where it was recorded, but not the names of the artists.
The anonymity of the above show was pointed out in a letter to the editor of the New Art Examiner in its November, 1982 issue.
No fun getting letters like this in the mail! For an Adobe Web Gallery of the items in question, click here.
Loren proves to Hans Bjelkhagen that Gallery 1134 is the place to be in a state of her institution letter sent to him on December 20th, 1982.
1983:
Consider yourself one of the fortunate few to receive a postcard like this, which must have been mailed in March or April of 1983.
Consider yourself less fortunate if this was written about you! Ed Wesly really started something on June 9th, 1983! He asked TJ if his job was in jeopardy and he only laughed!
Mac Allan Collins thanks Bob for the Certificate of Achievement, but stalls Bob’s request for original Dick Tracy artwork in a typewritten letter dated June 14th, 1983.
On June 25th, 1983, Ed Wesly throws a party in the Holo-Ghetto.
Would you be fortunate enough to have a resume like this, found sometime in 1983.
Loren once again proves to Hans Bjelkhagen that Gallery 1134 is the place to be in a state of her institution letter sent to him on December 16th, 1983.
1984:
The Associated Press wires must have been red hot when "Holograms hover in art gallery" rode them. It is dated 7/84, the paper is unattributed, but it may have been from Portland or Seattle, as the snarky comments were supplied by Melissa Crenshaw.
Business must have been booming for Gallery 1134 in 1984, as they list 20 full-time employees in the 1984 Laser Focus Buyers Guide.
One could donate $5 and drink and dance their booty off at LaserSmith’s loft on June 21st, 1984, the proceeds benefiting a national exhibition of holograms named More Light, to be installed later that summer at the Chicago Cultural Center by the Chicago Holographic Co-op. (Poster designed by Victor Heredia.)
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, mentions Gallery 1134 in its book, ALTERNATIVE SPACES, A HISTORY IN CHICAGO, but it is not known how it was represented in the exhibit, which ran from June 23 to August 19, 1984.
Steve LaserSmith summarizes the Chicago Holographic Cooperative's accomplishments (plus his company's) in this typewritten missive of September 20th, 1984. And one's soul would be psychedelicized by this pair of flyers designed by Victor Heredia.
A postcard announces that The Museum of The Fine Arts Research & Holographic Center Presents a Special Lecture "Holography Worldwide" by Hans Bjelkhagen, Phd. on Thursday, November 15, 1984 for only a $2.50 Donation!
Nobody must have filled in David Katzive when he took over the reins of the true Museum of Holography about the bad blood between his institution's and Loren's, when he signed and sent this fund-raising letter of November 25, 1984.
1985:
The World's First Classes in Display Pulsed Holography began on April 30, 1985, and were the one and only time they ran, as Loren fired Hans Bjelkhagen, Ph.D. after finding out Ed Wesly was his research assistant at FermiLab and Northwestern University.
Here is a photo of the class taken at the Tech Center at Northwestern University, where the lab work was done, along with the roster of students. (Courtesy Hans Bjekhagen.)
Same deal for Classes in Interferometry with Hans Bjelkhagen beginning on May 22, although both classes were in the Course Catalogs until the end, but Hans was eliminated from the school's Advisory Board in following brochures.
Sounds like a pretty good show as described in the press release for Lightscapes 85 released on May 30th, 1985. And this is the postcard you may have received in the mail, hopefully in time for the opening on June 7th.
If you were a fellow holographer in August of 1985 you could have become a Charter Member of the Alumni Association of the Fine Arts Research and Holographic Center by filling out the form.
And if you had joined, you could have received this invitation from September 19th, 1985, to the Holo-Ween event!
"Displays and diagrams take a stab at explaining for the layman how the images are formed. Whether they succeed is another question." writes Patrick Barry in the September 27th, 1985 issue of the Sun-Times.
Legend has it Loren was dressed as a witch, Bob as a gangster, his body guard Big Mike (Rosewell) came dressed as a monk with a colostomy bag, and John Hoffmann was so real in drag no one recognized him at the Holo-Ween event on November 1st, 1985!
John and Loren are hanging a holograms of an F-15 on Friday the 13th of this year in the Sun-Times.
1986:
The “Can-do Cowboy” of holography, Steve Provence, offers his services in May of 1986. (Of course, John Hoffmann can make them bigger and brighter, so they didn't use him.)
Also in May of 1986 Spatz Illustrated explains exactly "What does a holographic picture of a woman in a bikini have to do with the shopping center industry?"
