conservation of public art' issue. fall 2012 (pdf edition) - v27n2

7/29/2019 'Conservation of Public Art' Issue. Fall 2012 (PDF Edition) - V27n2

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2 V. 27 | NO. 2 | FALL 2012

A N

DPublic art punctuates our surroundings. It reminds us oimportant moments in history, and it honors the allen. It makes us smile inparks and squares and captures our attention in underpasses and stations.

Unlike its privileged cousins housed in the controlled conines o art museums,

public art contends with the world at largecars, people, graiti, censorship,

ice, birds, and sun. All o these actors have considerable implications or art

in public spaces, which is the ocus o this issue o Conservation Perspectives.

How can conservators, and the others responsible or its care, be the best-

equipped stewards o art in the public realm?

At the Getty Conservation Institute, we have been working or many

years on conservation issues presented by public and outdoor art . he con-

servation oAmrica ropical, a monumental 1932 outdoor painted mural by

David Alaro Siqueiros in downtown Los Angelesand its lessons generallyor outdoor mural conservationhas been a long-term project o the Institute.

We worked closely with our Getty Museum conservation colleagues as they

prepared and conserved the Fran and Ray Stark Collectionthe Museums own collection o outdoor art. Finally,

as part o the GCIs Modern and Contemporary Art Research initiative, we have been researching the problems o

outdoor painted suraces, including sculptures and murals, seeking a better understanding o the properties and

behaviors o paints used or twentieth- and twenty-irst-century outdoor painted artworks. Our purpose in these

eorts is to establish ways that conservation proessionals can improve the preservation o art in outdoor places.

he eature article in this newsletter edition is authored by two proessionals who have grappled with the com-

plications related to the care o outdoor public art. In their article, Rika Smith McNally and Lillian Hsurespectively,

the conservator o public art and the director o public art or the Cambridge Arts Council in Massachusetts

explore some o the challenges they conront as they care or public art in the ace o the serendipity and disordero human activity, the unknowns o accelerating technology, the power o climate, and the reliable march o decay.

Our other articles take a closer look at conservation issues related to some speciic works o public art in a range

o materials. In her article, Leslie Rainer, a GCI senior project specialist, recounts the diicult preservation journey o

Amrica ropical, which, ater years o neglect, became the ocus o a GCI/City o Los Angeles project to conserve,

protect, and make publicly accessible this signiicant work o public art. Modern art conservators Lydia Beerkens

and Frederike Breder examine some o the conservation challenges associated with composite plastic iberglass-

reinorced polyester, a medium popular with artists in recent decades but one that poses particular technical and

philosophical questions with respect to conservation treatment. Sculpture conservator Andrew Naylor describes

the treatment decisions made on several historic monuments in Dublin, where threats to monuments over the years

have run the gamut rom bird droppings to damage rom political violence. Finally, we round out our examination o

public art with a conversation with two public art administrators and a public art conservator about the broad rangeo considerations that go into the creation and care o art located in public spaces.

Without question, public art enriches our experience o our communities, at its best prompting us to pause

and relect, as well as enjoy. While public art may pose myriad conservation challenges, its enhancement o civic lie

more than justiies the eort.

Timothy P. Whalen


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CONSERVATION PERSPECTIVES, THE GCI NEWSLETTER 3

4 FEAURE ARICLECONSERVAION OF CONEMPORARY PUBLIC AR

By Rika Smith McNally and Lillian Hsu

0HE REURN OF AMRICA ROPICALBy Leslie Rainer

3EMPORARY AR?

P C O S

F-R P

By Lydia Beerkens and Frederike Breder

6CONSERVAION AND CARE OF SCULPURAL MONUMENSBy Andrew Naylor

8OU IN HE OPENA D C O P A

24 KEY RESOURCESA

25 GCI NEWSP, ,

THE GCI NEWSLETTERVOLUME 27 NUMBER 2 FALL 2012

CONSERVAION PERSPECIVES

ON HE COVERD O I(84) A L, S,W. T , , S O A C A, S C O P A B I, S CF, . P: A L H.

C


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he materials o the public artist long ago movedbeyond bronze, marble, and stained glass. Contemporary

artists do not hesitate to dip into the pockets o the ma-

terial, cultural, or technological worlds to retrieve something

that sparks their imagination or serves a desired eect. Public

art collections relect the growth o electronic art and socially

integrated design that continues to expand the artists palette

and the artists role in the public sphere. We encourage our pub-

lic artists to experiment, even as it complicates the challenge o

ensuring that public art endures. In this early part o the twenty-

irst century, endurance is a word indeinitely deined.

he urban realm is a complex environment ull o unpre-dictable activities that exert their orces on even the simplest

o objects. A city is a lively, active world with an intense level o

usage. Weather, ultraviolet light, little security, and pollution

are also part o the public art collections reality. Conronting

these elements is the public artist, who has an aesthetic vision

that must be realized in an environment that is simultaneously

physical, social, and political. Public art has always been about

collaboration, but in addition to the artist-and-patron rela-

tionship, contemporary public art includes collaboration with

the general public, arts administrators, architects, engineers,

city planners, landscape designers, abricators, and art conser-

vators . Assisting both the artist, who must choose materials

that will satisy a concept within a budget, and the arts agency,

which must maintain an art collection or the continued ben-

eit o the public, is the art conservator, who serves as a ma-

terials guide, combining scientiic concepts with the physical

care o art.

he conservation and maintenance o public art exist

where the desire or control and the desire or reedom inter-

sect, mirroring the tension throughout our culture between the

urge to preserve memory and history and the value we place onreedom o expression and living in the moment. Our public

spaces are shaped by intricate planning that entails a purposeul

arrangement o physical elements and an attempt to balance

guarantees o endurance with inspirational vision.

Caring or public art in these intricate circumstances is

complicated. We are in constant motion, juggling contradic-

tion, high expectations, ignorance, and a disparate set o goals.

One practices the maintenance o public art in the midst o the

messy, tangled world o urban lie. he serendipity and disorder

o human activity, the unknowns o accelerating technology, the

power o climate, and the reliable march o decay sometimes

make us seem like ools. Who are we to think we can predict

the outcome?

the cac programhe Cambridge Arts Council (CAC) in Cambridge, Massachu-

setts, has been contending with these challenges since 1979,

when the Cambridge Public Art Ordinance was created, and the

CAC began commissioning public art or capital improvement

projects. In 1996 our Conservation and Maintenance Program

was initiated, and it continues to this day, providing proessionalcare to our collection o over one hundred works o art, many

with multiple parts. hey are integrated into the built landscape

and sited throughout the neighborhoods o Cambridge. At the

CAC, the conservator acts as inormer and planner, advocate

and acilitator, and budget estimator, in addition to coordinating

routine maintenance and treatment. he CACs conservation

work is truly interdisciplinary, based on numerous communica-

tions and conversations between many departments as we plan

and care or the public collection.

FEATURE

ARTICLECONSERVAION

OF CONEMPORARYPUBLIC ARby rika smith mnally and lillian hsu

4 V. 27 | NO. 2 | FALL 2012


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Yx R U (2006) R , C, M. , , . I . I 200, , . H G H USA C . P: R S MN.

he CAC conservation program is built on three basic

components: assessment, maintenance, and treatment. Each o

these endeavors is governed by the conservation proessions best

practices in documentation, including writing and photography,

design drawings, and video. Constant record keeping o materi-

als acts and care directions, as well as o conversations and artist

interviews, is critical.

We approach the conservation needs o the public art

collection, as well as o individual artworks, in the same way we

approach the needs o artworks in a museumwith care, discus-sion, and planning. he care o contemporary public art requires

equal vigilance in assessment, preventive measures, conservative

procedures, and detailed documentation. At the same time, the

conservation o public art may be dierent rom museum con-

servation in the need to be nimble: hail and strong winds may

require immediate action, and a truck plowing through bollards

and hitting a ountain certainly does.

In addition to the three basic components o assessment,

maintenance, and treatment, a ourth and critical part o con-

temporary public art conservation is preabrication conserva-

tion reviews. We have devoted the most time to this practice in

the last ew years. A preabrication review provides inormation

on the artists intent, material choices, technology updates and

replacement, abrication techniques, and installation methods.

