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Volunteers have raised approximately $20,000 to restore a mural on the back of the 87-year-old Elsinore Theatre in downtown Salem.

Portland mural artist Dan Cohen has been hired by the Friends of the Mattingly Mural to do the restoration work. He is known as the artist behind the Marilyn Monroe mural at Fox Studios in Los Angeles as well as movie murals in New York City.

The 68-foot-by-65-foot Elsinore mural was painted in 1984 by the late James Mattingly, who was an art professor at Western Oregon University. “Theatrical Heartscape” is a tribute to the Elsinore’s silent-film-era heritage with images of stars Theda Bara, Charlie Chaplin, Marlene Dietrich and W.C. Fields.

Jon Christianson, a member of the volunteer group, said Cohen will oversee the repainting and sealing of the mural beginning late this month or early next month.

The $20,000 – including an anonymous gift of $10,000 – came from approximately 70 donors. Kimberli Fitzgerald, Salem’s senior historic planner, said the fundraising effort was phenomenal.

“They raised the money to do the restoration very, very quickly,” she said.

The Elsinore was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. Christianson said the theater and its mural are important to the Salem community.

“In its vibrant original colors and cinematic characters, the mural is dramatic – an eye-catching work that embraces the arts,” he said.

Former Portland Mayor Bud Clark presided over the dedication of the mural in 1984.