Probably published in the Summer of 1986, the School of Holography Catalog 1986/87 introduces Hans Bjelkhagen as the Director of Education.
Loren didn't bust the piggy bank for the JK ruby laser system quoted on 11 July 1986.
This Intensive Weekend Course may have been held on October 18th and 19th of 1986, or 1997 or 2003, as no year is given.
Chicago Magazine describes a trip to Gallery 1134 in their September 1986 issue.
Sunday, November 16th, Doris Vila, Visting Artist Instructor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago throws a party and members of the Alumni Association of the Fine arts Research and Holographic Center attend.
1987:
The Chicago ILLINI, the campus newspaper of University of Illinois at Chicago, featured "Holography museum offers illusion, high-tech magic" on Monday, January 26, 1987.
May have been written in 1986, this 1987-1988 Holographic Embossment Guide gives an idea of the prices charged for their embossed holograms.
The Chicago Tribune Friday Section might have guided you to Gallery 1134 on March 6, 1987.
A series of correspondence starting on March 23 shows that Loren was attempting to organize a show of Margaret Benyon's art, which unfortunately never came to fruition.
Achim & Nele Lipp of Hamburg, Germany, presented Two Days of Lectures and Workshops on Light & Holography on Friday April 10 & Saturday April 11, 1987.
Sunday, May 17th, Doris Vila, throws a barbecue for the local holo people.
On June 2nd, Loren hammered out this letter to the editor of Wavefront after receiving the Spring issue.
"Holograms illuminate museum" beams the Chicago Sun-Times of July 24th, 1987.
Wavefront publishes a full page ad for the Fine Arts Research and Holographic Center in their Summer 1987 issue, but also announces that they will "regretfully suspend publication until June 1988". (Courtesy Hans Bjelkhagen.)
Sometime in August or September of 1987, Wendy Kotrba sends a thank you note to Loren for a tour well done, plus an article on holography from the New Yorker, which of course only mentions New York holographers, included the registered trademarked and despised Museum of Holography.
Loren sent a reply to Peter Rexford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in regards to his September 1987 column on “Holograms: They’re Free For The Asking”. Have not yet found her letter on official letterhead, which could be a doozy, nor his reply.
A surprise nominee appeared on the ballot for election to the Board of Directors at the September 16, 1987 meeting of the Alumni Association of the Fine Arts Research and Holographic Center.
It appears that the Alumni Association of the Fine Arts Research and Holographic Center gets a sneak preview of HOLOGRAPHY 87 (or gets roped into hanging the exhibit).
HOLOGRAPHY 87 opened on October 16, 1987, and ran through March 6, 1988.
Sometime in September or October 1987 Peter Rexford, some unidentified newspaper's Stamps & Coins columnists, waxes eloquently about "Holograms: Free For The Asking". Unfortunately Loren's reply has not yet come to light.
Max Epstein, President of Holicon Corporation, gets short shrift from Rick Kogan in his October 27th, 1987 Around Town column in the Chicago Tribune entitled "Day of Holographic Happenings".
"Not one of the organizations to which I've applied for a grant has ever sent a representative to visit the museum" bemoans Loren Billings in Rick Kogan's Around Town column entitled "Culture in the corners" in the Chicago Tribune of December 27, 1987.
Dan Jacalone drew an interesting map for Booth News Service, and the Grand Rapids Press of Sunday, October 18th, 1987 ran it, to plan your trip to Chicago's museums.
"It's important for children to become more high-tech oriented because they'll be technically illiterate if they don't" Loren is quoted as saying in an undated and unattributed article, probably of late '80's vintage owing to the description of holograms seen there.
1988:
The Around Town column in the Chicago Tribune May 1st of 1988 describes Michael Jackson's visit to 1134!
Pulsed laser portraiture was featured in USA Today of May 2nd, 1988, although Gallery 1134 was not, but nevertheless Loren clipped it.
The School of Holography is highlighted in another annual School Guide in the Chicago Sun-Times of May 3rd, 1988.
"Holography will be as important to mankind as the printing press was when it was first established" is a quote from Loren Billings published in the Wisconsin State Journal from Sunday, May 14, 1988.
Sometime in June of 1988 the Chicago Tribune Travel Section prints a couple of paragraphs about Gallery 1134.
Home & Away, Mid-America's Leisure and Lifestyle Magazine, has selected Museum of Holography/Chicago as one of the unique Midwest attractions profiled in the AAA Travel Pleasures section of its issue published in July/August 1988. (Home & Away is distributed every two months to 1.8 million households whose residents are members of 12 Midwest clubs affiliated with the American Automobile Association.)
And 1134's pal, Rick Kogan, give a line or two of type to them in his column of Tribune column of September 11, 1988.
1989:
Melissa Crenshaw sells a couple of pieces to her holographic Alma Mater in February of 1989.
The Kenosha News publishes how to get to Gallery 1134. (Undated, probably 1989 since Edwina Orr's Scream is featured.)
“Museums needn’t be dull” proclaims the Wisconsin State Journal of May 14th, 1989 and Loren billings proclaims that “Holography will be as important to mankind as the printing press was when it was first established.”
Director Lauren (sic) Billings also oversees the hologram institute's school and research center in the Neighborhoods section of the Chicago Sun-Times for Sunday, October 1, 1989,
"Equus/Underwater, A thematically integrated story told through Holography" by Nancy Gorglione & Greg Cherry opened on Friday, November 17, 1989, and Ed Wesly gets his revenge on Bob Billings.
Did you know that "Tiger, horse images live in holograms"? The Chicago Tribune Friday section of November 24-30, 1989 describes how, plus interviews Nancy Gorglione, who was in town for the opening of her show, Equus/Underwater.
Once again Rick Kogan touts Happy Holodays in the Chicago Tribune of December 10, 1989.
1990:
More than 800 holographers were trained at The School of Holography, or at least the School Guide of the Chicago Tribune from Sunday, January 7, 1990 was told that in "Holography school teaches a new art".
One would think that if a Museum of Holography were on fire, one would scoop up all the historic holograms one would have on hand by Leith and Upatnieks, Benton, Cross, Jeong, etc., or art by Berkhout, Schweitzer, Moree, Wesly, etc. To see what Loren would save, implying it's her most prized piece in her collection, check out this interesting article from the Chicago Tribune Magazine of January 28, 1990, "In case of disaster... The last museum piece".
Loren tries to clear up a misunderstanding in a Letter to the Editor of the Chicago Tribune Magazine of March 11, 1990, and gets slapped with the name LaserSmith being mentioned in the editor's postscript.
Rudy Guzik, President of the local chapter of SPIE, writes an article for MIDWEST ENGINEER, (published by the Western Society of Engineers in 1990), on the local holography scene. Unfortunately the article mentions Tung Jeong, Hans Bjelkhagen, and worst of all, the LaserSmith, so Loren removes Rudy from her Advisory Board on the next class catalog.
"Artists are trying to make a statement in a new way" is the headline of an article in the magazine published by Chicago's Window to the World, public television station WTTW in February 1990.
An undated flyer boasts "TWELVE YEARS OF HOLOGRAPHIC LEADERSHIP", etc.
Jump on the holiday spirit early exhorts Rick Kogan in the Chicago Tribune of November 18,1990.
Robert Anderson is grateful to Loren for waiving his admission fee when he wrote an article published in the Milwaukee Sentinel of November 21st, 1990.
"'Wow, cool' describe art's future" gushes Rick Kogan in the Chicago Tribune's The Arts section for Sunday, December 9,1990.
1991:
Space was interpreted at the June 28th opening of INTERPRETATION OF SPACE according to the press release and Bob Billings tried to beat up Ed Wesly's students!
Get mesmerized on the 4th of July urges Mary Daniels in the June 30th, 1991 issue of the Tribune.
Mary Houlihan-Skilton wrote a brief review of the "Interpretations of Space" show in the Chicago Sun-Times of Friday, August 2, 1991.
One of the first artists in the Gallery 1134 shows, and teacher of Loren at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Steve Waldeck, sends her a postcard of his latest show, postmarked 25 September 1991.
A 3-D PEEK AT THE 21ST CENTURY ran in the Southtown Economist of Tuesday, October 29, 1991.
The Magazine of the Prairie State, Illinois Magazine, in its November-December 1991 issue, expounded on a place "Where pictures jump out to touch you".
"A holiday of holograms, hats..." is the title of Rick Kogan's annual holoday visit to Gallery 1134 in the December 15, 1991 issue of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Bob Billings ventures his weighty opinion on the Michael Jordan Hologram on the cover of Sports Illustrated in the December 22nd, 1991 issue.
1992:
In early 1992, Dr. Ted Niemiec rises to the top of the masthead of the School of Holography’s Course Offerings, with Hans Bjelkhagen and Rudy Guzik no longer on the Advisory Board, the former for palling around with Ed Wesly, the latter for his part in the article in Midwest Engineer.
