One of the many beautiful items from SCUA’s Robert C. Hansen Performing Arts Collection is this section of production scenery representing a bucolic landscape. Dr. Hansen is a recently retired professor of theatre at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNC Greensboro). The round piece of scenery had been stored safely in the archives, but its specific provenance had never been recorded. Archivists reached out to Dr. Hansen for help identifying the item. He immediately recognized it as a backdrop painted by Hans Petter Harboe, a professional Norwegian scene designer. Harboe was a guest artist at UNC Greensboro in the early 1990s for two one-act operas staged in Aycock Auditorium (now the UNCG Auditorium).

Dr. Hansen recollects: “In one of the operas there was a small circular drop used to suggest a bucolic setting. When the production was over, I remember we took the canvas off the frame to preserve the painting, which is very good. I met Harboe in Banff. We were both in a master class in design with Josef Svoboda and I was impressed with his work.”

The piece was labeled, professionally photographed, and carefully wrapped for archival conservation.