It also establishes a clearly written long-term maintenance plan,

including the artists and the commissioning agents discussion

o expected longevity. he reviews are not an attempt to judge

the physical acceptability o a proposed artwork but, rather,

are a way to inorm all involved in the process and to discussmaterials or methods improvement and uture ongoing main-

tenance. he reviews can also be used to clariy the deinitions

opermanentversus temporary (isnt most urban planning ac-

tually transitory?) and prepare maintenance budgets. We talk

to the artists about their workrom their initial response to

the project to their ully developed structural visionas well

as about installation challenges; their thoughts about surace

color, texture, and sheen; and their hopes or how the public

will encounter, question, and appreciate their art.


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the human factorIn a recent gathering o heads o various departments meeting to

review our conservation and maintenance budget, the conversa-

tion turned to one o our public artworks, a bus shelter designed by

aylor Davis. Daviss sculptural shelter is constructed o iteen nar-

row eight-oot-tall panels o rose-colored glass held in measured

rhythm by aluminum raming within a unique our-sided structure.A long wooden bench is set hal inside and hal outside the shelter.

During the works planning process, maintenance concerns

were mostly about graiti, which everyone expected. Since the

rose color was achieved by laminating a rose-tinted ilm between

two pieces o clear glass, the surace o the panels would be rela-

tively easy to clean. he piece, which was installed in 2006, was

majestic and luminescent. Yet barely six months had passed be-

ore eight o the iteen panels were smashed, and the cycle o

breakage and replacement continued. Each panel costs approxi-

mately $800 to replace. Although common wisdom says rapid

repair discourages urther vandalism, these custom glass panelscould not be replaced quickly. With the Conservation and Main-

tenance Programs annual conservation and routine maintenance

budget o approximately $30,000 or a growing collection o over

one hundred works o art, the shelter was becoming unsustain-

able within our means. Possible solutions under discussion with

the artist include moving the artwork to a dierent neighbor-

hood, replacing the custom rose-colored panes with standard

colored glass, or removing the artwork and extending the

concept o rose-colored glass to other commercially made city

bus shelters when their glass panels need replacing.

Everyone around the table knew o the repeated damage.

hen someone said, Public art doesnt last in North Cambridge.

Another artwork a hal mile away was mentionedRandal

hurstons Yerxa Road Underpass, also completed in 2006. Usingsilhouetted motis o butterlies, birds, and trees, hurstons

artwork adorns two 150-oot north and south ramp walls, two

portals, and a 50-oot tunnel lined with ceramic tiles, into which

the artist designed sandblasted and painted images o butterlies.

he ceramic tunnel walls are repeatedly tagged with graiti.

agging includes reerences to rival gangs, as well as students

attempts at humor and coolness. Admittedly, it is a long pedes-

trian tunnel under railroad tracks that cannot be seen rom any

surrounding house, but it is also a well-loved and well-lit work o

public art that enhances a busy thoroughare or people on oot

and on bicycle, linking two dense residential areas.he comment in the meeting that day was about a set o

individuals and their particular culture, demonstrated in a par-

ticular public space in a particular neighborhood. he repeated

actions o a ew were powerul enough to cause an attribution o

character to a whole neighborhood. Was this a site condition like

winter heaving, acid rain, or truck exhaust? We would have to

say yesparticular, repeated human behavior is a site condition.

6 V. 27 | NO. 2 | FALL 2012

Gx D / S(2004) M L U. C . S , ( ) ,, ; . P: R S MN.


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A: B Fg (86) D P, C . C N S . R . P: R S MN.

R: D S(80), D P.O C P A C , . P: R S MN.

In another neighborhood several years ago, the residents

expressed a complete reversal o opinion about an artists proposal,

which had gone through the standard public approval process. Res-idents were prepared to hold up construction o their new street

unless we rescinded the public art. In an unprecedented move, we

had to withdraw the project. Weeks later we encountered one o

the residents in a local shop, and with an apologetic smile, he

expressed his regrets that the artwork had not worked out but then

oered the explanation Were just philistines. Human behavior,

sometimes rooted in attitudes and belies about art and public

space, can be the most elusive site condition to address, but it

remains an ever-present variable in our conservation eorts.

successes and challenges

We have had many successes planning and caring or our public

art collection through an eective routine maintenance program

that beneits rom our close relationship with the Department o

Public Works and other city departments. By using high-peror-

mance paint systems, we have prevented the ading o paint on

outdoor painted steel and have been assured o reduced galvanic

corrosion with the use o better-matching alloys. Our protective

coatings on bronze and murals make graiti removal easier. Our

city manager recognizes and approves o what we do. We are a

small line item in the citys budget, but our budget is consistent.

Our public artists are appreciative o the inormation and assis-

tance we can provide, and they ask or help and support early on.

We have also experienced ailures and continue to meet many

challenges. On occasion, contractors or abricators have substitut-

ed materials to the detriment o quality, and installations have not

gone as well as planned. Persistent graiti has tested our ability to

keep up with removal. Only eight years ago, the web page or our

Conservation and Maintenance Program stated that vandalism to

public art was a rarity in Cambridge. Sadly, we had to remove that

assertion rom the website. When a local hardware store has a sale

on spray paint, we know there will be an increase in tagging with

these ready supplies, and we ask store owners to remove buckets

o spray cans and sale signs rom the sidewalks. We have ollowed

speciic taggers, photographing their work and locations, and have

sometimes visited schools and youth centers to identiy residents

with a reputation or tagging. As we grapple with the chemical as

well as social issues o graiti, another layer o dialogue must con-

tinue among all who care about public spacesa conversation that


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8 V. 27 | NO. 2 | FALL 2012

addresses the conlict between an ideal o support or a variety o

artistic means o expression, an opportunity or public commen-

tary, the taggers demands to be noticed, and the belie in civic

responsibility and a shared respect or public and private space.

Electronic art is a ast-growing component o our collection

and o artist proposals. Video, lighting, sound, cell phone apps,

and the needs o changing sotware require a dierent kind o

care than washing and applying protective coatings. hese newer

media present a new set o challengesthey are a lourishing

addition to the public artists resources but one that requires

management on a case-by-case basis. Constantly evolving tech-

nologies require the skills and knowledge base o specialized

technicians and new-media archivists, and we realize we need

added unds or electronic art preservation consulting.

Percent-or-art programs and public-private commissionsoten oer barely enough money or design, abrication, and

installation, and it is very rare or an artwork to come with main-

tenance unding or even with a written understanding o how

long the object is meant to last or how to care or it. he biggest

obstacles we see or the conservation o public art are the lack o

communication between proessional disciplines and a serious

lack o unding. Engineers, landscape designers, city oicials, and

the public need to understand what good conservation practice

is, and it is important that they understand that maintenance is a

routine and necessary part o a public art collection. Our conser-

vation technicians carry out maintenance and are oten thanked

by residents and passersby, but many think they are volunteers

and do not appreciate the training and oversight we provide.

With every public art project, we talk with artists about

choices that can prevent or slow deterioration, such as best

materials, abrication processes, and installation methods. Artists

need reedom to experiment with ideas and to use materials

expressively. We make decisions based on laws o saety and

access, predictability o materials, the known habits o the public,

and the budget, but once the ences come down and the contrac-

tor leaves, the space returns to the people, and lie happens.

Furthering the complexity o conservation is the increasing

erasure in many projects o any observable dierence between the

social and physical attributes o an artwork and those o its site.

In many cases, an artists work becomes indistinguishable romthe work o other disciplines, except or the ideas the artist brings

to the project. When an artist chooses the pavers to go down an

alley or plans the colors to accent a bridge or garage railing, the

preservation o those aesthetic selections is within our jurisdic-

tion but requires the services o our Department o Public Works

or o a commercial cleaning crew, and we are oten not even

present when preservation action is taken. When artists propose

long-term social programming as public artsuch as directing

a school to implement student projects or the yearly collection

o rainwater, calling or the harvesting o crops by residents, or

Lv R I, N Y C. I - . V ( 70) . P: H . R A R S (ARS), N Y.


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CONSERVATION PERSPECTIVES, THE GCI NEWSLETTER

creating other community activities based on an artists instruc-

tionsthe character o our eorts to maintain the artists intent

is very dierent rom simply scheduling washing and waxing.

public art, public spacesA vibrant urban environment holds myriad hazards or public

art. A wealth o activity, a density o needs, and the limitations

o resources all demand our attention. he process o bringing

an integrated and site-responsive work o art to realization and

endurance has no clear road map.