"Holography comes alive at local museum" is the headline of a well-written article in the March 2, 1992 issue of CAMPUS CHRONICLE, (but what campus?) which gives a taste of the exhibits, but no pictures.
ARTISTIC STATES OF LIGHT ENERGY AND MATTER, which opened on October 30, 1992 and closed on May 2, 1993, was an "exhibition of three contrasting holographic techniques and approaches - Computer Generated holograms, abstract surrealism and diffractive scultpure" featuring the works of Artist'Holographers Eduardo Kac, Jim MacShane and August Muth according ot this Press Release.
The fame of Gallery 1134 extends to the Big Apple in this article from the New York Times of November 8, 1992.
Rick Kogan reveals that Loren Billings "...creates the most amazing Christmas tree in the city" in the Around Town column of the Chicago Tribune on Sunday December 13, 1992.
Gallery 1134 makes it onto the Chicago Transit Authority Culture Bus Route in this flyer, which must have been produced no later than 1992, dating thanks to the location of the Museum of Broadcast Communications.
1993:
Dr. Ted Niemiec is the Director of Education according to this 1993/94 Academic Calendar, probably sent out January 1993. Weekend Workshops were also available.
Guess which "Museum looks into future" touts the Times of some undetermined city on Sunday, May 16, 1993.
Loren helps track down the Bruce Nauman holograms for his Catalog Raisonne according to a barely legible fax.
BEYOND 94 which opened on November 12, 1993 and ran until June 12, 1994 was an "exhibition of ste-of-the-art holograms featureing the expressive, philosophically revealing portraits and landscapes of Jim McIntyre and Kenneth Vincent, along with medical images accoriding to this Press Release and its postcard.
Rockford Magazine of November 1993 displays a couple of unattributed holograms courtesy of Museum of Holography in an article entitled "Offbeat Chicago". (Wonder whose holograms they were? Obviously not from 1134!)
Here is a double-sided flyer, with the front a collage with the background provided by the cover of Home & Away magazine, the mouthpiece of Illinois/Indiana AAA-Chicago Motor Club for November/December 1993, and the postcard from the Gallery 1134 show, Beyond 94, plus presumably the blurb from H & A, with a copy of the article inside on the verso.
1994:
The Senior Courier of August 1994 informs us that "Only one place can boast, 'Don't touch anything as it doesn't really exist.'" in "Museum of Holography has one seeing things".
Interesting layout on the cut and paste ready for Xeroxing master of the Rocky Mountain Times of October 16, 1994.
Press releases usually pre-date the opening of the show they area announcing, but the one for "Incredible Facsimilies" (sic, spell check must have been turned off. Or maybe PR expert Bob Billings wrote it, who couldn't care less about spelling or facts. See how many more you can catch!) which opened November 18, 1994 and ran through August 28, 1995. Here are the Artists' Statements. Here's a listing in the Gallery Guide of the Chicago Reader. And here's the postcard.
1995:
The Times (no city given, possibly Munster, Indiana) describes how the Director of Education, "Munster doctor Ted Niemiec keeps busy in the field of holography".
The Chicago Sun-Times sheds some light on 1134 in an article of December 13, 1995.
1996:
In addition to being a "Master Holographer", John Hoffmann becomes a "Master Webmaster" with the Gallery 1134 web site, copyrighted 1996. (Click here to download the Web Archive.)
The images may have moved you in "Moving Images" running from March 1996 - February 1997. This is an undated press release for the show.
1997:
Joe Farina faxes John Hoffmann a fax from Integraf (as diplomatic relations between 1134 and TJ had been severed as long ago as 1982) about the discontinuation of Agfa Holotest materials on February 2nd, 1997.
Wonder who the holographers were that Loren was editing out in the master for making Xerox copies of an article about her institution in focus (sic) of May 21st, 1997 entitled "BEYOND THE THIRD DIMENSION"?
GENDAI Advanced Studies and Research Group thanks Loren for allowing them to photograph her treasures in a letter written on October 1st, which features Gallery 1134 in an article in their magazine,The Car and Its World.
Jim McIntyre spills the beans on how he processes rainbow holograms in a fax to Loren from October 22, 1997.
Loren wrote this book report for the Sun-Times of November 16th, 1997.
