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POLICY ON PRIVILEGED INFORMATION
Information on specific services provided to our clients and information on their art works or objects are considered privileged and confidential information between the client and the company. Disclosure of such information in this publication is only made with permission of the owner/client. Therefore, our ability to report on many of our professional activities is limited by this confidentiality policy.
Email address information submitted by the addressee and stored for the purpose of distribution of this emailed document is considered privileged information that is held in the strictest confidence and never shared with other parties.
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THE OHIO CONSERVATION CENTER
The Ohio Conservation Center is the largest art and artifacts conservation center in the Midwestern United States.
"The Ohio Conservation Center" is a trademarked name for the collective facilities located in Oberlin, Ohio.
While the center is active across the nation, its name pays respect to its state of incorporation and its location, and it reflects its devoted commitment to Ohio collecting institutions and to its public.
The for-profit regional art conservation center is largely active in servicing institutional collections in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana, Michigan, and Kentucky. The center is primarily active nationally through its notable expertise in sculpture conservation and especially through its GSA national conservation contracts, in place now for over ten years.
The center is operated by McKay Lodge Fine Arts Conservation Laboratory, Inc. (established in 1989) and staffed by Oberlin Conservation Associates, LLC, subcontract conservators and other specialists.
The facilities now include three purpose-built buildings and immense outdoor work spaces on 50 beautiful acres for conservation of a wide range of art and historic objects from miniature objects to the most monumental of stone and metal sculpture with no limitations on size.
Conservators working in the center are Professional Associates of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC). These conservators have specialty experience in the following areas:
Paintings
Sculpture
Objects & Artifacts
Art & Documents on Paper
Architectural Elements
Mosaics
Wall Paintings
Outdoor Sculpture
Historic Fountains
Monuments
Industrial Artifacts
Macro Artifacts
Stone and Cements
Plaster
Metals
Masonry
Industrial Coatings
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OHIO ORGANIZATIONS
RECEIVING SERVICES THROUGH 2009 TO-DATE
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Recent Corporate Industry MembershipsThe Concrete Sawing and Drilling Association
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Calder's Flamingo in Chicago
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
FORTHCOMING REPORTS
A "Preliminary Report"
from the GSA Roundtable Discussion of Coatings for Outdoor Sculpture to be held in Chicago on May 4, 2010. Top experts from the industrial coatings industry, including SSPC and KTA-Tator, sit down with curators and conservators to explore many topics of aesthetics, durability, economy and maintenance. The Roundtable was organized solely for the benefit of the federal government and its maintenance of coated outdoor sculpture and other government property and is not a public event. Alexander Calder's Flamingo will be one of the topics of discussion. GSA Roundtable participant and McKay Lodge company president Robert Lodge received his training in coatings inspection and failure analysis from KTA-Tator in Pittsburgh and continuing education through SSPC.
McKay Lodge Conservation Laboratory, Inc, is a corporate member of SSPC
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An Introduction to Polysiloxane (Engineered Silicone-Epoxy) Coatings for Outdoor Sculpture. We Test Recoat Adhesion.
CAP Assessments: How Suzanne Keene's Managing Conservation in Museums influences my approach to some Heritage Preservation Conservation Assessment Program (CAP) Assessments.
FORTHCOMING NEWS
Progress on the Conservation of Dollar Bank's Brownstone Lions.
780 Ceramic Tiles: Progress on Removing Concrete from Romare Bearden's 60 foot Pittsburgh Subway Tile Mural.
Museum Conservation Projects in Indiana.
Meet our New Stone Conservator Marcin Pikus.
FREE PUBLIC CLINICS -
TELL YOUR MEMBERS
For several years now and continuing due to popularity, free preservation clinics for the public are held monthly on a
specific day and hourly by appointment so please call ahead to schedule
your visit to meet with a conservator. These clinics are suited to
offering self-help guidance for personal heirloom preservation and also to
introduce an understanding of professional conservation and its
procedures to the public holding complicated or valuable personal
heirlooms or valuable artistic or historic/cultural items.
INTRODUCTION
HOW TO CONTACT US To contact us please call 440-774-4215, fax to 440-775-1368 or send an email to [email protected]. Office hours are usually 7:30 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Saturday. ABOUT THIS PUBLICATION
The purpose of this publication is twofold.
For one, because so much happens monthly at our busy facility and many of the conservation projects are quite interesting, we want to share insights into our activities with our clients and other interested readers. You will see why every day at The Ohio Conservation Center is an exiting one. Plus, these presentations are an opportunity to learn about resources and what is possible in the work of conservation.
Secondly, we wish to report to our clients new developments in the profession that may be useful to them in their decision making.
We do not want to overwhelm our readers, so publication will be irregular, perhaps only weekly or monthly after a period of "catch-up." And each issue will present just one or two topics for a quick read followed in some issues by an item of "Old News" since it has been a few years since we have published a newsletter.
Once a reader becomes familiar with the standardized layout, a quick vertical scroll will allow a scan of content and the opportunity to dwell on portions of interest.
And now for this issue's topics:
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TOURS
PITTSBURGH PUBLIC ART
Members of Pittsburgh Public Art and related Pittsburgh art organizations will be touring the facilities, seeing the work on many projects preserving public art (including three from Pittsburgh Public Art) and meeting the staff on May 21.