What can we do to advance the conservation o public art?

he conservation ield needs to recognize and support the grow-

ing number o conservators who specialize in public art. Such

support could be maniested in a number o ways, including

establishing electronic networks speciically or those workingwith public art, hosting conerences (or sessions within estab-

lished conerences) that ocus on public art conservation, and

encouraging training and publication in the care o public art.

Because increased communication between public art conserva-

tors and allied proessions is critical to the ields advancement,

we should continue to advocate or the exchange o knowledge

and experience within the discipline, as well as with other related

ields, such as museum studies, curatorial practice, urban plan-

ning, architecture, engineering, and material science.

Cultivating close ties to prominent public artists is another

important way to build an appreciation o conservation, so that they

can speak or the critical role that conservation plays in planning

and preserving public art. Interdisciplinary conerences, exhibits

that ocus on the relationship between artists materials and conser-

vation, and public dialogues urther engage a variety o audiencesthrough multiple ormats. As conservators, we must continually

deine and redeine the terms and intentions o our practice and ask

questions. What is permanence? When does change trump preser-

vation? o what extent do we allow experimentation? Not only do

we need to do this or our ield, we need to do it or our audiences.

Our public spaces are critical to a civic lie that honors and

celebrates our humanity and history and responds to cultural and

political change. Residents and visitorsdiverse in culture, age, and

interestsseek the reedom to move about and use public space

spontaneously and or a wide range o purposes. While the ways in

which the weather and the public might interact with works o artare never entirely known or predictable, conservation is an essential

component o ensuring that public art continues to enrich our envi-

ronment, prompts us to ask questions, and eeds our imaginations.

Since 1998, Rika Smith McNally has been involved in the care

of the public art collection of the Cambridge Art Council in

Cambridge, Massachusetts; in 2010 she became a permanent

staff member as conservator of public art. Since 2006 Lillian Hsu

has been the director of public art for the Cambridge Arts Council,

where she manages the citys Percent-for-Art Program. She is also

a sculptor and installation artist.

Ev(2006) E. L A LED . E - , - . P: E.


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0 V. 27 | NO. 2 | FALL 2012

ON OCOBER , 32, DAVID ALFARO SIQUEIROS COMPLEED

HIS MONUMENAL MURAL AMRICA ROPICAL, on the second

story o the Italian Hall on Olvera Street in downtown Los

Angeles. he mural, commissioned by La Plaza Art Center, was

intended to depict a romanticized view o tropical America, a

land o plenty, with ruits alling into the hands o the people.Siqueiros, a political activist and revolutionary artist, instead

painted a scene o Maya ruins, with a central, cruciied Indian

igure. An American eagle looms above him, while two sharp-

shooters take aim at the eagle rom nearby.

he mural was controversial rom the moment it was

unveiled, and the scene with the sharpshooters, which could

be seen rom Olvera Street, was whitewashed within a year. By

the end o the decade, the entire mural had been whitewashed.

Censored, then neglected and largely orgotten, Amrica

ropical was only rediscovered in the late 1960s, and it soon

became a touchstone or the Chicano mural movement.

In the early 1990s, the Getty Conservation Institute and the

City o Los Angeles conceived a project to conserve, protect, and

make publicly accessibleAmrica ropical. he coordination, de-

sign, and implementation o the project lasted over twenty years,

and in October 2012, on the eightieth anniversary o its original

unveiling, the GCI and the city reopened the mural to the public.

During the project, a multidisciplinary team o conser-vators, scientists , architects, engineers , and exhibit designers

aced a number o challenges. First were the scientiic analysis

and conservation treatment o the badly deteriorated mural. In

addition, a shelter or the mural that would protect it rom the

elements and provide optimum viewing conditions needed to

be designed and engineered; along with the shelter, the proj-

ect required a platorm to allow viewing oAmrica ropical

by the public. Due to the location o the mural in a historic

district, a public approval process was also necessary or the

THE RETURN OF

AMRICA ROPICALby leslie rainer

A . , , ( - ). , , . P: L R, GCI.


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design o these elements. Finally, the design and installation o

an interpretive center were critical or providing inormation

about the mural, as well as placing it in the context o Siqueiross

lie and work.

conserving amrica tropicalEorts to conserve the mural began in the late 1960s with art

historian Shira Goldman. In 1971 Goldman recruited ilm-

maker Jesus ervio to make a documentary ilm aboutAmrica

ropical. For that ilm, revio brought two conservators rom

Mexico to examine the mural and propose a treatment. he con-

servators concluded that because o the murals overall deterio-

ration, it could not, and should not, be restored to its original

color; rather, it should be stabilized and conserved in its current

state. Siqueiros, then living in Mexico City, was consulted, and

he proposed re-creating the mural on portable panels. Siqueiros

actually began work on these panels in his studio, but he wasunable to complete them beore he died in 1974.

In 1977 Jean Bruce Poole, a curator at El Pueblo de Los

Angeles Historical Monument (the city entity that oversees

Olvera Street), joined Goldman in an eort to preserve the

mural. ogether they brought in additional experts to examine

Amrica ropicaland built a series o shelters to protect it while

unds were sought or its conservation.

In 1987 Poole and Goldman approached the GCI to

conduct materials analysis on the paint and plaster used on

Amrica ropical. Following this study, a weather station was

installed to monitor conditions at the site and to assess the

possible adverse eects o light and atmospheric pollution on

the mural. hese studies laid the groundwork or the GCI to

develop a comprehensive plan or the murals protection, con-

servation, and presentation. At the same time, an interpretive

center was conceived that would provide inormation on the

mural and its artist.

he irst phase o conservation was carried out in 1990 by

a team o conservators led by Agustn Espinosa rom Mexico;

two other treatment campaigns, in 2002 and 2012, have ol-

lowed. Since the visit o the Mexican conservators in the 1970s,

there has been a consensus among the interested parties that

the guiding principle or the conservation oAmrica ropical

should be to preserve the history o the mural and the original

paint, retaining the authenticity o the artists hand. he original

materials that remain are a testament o the revolutionary rescopainting technique that Siqueiros was developing in Los Angeles

at the time, a technique that ormed the basis or some o his

later innovations on murals in Mexico and South America.

Conservation has also aimed to preserve the story o

Amrica ropical, its controversial subject matter, its whitewash-

ing, neglect, and eventual exposure over decades. he current

state o the imagewhich is much ainter than when originally

paintedis a result o these actors. hereore, any signiicant

repainting or restoration would, to a large degree, erase the


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2 V. 27 | NO. 2 | FALL 2012

history o the mural. With this in mind, the GCIs treatment o

the mural ocused on cleaning, consolidation, plaster and paint

reattachment, tar and stain removal, illing o losses, and mini-

mal aesthetic reintegration. In addition to the completed treat-

ment, the project to conserve Amrica ropicalalso includes

long-term monitoring and maintenance, to which the GCI is

committed or the next ten years.

protecting the muralIntegral to theAmrica ropicalproject was the design and con-

struction o a shelter to protect it. he objective was to shade

the mural rom direct sunlight, keep rain o, and give visitors an

optimal viewing experience.

Several plans or a shelter were explored. he inal design,

by Brooks + Scarpa Architects (ormerly Pugh + Scarpa), is a

abric-wrapped structural steel canopy with a roll-down screen

that protects the mural when the site is closed to the public. hecanopy spans the entire eighty-oot length o the mural, allowing

or an unobstructed view rom the nearby viewing platorm.

he sheer weight o the canopy, over seventy thousand pounds,

required that load-bearing columns extend through the ounda-

tion o an adjacent building. An additional complication was en-

countered when archaeological investigations revealed that the

proposed columns were positioned directly above the location o

the zanja madre, an underground brick aqueduct rom the origi-

nal water system or El Pueblo and Los Angeles that dated rom

the early nineteenth century. he columns were engineered to

prevent damage to this important archaeological artiact.

he viewing platorm, located on a nearby rootop, is ac-

cessed through the Amrica ropicalInterpretive Center. he

platorm, which is accessible during the open hours o the center,

can accommodate up to twenty people at a time.

he challenges o designing and building a contemporary

canopy and viewing platorm in a historic district were diicult,

but their inal design is sensitive to the surrounding historic

abric. As an example, the color palette o Olvera Street and El

Pueblo are integrated into the design o their key elements.

interpretation and presentationGivenAmrica ropicals deteriorated state and the aintness o

its image, interpreting the mural or the public posed a challenge

or the exhibits designers. he aim o the interpretive center is

to oer visitors a uller understanding oAmrica ropicalin the

context o Siqueiross work and lie. o achieve this, designers

created a series o interactive exhibits and didactic displays on a

range o topics, including the story o Siqueiros as an artist and

political activist; the milieu o Los Angeles in the 1930s; the ico-nography and meaning o the mural, as well as its conservation;

and the impact o Siqueiross legacy on Los Angeles and the con-

temporary mural movement. he complex story o the mural is

seen through these many lenses, providing visitors with a deeper

knowledge o who Siqueiros was, what he was saying in the mural,

and how the mural inluenced subsequent generations o artists.