1998:
Enter a Transitive State of Light from March 25 1997 to February 1998, and maybe even get a glimpse inside of your body with "the largest collection of holograms dealing with holography's connection to modern medicine." (One of the medical holographers, Dr. Bert Myers (spelled incorectly in the press release) was introduced to an article written by Ed Wesly in Creative Camera and Darkroom Techniques.)
“Museum of Holography presents an art of many dimensions” in the Chicago Tribune of April 10th, 1998, and Loren gives a critique of “An Evening With Second City”.
Robert W. Billings "Goes like Wind" when he leaves this world on August 27th, 1998.
1999:
The Chicago Office of Tourism faxed Loren a copy of another article from Home & Away on February 4, 1999.
If one were on the go on September 24th of 1999 one could go Beyond the landmarks to see Ron and Bernadette Olson’s “Snorkel”, as depicted in the Chicago Tribune.
A trifold flyer is tentatively dated at the end of the century, as it mentions that the "Museum of Holography is proud to be part of Project Millennium"
If you’re on the go, and ant to go beyond the landmarks, Chicago offers a treasure trove of small museums, asserts Frank Fitzgerald in a special to the Chicago Tribune of September 24th, 1999.
An interesting glimpse of the state of the art of computing at Gallery 1134 is this printout of a web search done on December 12th, 1999, on a color printer, as they search the web for the competition.
Possibly from the same time frame, an undated and probably last class catalog.
2001:
The Reality Check column from Network Chicago City Talk (published by Window To The World Communications, a mouthpiece for Chicago Public Broadcasting TV station WTTW, Channel 11) promises "Thar's gold (&magic) in them holograms" on February 2nd, 2001.
A reply to this almost final draft of a letter to the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs dated March 1st 2001.
A Chicago Reader article mentions that Loren meets the GnXperts when they visited the museum and told her they were working on a system which would enable viewing of true three-dimensional holographic movies and suggested that they could make the first presentation of it to the scientific community at her museum.
Here is the earliest evidence of Gnxpert's involvement, wherein advisory board member David Wender smells something rotten in Denmark on June 19th, 2001.
A week later David Wender again warns Loren to proceed cautiously.
This may be the Tech Overview Wender is referring to or maybe not, being undated.
Here is the Confidentiality Agreement mentioned in the e-mail above.
The Gnxperts really know how to schmooze Loren in a fax sent on July 21st, 2001.
They might be winning David Wender over looking at his letter of the 22nd.
And Loren was busy gushing over them on the same day!
David diplomatically resigns himself to the sidelines on the 27th.
On August 8th they ask her for a letter of recommendation on official looking letterhead, and Loren obliges them on Holographic Design Systems and Museum stationery on the 10th (but page 2 is missing).
Here are the business cards of the Gnxperts, undated.
Nara Schoenberg gets buzzed into a "Realm of magic illusions" in the Chicago Tribune of September 21, 2001.
An undated and unknown newspaper AP wire service story, circa 2001, since they mention the museum has been open for 25 years.
2002:
An Associated Press wire story appeared in the Vidette, the school newspaper of Illinois State University, and who knows where else, on February 26, 2002.
Loren takes out a loan from Broadway Bank for a $1M using the Museum as collateral on September 19th, 2002, in spite of warnings from the vice president and senior loan officer, .Alexi Giannoulias. He warned her to watch her step in a letter, "It is Broadway Banks opinion that you seek the guidance of counsel" and "there is concern on the bank's part due to the past credit history of the other three co-borrowers. All three of them had significant problems in the past with their finances, and non of them currently has satisfactory credit. In addition, we have discovered that two of the borrowers, Mr. Anatsko and Ms Chychula, have been reported for suspected fraudulent activity on the 'Fraud Finder Alert' supplied by Chex Systems." ("Losing Her Museum", Chicago Reader, February 18, 2009)
2003:
"Even natives can be surprised" as to what lies in store for them at Gallery 1134 in a Tribune article from February 21, 2003.
Here is the earliest Update found in the Gnxpert files, dated August 27th, 2003.
Here is their Prototyping Update from September 10, 2003.
And another from a week later.
A Progress Report from October 4th, 2003 boasts some big shot customers, Brunswick Bowling balls and Mattel Toys!
The GNXPERTCOLOR logo appears in color on the next week's Progress Report.
They add a header of applications on November's Progress Report.
Not too much new on the last update of 2003.
Evidently Loren has swallowed the updates hook, line and sinker wishing holiday cheer.
2004:
"2004 WILL BE A GOLD MINE!" boasts the first Update from this year.
