Broadway Bank Donates Moon Landing Painting to SAC

(San Antonio, TX, June 25, 2008) – San Antonio College (SAC) held a ceremony today to honor and thank Broadway Bank and the Cheever Family for donating to the college a panoramic, 12 foot by 8 ½ foot oil painting titled “First Men on the Moon,” by NASA artist Robert T. McCall. The painting features the famous moon landing and exploration by Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong on July 20, 1969.

To mark the occasion, Chairman Emeritus Charles E. Cheever Jr. spoke on behalf of his family and Broadway Bank, and joined SAC President Robert E. Zeigler in unveiling a plaque stating that Broadway Bank dedicates the painting “to future generations of students and planetarium visitors who will continue the spirit of adventure, innovation and creativity.”
“We are thrilled and honored that Broadway Bank has chosen San Antonio College to be the recipient of this beautiful and inspiring painting,” said Dr. Zeigler. He added, “SAC is the home of the Francis Scobee Planetarium, named for the late outstanding former student and astronaut who died in the tragic Challenger explosion. So we gladly accept this generous gift as a further tribute to Francis Scobee, and for future students who will continue to expand our understanding of the world.”

Dr. Zeigler said the painting will be temporarily located in Chance Academic Center and later moved to a planned Visitors’ Center for the Planetarium, which has a projection chamber that displays 4,000 artificial stars and has had over one million visitors since it opened in 1961.

“My father was an immense fan of NASA and space exploration; he followed the voyages into space with great interest and excitement,” said Mr. Cheever. “The family is delighted to make this gift to San Antonio College, and we consider the planetarium the perfect setting for the painting depicting such an extraordinary event in history.”

On July 20, 1969, Colonel Charles E. Cheever and bank employees gathered around a TV in the bank lobby to watch and celebrate the momentous touchdown with champagne. He commissioned the painting from Robert McCall, who in 1970 completed the life-sized painting that has hung in the Broadway Bank lobby ever since. As a philanthropic gesture and to accommodate remodeling needs, the painting has been donated to the San Antonio College Francis Scobee Planetarium.

Also speaking at the event were Denver McClendon, Chairperson, Alamo Community Colleges Board of Trustees; Jackie Van De Walle, ACCD Foundation Board Chairperson; and Bryan Snow, SAC Scobee Planetarium Coordinator.

Artist Robert T. McCall, born in 1919, was selected by NASA in 1962 to provide a record of its space exploration achievements, which include his sketches of the last Mercury one-man spacecraft launched in 1963 from Cape Kennedy and an enormous six-story mural at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Artist Isaac Asimov said, “Robert McCall is the nearest thing we have to an artist-in-residence in outer space.”

As a locally-owned and operated financial institution, Broadway Bank was founded in 1941 to serve the San Antonio community and has evolved from a small neighborhood bank into the largest independently-owned bank headquartered in the San Antonio metropolitan area. With approximately $1.8 billion in assets, the highly rated Broadway Bank and its military division, Eisenhower Bank, operate 36 locations in South Texas and the surrounding area. Visit the Broadway Bank website at broadwaybank.com and Eisenhower Bank at eisenhowerbank.com for more information.

For information about the San Antonio College Francis Scobee Planetarium,
call (210) 733-2910 or visit www.accd.edu/sac/ce/scobee.