From the early attempts to preserve the mural in the late

1960s to the comprehensive project undertaken by the GCI and

the City o Los Angeles (supported in part by Friends o Heritage

Preservation, a group o private individuals based in the United

States), the perseverance and commitment o individuals andinstitutions, along with the work o a multidisciplinary team,

have made it possible or people to inally view the only remain-

ing public mural in Los Angeles painted by Siqueiros. hese

combined eorts have served to preserve Amrica ropical, so

that its artistic, social, and historic legacy can be appreciated

or generations to come.

Leslie Rainer is a senior project specialist with GCI Field Projects,

and the manager of the Conservation ofAmrica ropical project.

C . , , . P .P: S R S, GCI.


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HE PRESERVAION OF OUDOOR SCULPURES DIFFERS

FUNDAMENALLY FROM HE PRESERVAION OF OHERARWORKS in an important respectthey are on permanent

exhibition without the protection o a building. Writing in the

GCI Newsletter in 2007, conservators Derek Pullen and Jackie

Heuman described the long tradition o outdoor sculptures,

identiying bronze and stone as the best surviving materials and

pointing out the diverse management and conservation prob-

lems associated with these works o art. o avoid extensive and

invasive treatments, regular maintenance o outdoor sculpture

is crucial. Both good maintenance and appropriate restoration

need to be proceeded by an exploration o the production o

these sculptures, the materials involved, and the artists intent,

taking into account the sculptures location and the local climate.

While traditional bronze sculptures with either an applied

patina or a naturally developed patina survive well, bronze and

metal sculptures with a clear varnish or those painted in ullcolor will last only as long as the coating stays intact. Discol-

oration and wear deace the appearance, while delamination o

the coating induces corrosion and other damage o the metal

underneath. A rather dierent material, in both production and

appearance, is composite plastic iberglass-reinorced polyes-

ter, also known as GRP. Although strong and lasting, this new

twentieth-century material has its own issues o wear and dete-

rioration and, when used or outdoor sculptures, its own par-

ticular conservation challenges.

TEMPORARY ART?

by lydia beerkensand frederike breder

he Production and Conservation of Outdoor

Sculptures in Fiberglass-Reinforced Polyester

200 Lv F (3) N S P, D, G, . P: F B/R D S GH.


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4 V. 27 | NO. 2 | FALL 2012

art production with grphe industrial development o GRP and its commercial availabil-

ity have prompted artists to work with this material. Artists have

avored GRP or outdoor sculptures because it lasts outdoors, is

strong, is easy to work with, and is available in any color. he

material allows artists to actually produce the inal sculptures

themselves, and to create playul works on an impressively largescale. From about 1960 onward, artists such as Jean Dubuet, Niki

de Saint Phalle, and later Atelier Van Lieshout worked in GRP or

their outdoor sculptures, colored either by mixing pigments into

the polyester resin or by artistically painting the surace aterward.

he process o making an artwork in GRP is complex. Niki de

Saint Phalle constructed her early works by alternating iberglass

and polyester resin layers on a wire-mesh ramework, painting

them aterward. Her later works were produced rom her designs

by her assistants. Atelier Van Lieshout applies colored GRP over

large wooden constructions o human and anatomical shapes cut

out in oamed plastic. he inal polyester layer in these cases iscalled the top coat. A dierent procedure or making an object in

GRP involves molds, enabling series production and very smooth

suracesas, or example, with the Futuro houses designed by

Matti Suuronen in 1968.1 Here the inal surace coating is called

thegel coat, being the irst polyester layer that is applied in the

mold. Early on, Jean Dubuet experimented with reinorced

plastic and transerred his painted polystyrene sculptures with

the aid o molds into GRP that he painted aterward.

he molds are the negative orm o the artworks model,

made in plaster or cut rom oamed plasticas, or example,

expanded polystyrene (EPS). he molds, oten produced in GRPthemselves, serve as the negative shape to orm the GRP or the

inal artwork or or parts o it. he inside o the mold is treated

with parain wax. Next, the gel coat, translucent or colored, is

applied, and when it is hal set, several layers o polyester resin

and glass iber are applied. Ater the complete GRP package is

cured, the elements are removed rom the mold, to be assembled

into the inal sculpture over a supportive rame. Colors can be

mixed into the top or gel coat, but the artist can also choose rom

a great variety o commercial paint and varnish systems, includ-

ing opaque, translucent, luster, and metallic paints.

maintenance, prevention,and conservationRegular surace cleaning is the basic maintenance o outdoor

sculptures. Cleaning can be perormed by trained sta using

suitable cloths, sponges, and sot brushes, water, and neutral sur-

actants. More advanced cleaning, such as rinsing with low-pres-

sure water combined with cloth and brushes, should be done only

i needed and only i the material is suiciently durable. hisapproach should be carried out cautiously by a conservator, as in-

appropriate cleaning mediums and tools can cause severe damage.

o prevent the wearing down o a sculptures surace, sacri-

icial wax, acrylic, or emulsion protection layerswith optional

UV absorbers and ungicides addedcan be brushed or sprayed

on and then monitored on a yearly basis. his standard procedure

or outdoor bronzes and painted metal sculptures also works

well or artworks in GRP.2

he deterioration o GRP sculptures maniests itsel in

various ways, rom the micro to the macro level. Sunlight causes

discoloration and, combined with rain, produces a dull and

chalky surace ater a decade or so. When the polyester wears

down, water can enter the iberglass reinorcing layer, causing

mold growth and urther damage ater a period o rost. Larger

breaks in the material can result in corrosion o the metal inner

construction or in the rotting o any wooden structure inside.

Actual damage, breaks, and tears or the laking o the paint

layer require repair. Localized repair involves clearing away worn

material. Preparing the area or a lasting ill and a stable retouch-

ing oten entails irreversible loss o original material. Such a loss

should be considered secondary to saving the entire sculpture

and its appearance, as delaying intervention or doing nothing

acilitates urther decay and, in the end, costs more.

Retouching in an aged paint layer, however, may stand out

over time, as the original and repair layers age dierently. No paint

layer, protective coating, or varnish lasts orever outdoors, and

recoating ultimately becomes inevitable. For a durable recoating

o GRP, the best current coating system that most matches the

original surace should be selected. Because with good prepara-

tion and priming o the surace, the original surace may not stay

intact, the concept o reversibility should be reconsidered in light Lv F, 200. P: FB/R D S GH.


15/32


o the main aimto restore the sculptures

original look and the artists intent, par-

ticularly when the artwork was abricated

by industry in the irst place.

decisions on treatment

Several examples o the conservation ooutdoor sculptures in GRP illustrate some

o the treatment issues involved.

Some o the many Niki de Saint Phalle

painted GRP sculptures have sustained

damage, ading, and delamination o paint

and are in need o treatment. heLifesaver

Fountain (1993) in Duisburg, Germany

(a joint work with her artist husband Jean

inguely), has recently been restored. he

joints o the inner structure o the sculp-

ture were strengthened by additional stain-less steel proiles in order or the ountain

to again be operated properly in its public

space. Acrylic illings were applied, and be-

cause total repainting was not yet necessary,

localized paintingwith translucent and

opaque acrylic paint containing the same

pigments as originally usedwas carried

out, with good results. A polyurethane clear

coat was then applied to mimic the original.3

Jean Dubuet experimented in re-

alizing his monumental sculptures withreinorced plastic. He used epoxy resin,

iberglass cloth, aluminum grate, and poly-

urethane paint or the tree in his Jardin

dmail(1974), a massive piece in the sculp-

ture garden o the Krller-Mller Museum

in the Netherlands. he top part o the GRP tree has displayed

good durability over almost orty years, as it still retains the origi-

nal polyurethane paint layer rom 1974. In contrast, the large con-

crete construction, upon which visitors can walk, always needs

regular care. Eight dierent types o paint layers applied there dur-

ing the same orty years are proo o the complexity o choice in

modern paint technologyando decisions to repaint the surace

time and again. he Dubuet Foundation in Paris provides advice

concerning repainting his works, explaining that the black lines

on Dubuets monumental sculptures are always hand-painted.