April's Update looks similar to January's.
Gnxperts diversify with GNXSHIELD, an anti-piracy system for DVD's. Undated, but probably from Spring 2004, as they tested it on May 12, 2004.
And even more diversification in this undated "Market Ready BY-PRODUCTS" Update
Loren's patience will be rewarded once the orders promised on the Update of June 1st, 2004 start rolling in.
Wonder if the Gnxperts made any holograms with this Liti kit ordered on September 30th, 2004?
Get your "Holograms for the Holidays" at Gallery 1134 advises the Chicago Tribune of November 21st, 2004.
Gnxpert's 2004 Annual Report predicts an unbelievable amount of cash flow!
2005:
Liz Armstrong writes, and the Chicago Reader publishes, "And They Say Pot Makes You Stupid! A long hour at the Museum of Holography" on January 13, 2005.
Liz's Gonzo school of journalism may have rubbed off on Medill School of Journalism student Maureen Dougherty in the Daily Northwestern (published by Northwestern University, where Hans Bjelkhagen and I were the cover story of the same chronicle when we researched holographic endoscopes in the Biomedical Engineering Department 20 years earlier), as she starts her article in the February 2nd, 2005 issue with "Anyone with a latent desire to see a three-dimensional representation of the male testes and spermatic cord can now see that wish fulfilled", along with other bon mots like "this center devoted to those retro popping images is like a Snoopy Pez dispenser awkwardly placed between rows of crystal and ceramic figurines."
Loren finally smells a rat in this rough draft from April 28th, 2005.
But they must have kissed and made up if you can believe this fax of May 3rd.
Funny how the Gnxpirates claim their Anti-Piracy tests were successful in this e-mail of May 13th.
Did this meeting ever take place on May 25th?
Loren's Post-It note of 10/12/05 was found on a hilarious web pass around on Managerium.
A view of the Gnxpert office in what was formerly the School of Holography's classroom, and a close up of their blackboard. The date on the blackboard is 11/1/05, and the close up was photographed on August 12, 2015!
Rick Kogan lauds Loren with possibly his final write up on her with “Hologram museum is one of the city’s secret treasures” on November 13, 2005 in hte Chicago Tribune.
The first time anyone in the family becomes aware of the loan is when Loren's niece, Marcia Siska discovers a late due notice on the loan from Broadway Bank in the fax mchine.
2006:
The last checks found from Gnxperts were dated January 16, 2006.
So this note from Loren to her son may have come after the above. She really fell for them!
On June 16, 2006 the Chicago Sun-Times published a story of how Alexi Giannoulias could not remember details of the loan he gave to Loren Billings. For more details on Giannoulias see the Reader article below, and details of the court’s rulings on the December 24th, 2009, listing below. Alexi replied to the Sun-Times in a letter, (which is in a pay to play archive), but starts out with "The June 16 Sun-Times article that discussed a lawsuit filed against Broadway Bank and a loan it issued to Loren Billings in 2002 needs further clarification. The lawsuit, filed by Billings' son, Terrence Kasprzak, is fraught with factual errors and baseless claims.
First, the lawsuit alleges that Ms. Billings, who served as president and executive director of the Museum of Holography, was mentally incompetent when she applied for the $1 million loan in 2002. We never noticed any signs..."
2008:
Hans Bjelkhagen meets Loren Billings for the first time in over two decades on July 25th, 2008!
Loren's Monthly Monitor from 2008 offers some terse advice!
2009:
Jesse White, Secretary of State of Illinois, issues a Temporary Order of Prohibition to the GnXperts, for fraud in the sale of securities, committed on a married couple. (Not Loren, Bob had died 10 years previous.)
Here's a real tear-jerker: "Losing Her Museum" by Ling Ma in the Chicago Reader of February 12, 2009.
And some replies to the above article in the Chicago Reader a week later.
The United States District Court indicts the Gnxperts in August, 2009.
Maybe this was the envelope the big check arrived in.
Everything you would have ever wanted to know about Alexi Giannoulias, who was the loan officer who approved the million dollar loan to Loren which the Gnxperts (and some contend he was in cahoots with them) swindled from her in the December 3rd, 2009 issue of the Chicago Reader.
Here's one heck of a Christmas present in the ruling handed down by the Appellate Court of Illinois on Christmas Eve, 2009.
While the Robert W. Billings Memorial Foundation Inc. posts assets and income of $0 for tax year 2009.
