Greystone Chapel’s Last Supper
The final song on the Live at Folsom Prison album is “Greystone Chapel,” written by then-inmate Don Sherley. The song is based on the actual chapel situated in the center of the Folsom State Prison, as seen in the background of Cash’s earlier Folsom concert in November of 1966. The chapel still stands, and is a granite monument to Gothic style embraced in the late 1800s when Folsom Prison was founded to ease overcrowding at San Quentin. The chapel continues to be used daily as a meeting place. It features a unique work of visual art: a 1938 mural of the Last Supper painted by former inmate Ralph Pecor that could be irrevocably damaged in the near future without conservation efforts. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) noted that retired correctional officers and others are trying to save the piece. The mural is painted on the granite, which over time has caused deterioration. “It’s absorbing water,” Lt. Joe Tuggle, the Greystone Chapel’s Last Supper prison’s public information officer, told the Inside CDCR editor Don Chaddock in November of 2014.1 Pecor was in Folsom Prison for manslaughter, but previously worked as a set designer during Hollywood’s heyday. Rumor was that the people depicted in the painting are based on fellow inmates — with the exception of Judas, who may have borne a strong resemblance to the warden. Just outside the prison grounds lies the Folsom Prison Museum, supported by retired CDCR employees who have also pitched for saving the Greystone Chapel mural. Safe removal and restoration estimates from 2014 ranged from as low as $100,000 to $250,000 or higher. While the volunteer staff focuses on museum operations, there’s still an interest in the restoration of the mural. “There’s been some donations for repair, but nowhere near what’s needed,” said Lt. Jack Huey, spokesman for Folsom State Prison. “It continues to slowly deteriorate.”
This article is from the California State Library Foundation’s Bulletin #123. For more articles, artwork or information please visit our website www.cslfdn.org