Also at the Krller-Mller Museum is Atelier Van Lieshouts

Mobile Home for Krller-Mller (1995). When this large piece

suered badly rom a leak in the roo and replacement was neces-

sary, it was decided to ask the artists studio to replace the roo

by a reconstruction in new GRP in an improved shape, while con-

servators executed local repairs on the kitch-

en unit and the bathroom unit with epoxy

glues and retouched the sleeping unit with

polyurethane paint. A wax layer was applied

as a sacriicial protection layer or the GRP.4

managing the futurePreservation o GRP outdoor sculptures

depends upon regular cleaning and the

application o protective coatings as part

o general maintenance. When conserva-

tion treatments eventually become neces-

sary, they should be based on preserving

the works original look and the intent o

the artist, and the materials used must be

sustainable in the outdoors, rather than

reversible. he treatment cases discussed

here suggest that traditional standards inconservation are too limiting or outdoor

sculptures and that new standards have to

be agreed upon by conservation proes-

sionalsstandards that give precedence

to preserving an artworks identity over

saving original material. Artists, artists

oundations, and abricators could be an

enormous help in making, keeping, and

providing materials and swatches o paint

as reerence or any uture repair or re-

painting. his kind o physical reerencematerial, in the long run, may be o greater

help than the trade name o a paint system

or material in preserving these sculptures

in their outdoor settings, as moving the

sculptures indoors can hardly be an option.

Lydia Beerkens is senior conservator of modern art at SRAL

Maastricht in the Netherlands. Frederike Breder is conservator of

modern art at Museum Folkwang in Essen, Germany.

. L Beerkens, Matti Suuronens Futuro House prototype, 1968: Back inbusiness in the 21st century, in Future alks 2011: echnology and Conservation

o Modern Materials in Design: Papers rom the Conerence Held at the Pinakothekder Moderne, Munich, October 26 to 28, 2011, ed. Tim Bechthold (Munich: DieNeue Sammlung, The International Design Museum, in press).2. Conserving Outdoor Sculpture: he Stark Collection at the Getty Center,by Brian Considine, Julie Wolfe, Katrina Posner, and Michel Marc Bouchard(Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute, 2010), provides good guidelinesfor the regular maintenance of bronzes and other outdoor sculptures.3. For more information on the conservation of Niki de Saint Phalles LiesaverFountain, contact Martin Kaufmann, head of conservation, RestaurierungsatelierDie Schmiede GmbH, Duisburg; www.schmiede-duisburg.de.4. Sanneke Stigter, Lydia Beerkens, Henk L. Schellen, and Sara Kuperholc, Joepvan Lieshouts Mobile Home for Krller-Mller: Outdoor polyester sculpture intransit, in ICOM Committee for Conservation, 15th riennial Conerence, NewDelhi, 22-26 September 2008: Preprints, ed. Janet Bridgland (New Delhi: AlliedPublishers, 2008), vol. 1, 489-96.

D J (74) JD, . K-M M N. P: F B/R D S GH. F D/ARS, N Y, 202.


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6 V. 27 | NO. 2 | FALL 2012

ODAY HE CONCEP OF MONUMENto some has negativeconnotations associated with Victorian gloriication o the elite,

triumphalism, or maudlin sentimentality. Since the First World

War, monuments in memory o those killed in catastrophic events

are dierentiated rom earlier monuments and are regarded as

memorials, democratically paying tribute to victims, amilies, and

communities alikestill poignant but subdued, contemplative,

and inclusive. Monuments generally, however, have been super-

seded by public art. hese may mark, celebrate, or commemorate

people, places, and events, but they reject the pomposity o their

antecedents and are typically more un or challenging.

Whether they are monument, memorial, or public art, we

have a duty to care or these primarily sculptural works made

rom bronze, marble, stoneor, more recently, rom an extended

range o materials available to contemporary sculptors. As with

all artworks, we can conserve all these materials, but we must

also conserve the aesthetic value and cultural signiicance o the

works themselves. Here conservators may come into conlict

when, in some quarters, there is a compulsion to spruce up.

he OConnell Street monuments in Dublin are among

those that have suered rom past smartening up. he

OConnell Monument itsel, arguably John Henry Foleys mas-

terwork, had a tumultuous history rom its commissioning.

Foley was Irish but had decamped to England to urther his

career; this did him no avors in the competition or the com-

mission, but nevertheless, his was the winning design. During

the 1916 Easter Rising, the OConnell Monument was in the

line o ire o the ierce battle that centered on OConnell Street,

and the monument took many hits rom large-caliber bullets.

During the roubles later in the century, the Ulster Volunteer

Force extended its campaign o shootings and bombings to

Dublin, one target being one o the our Winged Victories at

the base o the OConnell Monument, Victory by Courage,

which was blown o the monument in 1996.

In addition to that, the monument (probably in the 1970s)

CONSERVATION AND

CARE OF SCULPTURALMONUMENTSby andrew naylor

S D OC ( 882) J H F, OC

S D, . P: H C L.


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was sandblasted with coarse grit, ollowed by painting o the

bronzeirst with an orange metallic paint, then with black.

Subsequent weathering let a patchwork o exposed bronze and

dierent colored paints that had a camoulage eect, disguisingthe orm. Besides being subjected to guano droppings, the mon-

ument is an irresistible pinnacle to climb at times o celebration,

a great place to enjoy the craic and a greasy burger or to leave ev-

idence o a night o heavy consumption o the national beverage.

When conservation treatment o the monument was under-

taken in 2005, Hall Conservation and the Dublin City Council

took a philosophical view o the climbing, burger grease, and

regurgitated Guinness. he bullet holes, shattered stonework,

and damaged Victory are graphic records o the history o the

monument and o Ireland, and it was decided that they should

remain to illustrate that. However, it was also elt that restorationo the unity and dignity o the bronze was justiiable.

Rather than strip, reinish, and repatinate the eroded

bronze, which removes material and involves harmul chemical

solutions, material was added in the orm o waxes combined

with pigments to recover the color. First a very hard and dura-

ble pigmented wax was applied to the preheated bronze. his

provided ground color, over which was applied an encaustic o

more colored waxes in a palette that imitated patinated bronze,

with subtle highlights and shading. When the color was right,

two urther coats o clear wax were applied. he beneits o this

technique are that any remnants o historical evidence on the

surace are let intact or uture reerence. he wax is to some

extent sel-cleaning and is easily maintained; above all, the

clear wax and semi-translucent tinted waxes build up depth

and richness in the inish.

he James Larkin memorial (by Oisn Kelly) was a relative

newcomer to OConnell Street. Erected in 1971, it escaped the at-

tention o both bombers and cleaners. By 2005 dirt and diesel soot

were clinging to the deeply textured surace o the bronze, but it

had developed a very pleasing green patina. All that was needed

by way o conservation treatment was a thorough but careul

wash, which improved the appearance o the sculpture; protec-

tion is now provided by a clear wax coating. As long as a sculp-

ture is in sound condition, simple and low-cost treatment and

maintenance are eective and most economical in the long term.

Other OConnell Street monuments include the statue o

Father heobald Mathew (by Mary Redmond), which was alsoconserved but remains ingerless as a consequence o the Irish

Republican Armys bomb that destroyed the nearby Nelsons

Pillar in 1966. It was also decided to accept that Dubliners and

tourists would continue to sit on the base o James Joyces statue

(by Marjorie Fitzgibbon), contemplating either great literature

or their shopping lists. Eventually the bronze will wear through,

but only in hundreds o years; in the meantime, millions o

people will have enjoyed relaxing there.

In the case o each o these monuments, decisions regarding

the extent o conservation treatment were made on the basis o

retaining elements o the monuments history and not simply onan intention to create a pristine appearance. At the same time,

these historic and artistic works have been conserved in ways that

provide both long-term protection and renewal o their beauty.

Andrew Naylor is a director and sculpture conservator with

Hall Conservation, which is based in London.

C A N OC .P: H C L.

D S J J ( 0), M F, . L , q . P: H C L.