2010:
Sometime in February or March of 2010, Jonathan Ross, noted hologram collector from London, visits Gallery 1134 to document the collection.
Another indictment unsealed December 30, 2010 in U.S. District Court in Chicago accuses 62-year-old Maria Chychula, 38-year-old Vitaliy Baka and 41-year-old Igor Anatsko of Gnxpert of running a variety of fraudulent activities through several businesses between May of 2001 and October of 2009. (Alternate link if above doesn't work.)
2011:
On January 6th, 2011, Victor Heredia, (who built most of the Museum and School’s infrastructure, and had not been in 1134 since 1981) and Ed Wesly, visit Gallery 1134 with Terry Kasprzak, Loren Billings’ son, to document what is going on in the museum for presentation at SPIE’s Photonics West Conference for the Holography Working Group. Here is a pdf Slide Show of that excavation. Ed presents his PowerPoint of 1134 at the Holography Working Group meeting in San Francisco on January 26th.
The “3 Chicago ‘entrepreneurs’ accused of $4M fraud” are the ones who were involved with GnXpert in an AP wire story posted by Chicago Breaking Business on January 6th, 2011.
2012:
Hard to believe after that indictment "Igor Nanocult" publishes to YouTube a
"Gnxpert Color Cii-Lite Demo", GnxScope Endoscope" and the very bizarre "Call me Genie" on May 11th, 2012.
2013:
Sometime in the Fall of 2013, Ed Wesly, riding his motorcycle past 1134 West Washington, finds signs posted on its front door, investigates, and finds a new owner of the building and introduces himself to Hayden Connor, proprietor of Gamble Music, who purchased the building on a short sale from Signature Bank, and is promised a “Cook’s Tour” later on.
2014:
In April of 2014 Ed makes contact with Hayden regarding the upcoming visit from Bob Hess, noted laser historian, who would like to purchase the collectible lasers from him, and he, along with Ed Wesly, plus Victor Heredia bring a truck downtown and load up an interesting bunch of stuff.
One of the GnXperts, Maria Chycula’s, conviction was upheld, on July 2nd, 2014.
Late August, 2014: Hayden Connor enlists Ed Wesly to organize 1134 junk, as he has sold the building to Shawn Uldridge, who wants to turn the building into a Bed & Breakfast plus a restaurant.
The Chicago Reader of Tuesday, December 2, 2014, again supports the cause with "See rescued holograms from the shuttered Museum of Holography for one night only" for what has become known as HoloRescue 1.0. The Mosheketeers did show up in droves, but was it for the cause or the free food?
On December 6, 2014, Hans Bjelkhagen sent TJ (Tung Jeong) and Ed Wesly a link to the upcoming Holo Rescue. On December 8th, TJ sent this reply.
2015:
Jon Seymour meets Hayden Connor and Ed Wesly on Thursday, April 9th, 2015 with Hayden specifying that he will not give up the collection to Jon if Moshe is involved.
On Sunday April 12th, Ed Wesly puts on a dog and pony show for Jon, showing him all the "treasure".
Loren Billings passed away on April 28, 2015. (Screen grab if link is broken.) (At this time no one in the holographic community knows about this.)
Moshe arranges for 137 Films to shoot some footage of his triumphant entry into Gallery 1134 on Tuesday, June 2nd, but his plans go awry in this comedic episode.
Moshe Tamssot makes his first post on his homage to Loren on Facebook on June 5, 2015. Moshe, a bearded bear of a man, uses a picture of Loren that no holographer would recognize, sans eyeglasses but sporting a beehive hairdo, as his avatar, in an almost Hitchcock Psycho-eque fashion! He is oblivious to the fact that Loren had passed away over a month ago.
Alan Frohlichtstein finds the articles he donated to Loren that Ed put aside for him on July 12th, 2015.
TimeOut Chicago blurbs "Museum of Holography set to make a comeback at SoHo House" on July 13th, 2015.
Melissa Crenshaw visits Gallery 1134 for the first time in decades on July 19th, 2015. Her hand gets cut on a piece of metal, and she calls it Loren's Revenge.
When Ed and Jon signed in to Slack.com on Sunday, July 26th, to find out when the framing party was going to happen, they found that Moshe had blocked them from the site! Jon then calls Soho House and cancels Holo Rescue 2.0. He also calls Shawn Uldridge and tells him about the antics of Moshe, who forbids Moshe from entering the building, the second owner to do so.
July 28th, 2015: Scheduled date of Holo Rescue 2.0, which didn’t happen.
