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"Hangar 1"

$800.00

30” x 30” Original Painting by Stephanie Butler in 2024, Acrylic on Linen.

“Hangar 1” depicts the remains of the destroyed blimp hangar at MCAS Tustin, due to the 24-day fire in November, 2023. In contrast, the natural settings including the landmark of Red Hill are portrayed as bathed in colors such as hot pink, and a vibrant blue sky. Cradled in a birch ‘floating frame’.

30” x 30” Original Painting by Stephanie Butler in 2024, Acrylic on Linen.

“Hangar 1” depicts the remains of the destroyed blimp hangar at MCAS Tustin, due to the 24-day fire in November, 2023. In contrast, the natural settings including the landmark of Red Hill are portrayed as bathed in colors such as hot pink, and a vibrant blue sky. Cradled in a birch ‘floating frame’.

The World-War II era blimp ( a twin of the South Hangar, remaining at Warner and Tustin Ran h Road) was one of the largest wooden structures ever built, and designated a landmark by ASCE in 1993.

With the BRAC closure of the base in the early 1990’s, the landmarks remained silent giants, closed and mostly empty as businesses and residencies sprouted up nearby, and developers ideated what to make of land that once supported a thriving military and defense industry community. 

As I made a trip up Warner to my local Costco, I witnessed the fire, and people arriving for days to stand at the fence at Warner and Legacy Raod paying their respects to the place they held in their hearts. 

The debris and toxins of what was a slow and steady burn over three weeks, travelled ten miles - affecting far more people than the immediate neighborhood.