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8 V. 27 | NO. 2 | FALL 2012

SUSAN GRAY was (until July 2012) the senior cultural planner

at CRA/LA, the designated local authority and successor to the

Community Redevelopment Agency o the City o Los Angeles,

overseeing major public art and cultural revitalization eorts in

economically challenged regions o Los Angeles.

FRIEDERIKE WAENIG has been involved with the preserva-

tion o public art in the city o Cologne, as a proessor o con-

servation at the Cologne Institute o Conservation Sciences o

the University o Applied Sciences; she specializes in the use o

synthetic materials in art.

RURI YAMPOLSKY has been the director o the Public Art

Program or the Oce o Arts and Cultural Aairs or the City

o Seattle since 2006; or teen years, she was a project manager

at the agency, overseeing the integration o art into large-scale

capital construction projects.

Tey spoke with RACHEL RIVENC, an assistant scientist at the

GCI, and JEFFREY LEVIN, editor oConservation Perspectives,

Te GCI Newsletter.

RACHEL RIVENC Lets start by dening public art and its

unction.

RURI YAMPOLSKY Art in public places is all art in the public

realm, regardless o who has provided itbe it a museum, a cor-

porate entity, or a government agency. I denepublic artas art

unded by government. When we established our public art pro-

gram in Seattle in 1973, we included in the preamble to our one-

percent-or-art ordinance that the city accepts responsibility or

expanding public experience with spatial art. Such art enablespeople to better understand their communities and individual

lives. It also speaks to the ideas o engaging people in civic dia-

logue, o creating community, and o creating place and space.

SUSAN GRAY Te Art Program Policy o the Community

Redevelopment Agency o the City o Los Angeles mandates

that developers working with nancial assistance rom the

agency are obligated to dedicate one percent o their hard and

sot construction costs toward an art plan, which may maniest

in public art or some other permanent physical improvement

o an artistic nature. Te policy is very prescriptive, and we

have strict guidelines.

FRIEDERIKE WAENIG Every city has to dene or itsel what

public art is. In Cologne, its public art paid or by the city, as well

as gits rom groups and rom artists. It includes not only public

places, but also private places where the public can see the art.

Public art is a tradition. Even i people dont consider what it

means to take care o the art, they still want cultural things intheir public spaces. Inhabitants o cities in Europe are active in

commenting on public art, particularly in the last twenty years,

as more modern art, especially abstract public art, is installed.

I you dont communicate what an artwork is about, people will

say, No, we dont want it. We want something we can understand,

and we dont know what this is.

YAMPOLSKY In Seattle we involve the community in dierent

ways. As we develop calls or artists, we might ask community

members to outline their interests or the upcoming project. We

include community members in the selection process as well,and in ongoing conversations with the artist.

GRAY Our art program traditionally connects to our Redevel-

opment Plans, which have been ocially adopted or a neigh-

borhood. In those plans, created in direct consultation with

the community, certain visions are put orward, such as seeing

open-space-development beautication carried out in a par-

ticular way. Tat shapes our thinking about how the community

can be involved in the artist selection process and in the type o

artwork concept and application.

RIVENC How is maintenance unded, once a work is created?

YAMPOLSKY Our ordinance orbids using percent-or-art

unds or maintenance, as they are typically capital unds, oten

raised through bonds and levies. Were allocated separate unds

or conservation, which has to cover 380 permanently sited

artworks and 2,800 portable artworks. Our conservation unds

which come rom a portion o real estate sales taxespay or a

sta conservator, a van, materials, rentals, and consultants we

may need or specic works . While at the end o the year, we nd

OUT IN THE OPENA Discussion about the Conservation

of Outdoor Public Art


19/32


we have to deer some conservation to the next year, the unds

we get are generous relative to a lot o other programs.

GRAY With our public art commissions, the developer must

spend their onsite allocation on design, abrication, and instal-

lation. Tey cant keep a reserve or maintenance. Te care o

the artwork is the property owners operating expense, and we

have legal covenants to ensure that the work is kept in place and

appropriate maintenance perormed. However, a portion o the

developers one-percent budget is deposited into a Cultural rust

Fund established or that particular Redevelopment Project

Area, and we can use these unds or conservation and restora-

tion o artwork that CRA/LA or a community partner or city

department has commissioned.

WAENIG In Germany most museums are public and nanced

by the government, so the owners o the artworks are primarily

the city or the county, and they are responsible or conservation

and maintenance. We have some public art that is private, and

they handle the conservation. We have a similar one-percent-

or-art program i you construct a public building, but by law,

this money is only or the creation and installation o art, not

maintenance. Te city and the county have to cover that. With

older art, they sometimes try to list it as a monument so that the

monuments department has to cover maintenance and conser-

vation. I its not that old, the cultural department has to take

care o it. I they assign the public art to a museum, its on their

budget to cover conservation. It sounds chaoticand it is.

RIVENC How much does politics infuence unding?

GRAY Elected ocials are decision makers, and they infu-

ence other peoples decisions. Tey can speak to department

heads about identiying other unding sources. For example,

a portion o a cleaning budget might become a restoration

undor a park improvement project budget that included

replacement urnishings suddenly becomes a restoration budget

or a park monument. Its a matter o prioritizing unds and not

necessarily providing more money.

WAENIG Tey can infuence things in a good or bad way

thats the problem. A mayor can tell you which way things will go

without relying on the people who know this stu. Sometimes

hes just doing what another politician wants. Its good to have

politicians who are interested in art and culture, but its a prob-

lem i you have a mayor who is not educated in cultural matters.

JEFFREY LEVIN What are the most important issues that these

works ace as a result o being out in the open with public access?

GRAY Teyre vulnerable to the elements, obviously, and to the

public, with their ngerprints, their spilt sodas, and their gum.

Regular maintenance or sculpture in the public domain is com-

pletely dierent than or sculpture in a museum. Youre talking

about exposure that may require a robust periodic cleaning sched-

ule on a limited budget. You need someone competent to perorm

these servicesnot necessarily a conservator, but someone ap-

propriately trained and hopeully paid or their time and materi-

als. Placement o the art is key to minimizing unwanted contact.

Tere are all manner o things we need to take into account, in

consultation with the artist, to help protect the artwork and

reduce maintenance: weather patterns, positioning o the land-

scaping sprinklers, level o security and surveillance, the works

nearness to a public thoroughare, and its exposure to pollutants.

WAENIG With museums, people go because theywantto go

to the museum. With public art, it can be there in ront o you

whether you want it or not. You have to explain the artwork and

tell people what it is, because preserving the art only works i itis accepted. Te problem is that artworks oten are not accepted.

RIVENC But even when it is accepted, people touch it or inter-

act with it, and that can damage it, right?

GRAY We have a work by Catherine Hardwicke,Hollywood and

La Brea Gateway on Hollywood Boulevard, which tourists pose

with daily, having their photographs taken with the statues. Its al-

ways the same spots on the artwork that show loss o the surace

coating and need to be monitored and treated by a conservator.

Photo:Robert

Otey

R .

susan gray


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20 V. 27 | NO. 2 | FALL 2012

Another example in Hollywood is a couch made out o cast

concrete with a robust industrial surace coating. Youd think it

would be impermeable, but people by the hundreds touch it daily,

spill sodas on it, and leave shoe scu marks on it. People love that

piece, but that comes at a cost with regard to care.

LEVIN Friederike was suggesting that a museum visitor enters

with a certain presumption about physically respecting ob-

jectsa presumption that doesnt exist when artworks are in

a public space.

YAMPOLSKY Right. Its something you encounter. We try to

provide access to public art, and while we dont expect that every-

one will love each artwork, we hope the art draws people out o

their routines and makes them aware o their environment. Public

art is part o an urbanism related to design o the public realm. We

expect that people will touch any art we put out there and hope it

will be in a good way, but i you create a certain kind o surace, it

can attract skateboarders or vandalism. When we review quali-

cations o artists during selection o permanently sited artworks,

we generally look or art constructed in durable materials. At the

same time, we dont always limit commissions to people with

experience doing public art. I we think an artists work can be

translated into a medium thats more durablesuch as porcelain,

enamel on metal, or ceramic tilethen we provide those oppor-

tunities, understanding that the work will be out in the elements.

LEVIN What about situations where concerned members o

the public take it upon themselves to clean a work o public art,

but they dont do it properly and damage it in the process?