Here is a copy of the note cancelling Holo Rescue from the Soho House Event Programming Manager to her membership.
A delegation of Holo Volunteers, the Mediation Team, (Tom Fennell, Cate Brady, Tamara Biggs, Heather Robbins) from Moshe's camp meets with Jon Seymour and posts their findings on August 3rd, 2015.
As Jon Seymour does not want the non-functioning lasers, and Shawn Uldridge wants them out, and Ed Wesly couldn't stand to see them destroyed, the latter posts on Photonlexicon a deal no one could pass up, on August 8th, 2015, and gets an almost immediate response.
On Tuesday, August 11th, the junk lasers depart, but not before Moshe makes an appearance and causes high drama!
On August 13th, 2015, what's left of Gallery 1134 leaves the premises for a safe haven, while Moshe Tamssot videotapes the loading of the van, follows the van, and videotapes the unloading.
Also on that same fateful day Ed Wesly takes his last photograph inside the friendly confines.
Moshe Tamssot is excited to announce on August 17th, 2015, that he has "successfully resurrected the ORIGINAL Museum of Holography, Not-For-Profit, corporate entity. Long live the Museum of Holography!" (from slack.com) He can claim being the president of the board since 2008, as he paid the fees to the Secretary of State of Illinois from the last time Loren did to the present. His first act as president is to shake people down for "his" assets.
The Mediation Team posts an update on slack.com on August 21st, 2015.
As usual Moshe has to get in the last word regarding the above on the next day.
John Seymour does his homework and nails the fact that what Moshe did on August 17th was illegal! Link to court case mentioned in screen grabbed e-mail, and in particular look at Paragraphs 14 and 15.
On December 8th, 2015, Moshe Tamssot blocked Ed Wesly from posting on his Facebook page, which is like shooting himself in the foot, as Ed is one of the few people in the medium who know what had transpired at 1134 West Washington Boulevard. Here are a selection of Ed's witty retorts to Moshe's posts.
A little over a month later Moshe Tamssot was blocked from posting on facebook.com/groups/Holography/
A little over 4 months later Moshe Tamssot was blocked from posting on https://www.facebook.com/groups/holographyforum/
Recent investigation has shown that the allegation in a news release dated January 6th, 2011, on the indictment of the GnXperts, that Igor Anatsko might have left the country probably is true, as he has been posting on Facebook since 2014 from St. Petersburg, Russia.
2017:
"Big Mike" Rosewell, Bob Billings's armed bodyguard, passes away on April 5th.
The Scintihologram is returned to its rightful owner by Ed Wesly in November.
2018
Ed Wesly delivers his magnum opus on this subject at the International Symposium on Display Holography.
UNDATED ARTIFACTS
In ascending
chronological order as best as can be determined.
An explanation of holography, ca. 1979.
A rough draft of the above.
Guidelines, Policies, Procedures.
An article from Nit & Wit magazine, no date on it, but admission is only $1.
An explanation of holography with the FAR&HC letterhead.
A clear cut case of cut and paste plagiarism as Loren repurposes Larry Lieberman's instructions on "How to Film for White-Light Moving Holograms."
A later version of same, judging from the letterhead.
A proposed addition to the building?
An interesting view of the building in a flyer.
Instructions on how to light your gift hologram.
A history of Gallery 1134 by Loren.
Group Tour Information.
What kind of car displayed this banner?
The Hemingway like prose of Bob Billings promoting Holographic Design Systems.
A love note from Bob to Lui.
The last incarnation of an explanation of holography, from after the letterhead change.
SCITECH waxes appreciatively about their loaned holograms in an undated newsletter.
Loren lists her keys to success.
An undated and unknown newspaper AP story, written after 1997.
A price list of stock image holograms.
A sticker to go on some of those holograms disclaiming the excessive burn in on some of the masks.
Directions on how to view the hologram you just bought.
A flyer announcing the "Children of the World" holograms.
A note from Loren to her son showing she was afraid of him killing her.
LETTERHEADS:
(In chronological order as best as can be figured. Dates of implementation need to be researched.)
Possibly the earliest, a Gallery 1134 letterhead
The transition from Gallery 1134 to Fine Arts Research and Holographic Center, circa 1977-1978
An early Fine Arts Research and Holographic Center with interference pattern
A Fine Arts Research and Holographic Center without interference pattern
School of Holography Alumni Association
With a change of name
With a 3-D graphic and the Board of Trustees!
The numerological significance of the digits of the address is revealed by rolling over the below.