Local Citizens Call On Community To Sign Petition To Add ‘The Boys Of Pajarito Plateau Los Alamos Ranch School 1917-1943’ Painting To County Art Collection

Submitted by Carol A. Clark
on March 22, 2025
- 12:19 pm

‘The Boys of Pajarito Plateau Los Alamos Ranch School 1917-1943’ commemorative oil painting by J.W. Segler is now on display for a short time at Bathtub Row Brewing Coop in Los Alamos. The community is invited to stop by and view the original painting, sign the County Petition for purchase and have a beer. Courtesy image

COMMUNITY News:

Visit the painting and sign the petition at Bathtub Row Brewery Coop.
Attend County Council meeting 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to hear presentation to the Council.

At 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 25, a group of local citizens in support of purchase of “The Boys of Pajarito Plateau Los Alamos Ranch School 1917-1943” commemorative oil painting by J.W. Segler, will present the painting and their proposal to the Los Alamos County Council. The group invites all local citizens, artists, friends and Scouters to attend the Council meeting and show support. The group said there is significant community support to add the painting to the Los Alamos County art collection.

Everyone who agrees with the purchase of “The Boys of Pajarito Plateau” painting for the County’s art collection are encouraged to sign a petition, available now at the Bathtub Row Brewing Bar at 163 Central Park Square.

Twenty-ﬁve years before the Manhattan Project created the town of Los Alamos, 30 miles north of Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Pajarito Plateau was home to an elite prep school for boys, ages 12 to 18. The Los Alamos Ranch School combined a robust outdoor life and a carefully cultivated wilderness experience with a rigorous academic program.

LARS (Los Alamos Ranch School) adopted the philosophy and uniforms of the ﬂedgling Boy Scouts of America, although not aﬃliated with BSA. Upon arrival at LARS, every new student was issued a horse for the duration of their stay. It was an academic and outdoor program for mostly, sons of wealthy business families from across the United States.

The Ranch School was a truly unique place, beloved by its students and staﬀ. By design, there were never more than forty-eight students at a time. But with its college preparatory courses and vigorous outdoor program centering on horses, sports, and community work, Los Alamos Ranch School achieved a national reputation. Several prominent graduates included Gore Vidal and William S. Burroughs.

The School was forced to close down in 1943 when J. Robert Oppenheimer convinced the U.S. Government that the Pajarito Plateau location was a perfect, isolated location for the top secret Manhattan Project. —Excerpted in part from Los Alamos, The Ranch School Years, 1917-1943. By John D. Wirth & Linda Harvey Aldrich

The Painting

Segler was approached by prominent local citizen, David Carr in 2016 to produce a commemorative painting to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Ranch School. The idea was that the painting would help bring to life, in full color, a moment in the lifestyle of a Ranch School student. The project was heavily researched, old uniforms were found, new Stetsons, neckerchiefs and sneakers were manufactured, the local horse community joined in for a rigorous photo shoot and the painting was created. Over the next several years the painting was a topic of Art and Public Places Board meetings and the County Council, but to this day has still not been purchased.

In 2022 Segler was approached by the Medici Museum of Fine Art requesting to include The Boys of Pajarito Plateau in the Norman Rockwell exhibit in Warren, Ohio. The collection was the largest exhibit of Norman Rockwell paintings ever displayed in one location. The painting hung in this honorable location until September 2024. The rightful location of The Boys of Pajarito Plateau is at Fuller Lodge in Los Alamos, New Mexico.