GRAY You may have a tag on a sculpture thats easily removed

with a little acetone and a sot sponge, but some well-meaning

volunteer or untrained custodian comes along with a heavy-duty

solvent or an abrasive cleaner and a scouring pad, and the tag is

removedalong with the actual surace coating or structure that

may be expensive to repair. You need to x that problem, but its

also a matter o research and advocacy, identiying who these

volunteers are, and getting them on board to report problems to

appropriate personnel.

LEVIN Have there been eorts to organize community volun-

teers to be stewards o public art in their neighborhoods?

YAMPOLSKY It is in our work plan to develop workshops

regarding artwork stewardship in communities. Tey may ocus

on taking care o an artwork in the neighborhood, or center on

creating awareness about the artwork. Our conservator can only

inspect each artwork once or twice a year, so i people in the com-

munity know they can call us when they notice a problem, that

can be very helpul. Weve also talked about developing a program

to train community volunteers to perorm routine cleaning.

WAENIG In Cologne there are people who will call a museum

or the cultural heritage department when theres a sculpture with

some painting on it or some scratches that need to be taken care

o. Cologne has a community helpline that people can call i they

have general questions or see problems with some public art. Its

very important to have people engaged in this. I your conserva-

tor is visiting an object only twice a year, its not enough.

YAMPOLSKY Tats why its great to let residents know whom

to call i they spot a problem. We have a grati hotline and i the

grati is on an artwork, the hotline lets us know. We contract

with other city departments to perorm grati removal in situa-

tions where they cant do damage, but i the tagging is on bronze

or on a delicate surace, we send our conservator.

RIVENC I its a vertical surace, its a target or grati. I itsa horizontal surace, its going to be skateboarded. How do you

deter these responses?

YAMPOLSKY We work with the artist during the develop-

ment o an artwork. We dont want to preclude works that pre-

sent a large surace, so we encourage artists to create suraces

rom which grati can be easily cleaned. Also, suraces with a

lot o texture tend to be less attractive to taggers. We dont want

to tell an artist, You cant do that because it will be tagged. But

we want to make caring or a project more manageable knowing

that it can be tagged. Weve used antigrati coatingusuallythe artist provides the initial coat, and then were responsible or

recoating. Tere are times when artists are resistant to coatings.

Once you add a coating, it might change the color or the nish

o stone. We try to nd something the artist is comortable with.

GRAY Sometimes the preerred sealant is proprietary, along

with the removal agent, and then we need to buy that product in

bulk, which has a shel lie and will need to be replaced. Where

possible, we try to use a coating that can be cleaned with some

inexpensive, o-the-shel, environmentally riendly product.

WAENIG Doesnt it depend on the material? We had a wooden

object on the top o a museum that had bleached out and had

some pest inestation, but we couldnt convince the museum

director to put it inside, even though we couldnt really nd a

coating or a sealant we could use. With wood, you either put it

in storage or in a museum, or acknowledge that theres a certain

lietime or the object, and then its gone.

YAMPOLSKY In the Pacic Northwest, there is a large First Na-

tions population, and over the years, Seattle has received a number


21/32


o wood totem poles as gits. raditionally, totem poles are meant

to deteriorate. You dont restore themyou just replace them with

something else. But you cant have art in public places that ulti-

mately alls down. So our approach, particularly with older totem

poles, is to remove any insect inestation and biological growth

and apply a wood preservative. We dont restore them but try to

keep them in a state o stasis so that they dont deteriorate urther.Handling tag removal on wood is dicult. Removing grati oten

leads to ghosting, particularly on wood. But I try not to discourage

the use o wood because it is so important to native communities.

GRAY Tere are basically two sorts o taggers in Los Angeles:

gang-related taggers where its identicationTis is my area,

keep outand then urban street artists making aerosol art. Te

street artists are talented and competitive. Tey love risk and

getting to places that no one else can. So we do whatever we can

to plan or tagging, making the artwork hard to reach or placing

it in a well-patrolled location, with a surace that allows easy tagremoval, i possible.

YAMPOLSKY Its important to clean it quickly. aggers move

on to another place i they eel that their tag isnt staying there long.

WAENIG We had a situation in an old industrial part o

Cologne where taggers were invited to go and spray or a whole

weekend on a wall that had been apportioned so that everyone

could get one piece. And it worked. Te taggers liked it, and tag-

ging around the area was less ater that. In another situation, we

had a school building with an artwork made out o steel stripes,

calledPlaying Children. Its xed on a brick wall, and when taggers

sprayed, they respected the artworkthe spraying was only on

the brick and not on the art. But the city department team that

cleaned it had no conservator, so they sandblasted not only the

wall but also the painted steel stripes. Te paint is now gone, and

the artwork has started to rust. Te city team didnt respect the

artwork, but the young people who were spraying did.

RIVENC Since there is no anti-skateboarding coating, can you

provide protection through the design o the work?

GRAY You can, either by breaking up the work architecturally

or by mitigation with integrated anti-skateboarding devices. You

want the artist to design these measures as part o the original

work, rather than installing them retroactively.

YAMPOLSKY We had a skate park that was displaced because

o new construction, and the skateboarding community elt that

the city owed them another park. So we engaged an artist, paid

the artists design ee, and then the Seattle Center built the skate

park. Te artist, consultants, and members o the skateboarding

community were involved in the process. Te artist designed a

glass perimeter wall and a glass skatable element, then digitally

enlarged and enhanced images o old skateboard decks and in-

corporated them as the imagery on the glass. Te skateboarders

appreciated not only the act that they had a skatable artwork

but also the act that the artist understood their culture. Engag-

ing communities that dont normally have art associated with

their acilities goes a long way toward gaining their trust and

sense o ownership o the art.

LEVIN In many ways, the conservation o public art has become

less about treatment and more about management, which in-

cludes preventive conservation. Can we talk about that evolution?

WAENIG Conservation is quite a young proession. In the

beginning, the person who restored an artwork was a cratsper-

son or an artist. With the establishment o an academic conser-

vation education, curricula included the sciences, the humanities,

and the crats. When I began studying conservation in the mid-

1980s, we didnt have a subject called preventive conservation.It was called climate, light, and atmosphere. It was really just

measuring relative humidity and light and taking care o the

temperature. oday preventive conservation is about manage-

ment: taking care o maintenance, monitoring, and risk man-

agement. What we have learned in the proessions development

is that conservation does not start with a treatment. With public

art, its taking a broader look and researching the works environ-

mentthe buildings and people in its surroundingsas well as

the artist and the materials in its construction.

Photo:AndreasKrupa

C . W , ...

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YAMPOLSKY It is important to have a record o the materials

used to create an artwork. We contractually obligate the artist

to ll out orms describing the intention or the artwork, the

dimensions, and the materials used, and we require the artist to

obtain extended warranties when electronic equipment is part

o the work. We also request detailed maintenance instruc-

tions. Our contract states that we will maintain the artworksas long as we have unding. We also include in the contract

the ability or the city to deaccession artworks. We typically

expect artworks to last thirty years, but or digital artworks we

shorten that to ten.

RIVENC It seems that in Los Angeles and Seattlebecause

youre involved in commissioning artworkyou have an oppor-

tunity to manage the lie o the object rom the beginning.

GRAY Conservation and management o the artwork are dis-

cussed three times contractually. During the schematic design,the property owner commissioning the artwork (and long-term

steward o the work), the artist, a conservator, and operations

people discuss how the artwork is expected to age, how peo-

ple will interact with it, and how the space will be used. At that

point, it may be apparent that this location isnt going to work

we need to move it to a saer location. Te property owner

might also think, Tis will cost me more annually or cleaning

than I thoughtmaybe I should upgrade materials to protect my

investment. Tis conversation is held again in the nal design

phase, in case we need to tweak the proposal. Finally, once the

project is implemented, theres the documentation phase wherethe material data, the warranty manuals, and the construction

drawings are bundled together, including a document rom

artists about how they expect the work to age and what is accept-

able to them in terms o ading, chipping, or cracking.

WAENIG Te location o the artwork is important. In

Cologne we discuss the location o the art not only with the cura-

tor, the city, and the monuments care department but also with

the police. Te police can tell us, Tis area is okay, but dont go

to this areait will be destroyed. We also work with the street

departments and gardening departments. Te artwork needs to

be in a sae area, and an area where we have people to care or it.