OHIO HERITAGE CENTER
In January 2010, a large group of staff, volunteers and interns from the Oberlin Heritage Center came for a tour. And in April, 2010, we were visited again by another contingent from the center, the Collections Committee and executive director Patricia Murphy, to see the progress of work we are performing on a rare and important portrait of Oberlin's first settler Peter Pindar Pease by his nephew Alonzo Pease (1820-1881). Photo on OHS Flickr
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Recoating David Davis Sculpture for a site in Lakewood OH  |
PUBLIC ART PRESERVATION
Full service facilities and expertise in coatings and fabrication repairs for metals and most other materials.
Database collection condition information management.
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MUSEUM PROJECTS & GRANTS
ALBRIGHT-KNOX ART GALLERY
Greater Hudson
Heritage Network:
The Greater Hudson
Heritage Network has awarded
nearly $120,000 in conservation
treatment grants in their 2009 cycle to 27 organizations,
located in 18 counties of New York, in association with the Museum
Program of the New York State Council on the Arts, a state
agency.
Thanks to funding from this grant, the conservation center recently completed conservation treatments on two highly important works from the collection of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York. The work was made possible by a grant from the Conservation Treatment Grant Program administered by the Greater Hudson Heritage Network. This is a "re-granting agency" of the Museum Program of the New York State Council on the Arts and not a direct grant from the Council.
Alberto Giacometti, L'Homme qui marche I or Man Walking (Version 1):
One of the art works treated was a bronze L'Homme qui marche I or Man Walking (Version 1) by Alberto Giacometti cast in 1960. This is one of the initial six castings of this sculpture made while the artist was living and from this same group came the casting that recently fetched the astonishing amount of 104.3 million dollars at auction at Sothebys. Another six castings were made later. Nothing so remarkable, however, can be said about the conservation treatment of the casting owned and exhibited by the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. The sculpture is in excellent condition and required only simple and commonly needed cleaning due to handling and its long availability to the public in gallery exhibition.
Joan Mitchell's George Went Swimming at Barnes Hole. But it
Got Too Cold, 1957:
The other art work was Joan Mitchell's George Went Swimming at Barnes Hole. But it Got Too Cold, 1957, a classic of the second generation of abstract expressionism. The picture was treated for the usual maintenance issues of her paint: loss of media saturation ("dryness"), some paint too sticky and trapping dust, and some weak adhesion of the most rapid strokes - all typical issues with many of her pictures that must be confronted again and again.
McKay Lodge, Inc. president Robert Lodge spoke with the artist about these paint issues in the 1980's and she attributed them to a tendency to leave her brushes standing in cans of turpentine contaminated with some very old linseed oil from her paints.
Disabled Spring Stretcher  | But the Joan Mitchell painting's canvas was also being stressed at its corners by a spring-loaded expansion stretcher. Paintings conservator Stefan Dedecek and conservator of modern art Robert Lodge have seen so many cases where these constant tension stretchers stress the canvas corners, stretching them out over time, that we routinely remove the springs when we encounter them and install tubes in their place.
The Henry Luce Foundation: A one time grant of $35,000.00 was made to conserve American paintings in preparation for
a national exhibition tour, through the Henry Luce Foundation Conservation Initiative. This Luce Foundation in American Art grant supported much additional work on the American art of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery collection by McKay Lodge Conservation Laboratory during 2009, both at the gallery and at the Ohio Conservation Center.
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ARRA PUBLIC ART PROJECTS
You may have seen the signs: "This highway project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act."
Better known as the "stimulus fund," ARRA is also funding many arts organizations through the National Endowment for the Arts.
All
ARRA fund recipients report quarterly on the projects, expenditure of
the funds and new employment. This information is available
approximately 30 days after each calendar quarter on the
website www.recovery.gov. The distributions of all ARRA funds through the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities is available for viewing at www.recovery.com by searching under that agency's name. However, it is a long and tedious task to do so because of the number of distributions.
ART CONSERVATION PROJECTS FUNDED BY ARRA
 Less known is direct ARRA funding for the conservation of federally-commissioned public sculpture in many locations throughout the United States. The opportunities for the needed attentions to these sculptures often come from their being a part of ARRA funded federal building construction or renovations.
Starting in the last quarter of 2009, the sculpture conservation work that McKay Lodge, Inc. provides to the federal government under a 5-year sole contract took off dramatically due to ARRA funding. This contract under the U.S General Services Administration (GSA) provides care, treatment, maintenance and advice for the public sculptures commissioned by our government for federal spaces.
Most of the sculptures are those commissioned by the government through its Art-in-Architecture Program.
Below is a brief presentation of the locations, sculptures and some of the activities for which ARRA is funding our current involvement. Because not all of our federal projects are funded by ARRA, the projects below do not represent the full extent of our current activity. The
projects are public information on www.recovery.com but they are something that
would not normally be encountered in searches. Hence, we bring them to your attention here.
All of the art works below received condition assessments and McKay Lodge Conservation Laboratory, Inc. is in various stages of providing protection and, in many cases, treatments of the sculptures during their building renovations.
IN CALIFORNIA
Otay Mesa:
Luis A. Jiminez, