Well-Kept Paintings By CIA Artist Tony Mendez Find New Home

DENVER (CBS4) - When Simon Lofts was watching the CBS4 News at 10, he knew he wanted to reveal two Tony Mendez paintings that were sitting in a Colorado garage.

"We're just really happy they're not sitting in a garage in a box," said Lesa Leiter, who used to own the paintings. "They were in my garage since 2000, but I started doing a little bit of research and found out Tony Mendez painted them."

Mendez lived in Colorado in his teens and held odd jobs around Denver before becoming an officer for the CIA.

Leiter's father salvaged the paintings in the late 1980s. They're originally from a hotel that closed in the late 1960s. The paintings were boxed up and preserved without a real home or display for half a century.

"He loved the idea that they had been hidden for this long and then there was suddenly a possibility to sort of reveal them to everybody," said Caroline Lofts, Simon's daughter. She's also the COO of Workability where the art is now on display.

Lofts bought the oil paintings depicting life in Denver in the late 1800s in the spring, but it took months to move them, clean them, and put them on display. Each painting was on Masonite and weighs roughly 300 lbs.

"The truth of the matter is that they were only on the walls for four years beforehand so they weren't even damaged. They were just encased and kept. So, they're almost brand new in that respect as far as an oil painting goes," Caroline said. "It's been a really big team effort and actually that's made it even nicer."

Workability is located at 1576 Sherman Street in Denver. The public is allowed to view the paintings.