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00-001 "The Portal"
2000, Acrylic on Canvas Board

This scene is something I saw in the closing days of my employment at Rockwell International's Space Systems Division in Downey, California. Layoffs were coming, and it was sad to see the factory that had built the Apollo lunar spacecraft gradually dying. But as I toured the great high bay of building 290, the very cradle of the Apollo command/service modules, I saw the moon hanging beyond the door through which these magnificent machines had begun their journey to Florida and then the moon. Curing my depression instantly, this scene spoke wonders about why the crusade of the 1960's was worth it: the door to the cosmos is still open.

Chris Butler