LEVIN Were discussing issues that are exceedingly complex

and political and that would be entirely oreign to a museum

curator. Clearly, communication among government agencies

with respect to these works is critical.

YAMPOLSKY For security reasons, Seattle Public Utilities

covered our reservoirs and, in so doing, created large areas o land

that became parks, under the jurisdiction o our parks department.

We wrote a memorandum regarding who would take care o an

artwork created in one o these parksa work with a volcano-

shaped cone as part o a large water eature. Under the agreement,

the water utility would construct the water eature, and the parks

department would pay or it, but then they had to agree who was

responsible or some o the maintenance. We handle the mainte-

nance o the cone surace, but the innards, the plumbing, are theresponsibility o the parks department. However, they needed to

negotiate with the water departmentwhose contractor built the

water eatureabout who is responsible i something leaks.

GRAY Weve had situations where an inormal arrangement

had been made between department heads about picking up the

bill or a maintenance or operating cost, and then, years later,

the department realized that they were paying or the water to

clean a sculpture or or the sta time to clean the artwork, and

then they started billing us or the servicesa cost we hadnt

budgeted or. You need to ully document these arrangements.

WAENIG Dierent departments compete, or dont talk to

each other, or dont know that theres another department taking

care o an artwork. And there is the basic problem o under-

standing what art is. You cant use the same cleaning methods

you would on a trac lamp. Perhaps because the proession o

conservation is so young, this is not as clear as it should be. I

you hurt your hand, you go to a doctor or treatment, not to a

street worker. Conservation has to do better in telling the public

what the proession is about.

P .ruri yampolsky

Photo:AmyLouiseHerndon


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RIVENC How important is it to have a conservator on sta?

YAMPOLSKY We have had a ull-time conservator or the

last eight years. Previously we used consultants. Its great having

someone who is not just an in-house resource but is also avail-

able or emergencies. I its grati, she can go out at a moments

notice and deal with it. And shes also a resource or other de-

partments. Te parks department sometimes commissions or

accepts their own artworks, and they dont have a process or

maintaining them. Our conservator gives them technical assis-

tance, and in return, they allow her to use their truck, which

has its own water tank, so when she has to pressure-wash an

artwork, she doesnt have to unload a cistern rom our van.

GRAY Weve always had to contract conservation services

or work the CRA/LA commissioned directly. In recent years I

had a conservation associate who worked with me inspecting

and documenting the works throughout the collection and then

identiying issues. We would prioritize the problems, then con-tract with a conservator to do specialized work or to provide

education to the stakeholders. I a private developer owned the

artwork, wed help the developer match the need with the proper

skill set within the conservation community.

LEVIN Do most o the artists you work with appreciate the

complications associated with public art?

GRAY Most o our artists have a sophisticated knowledge o

public art protocols and expectations, as well as o our responsi-

bilities toward the general public. But every now and then, you

come across somebody who doesnt get it. I had one piece start

to ail within a ew years because o skateboard damage, and

when I contacted the artist to discuss design modication, the

response was, Well, just treat it like a Roman ruin.

YAMPOLSKY Public art, as a eld, is not or every artist, and

there are some who say, I will never do this again. But most

understand the process. Teres a whole level o administration

that our artists have to manageand thats not unique to Seattle.

Teres a lot o consensus building in the way we do things in

Seattle, and the artist has to have a stomach or engaging with

many dierent people. Artists deal not only with us but with themanagers o the capital project and with community members.

WAENIG What I see with younger artists is quite a low un-

derstanding o this process. Te older the artist, the greater their

understanding o the importance o material choice and main-

tenance conservation. In Germany, artists are primarily trained

in creativity, not in materials. Understanding o materials and

maintenance is minimal. Only when artists get older and their

work is being bought by museums or collectors do they start

thinking about the preservation o their art materially.

GRAY Artists are oten not making everything in their own stu-

dios, and so they develop special relationships with materials sup-

pliers and abricators. Tey become masters o certain approaches

and perhaps dont eel comortable doing something else. But gen-

erally, its a very sophisticated group we work with. For example, I

had one artist detect an incorrect paint specication or a surace

adjacent to, but unrelated to, the artwork, and that artist told me,You might want to share this with the construction crew.

YAMPOLSKY A lot o artists we work with have design back-

grounds or were trained as architects. For them, public art is

about urbanism and shaping environment. Tey understand

that theyre doing something or the community and creating a

sense o place. Some artists delve deeply into the history o a site,

and sometimes they illuminate that or the community.

WAENIG We have been working with an artist who is only

producing kinetic artworks or the outdoors, because he wants to

create works everybody can see. From the 1960s until today, he has

changed materials. He started with Plexiglas and some electronic

parts, and then, recognizing that these didnt work well, started to

work just with wind. Ten he recognized that plastics were not du-

rable, and switched to metals. oday he still works only on outdoor

sculptures, but is also looking or landscapes that really t the work

and communicate with the community. Tats dierent rom art-

ists who just produce artworks and sell to collectors or museums.

LEVIN Can you encapsulate in a ew words what we should

think about in terms o the uture o public art?

GRAY Stewardship. Our art program in Los Angeles is ending

as part o Caliornias closure o all redevelopment activities, so

we need to think about our legacy. I eel an overwhelming sense

o responsibility right now to ensure that the collection is taken

care o and that there are mechanisms in place or stewardship.

WAENIG Communication and education. As a teacher, I

think about education but also about communication. And the

question we have to communicate isshould we give every ob-

ject a certain lietime? Do we say, Okay, this object will only last

this long, and then the artist can take it back or its going to bedestroyed or die. In Cologne, we get more and more artworks.

Wheres the end? Communicating this question is the challenge.

YAMPOLSKY Innovation and adaptation. Youre always looking

or innovative ways to make public art relevant. Doing so means

using newer materials and newer media, and guring out ways

to make art relevant to the time. But there is adaptation tooas

needs change, dierent types o art may become relevant. How do

you adapt your program to embrace those dierent needs while

maintaining and conserving those orms or uture generations?


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24 V. 27 | NO. 2 | FALL 2012

K RCONSERVAION OF PUBLIC AR

online resources, organizations & networks

A A P A N

www.artsusa.org/networks/public_art_network/default_004.asp

A-P

www.art-public.com/

C C C

http://law.onecle.com/california/2010/civil/987.html

T GCI N: M C

www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/

newsletters/18_2/

T GCI N: O S

www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/

newsletters/22_2/

H P R P M

www.heritagepreservation.org/rpm/index.html

H P S O S

www.heritagepreservation.org/programs/sos/index.html

I N C C

P A (INCCA)

www.incca.org/

M C L A

www.muralconservancy.org/

P A R P

www.publicartresourceproject.com/links.html

V G: C C

O P Awww.youtube.com/watch?v=G_-FDy6kUOI&feature=

youtube_gdata_player

books, journals & conference proceedings

Cv M C P Aby Hafthor Yngvason (2002), London: Archetype Publications.

T Cv Bz S O Ev:A Dg g Cv, C, EvS, C Egedited by Terry Drayman-Weisser (1992), Houston: NACE.

C Bz A: C, C, Cvby David A. Scott (2002), Los Angeles: Getty Conservation Institute.

G M O S, 2 .by Virginia Naud and Glenn Wharton (1995), Washington DC:

American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works.

M O S: A A Bgedited by Shelley Sturman (1996), Washington DC: National

Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Property.

P A B

edited by Barbara Goldstein (2005), Seattle: Americans forthe Arts in association with University of Washington Press

(copyright Oce of Arts & Cultural Aairs).

F C

P A, AAA Online aata.getty.edu/nps/


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Project Updateso learn more about the projects and

activities of the GCI, v isit our website at

getty.edu/conservation.

mosaikon updateTe MOSAIKON initiativea partnership

o the GCI, the Getty Foundation, ICCROM,

and ICCMseeks to improve the conservation,

presentation, and maintenance o mosaics in

the Mediterranean region, both those in situ

and those in museums and storage. It isaccomplishing this aim by strategically deploy-

ing resources to our main areas o work:

(1) strengthening the proessional network,

(2) building local capacity, (3) developing locally

available and aordable conservation practices,

and (4) disseminating and exchanging inorma-

tion more broadly. Tis past spring, several ac-

tivities took place in urtherance o these goals.

Regional echnician raining Course

In April, the rst training session o the regional

course or technicians o in situ mosaics beg

conservation of public art' issue. fall 2012 (pdf edition) - v27n2

Documents