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The artist who produced the murals in the front foyer of the (now closed for renovation) Lamar Bathhouse signed his name as J. W. Zelm. The Hot Springs Park Service spent many hours researching the name and with a stroke of luck from a story published here on the Internet has just recently traced down Mr. Zelm.
Mr. Zelm was a native of Denmark where he began his artistic career. Once he reached the United States he attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Joyce Fox, a granddaughter to Mr. Zelm, along with several other descendants, plan to visit Hot Springs this summer. They will receive a personal tour of the Lamar Bathhouse. At that time, many other historical documents will be brought to illuminate the life and times of J. W. Zelm.
Here is a photo of the artist from about the time he executed the Lamar mural.
Mr. Zelm was a native of Copenhagen. When he was called in to assist in beautifying the Lamar he had already been executing mural paintings for over 25 years in the United States. Just prior to working in the Lamar Mr. Zelm had did interior decorating for six theaters in Arkansas and lately embellished the interior and lobby of the Princess theatre. Jack Manier, the manager of the Lamar at that time authorized him to go ahead and do anything he felt would be proper in regard to the bathhouse lobby.
Here one can see the natural talents of Mr. Zelm. The Hot Springs National Park Service has added these photos to its resource files.
Mr. Zelm went on to add many more works of art to the walls of America.
Since that long ago day the Lamar Bathhouse has suffered greatly from the passage of time. The entire wall hosting the mural of Mr. Zelm split. The Park Service worked diligently to repair the damage. By raising the support columns (in the basement) just three-fourths of any inch in the center, the mural was very slowly brought back together again. On the other side of the walls from that rural before the racing began, the crack was opened wider to allow freer movement in that section as the support columns were being raised.
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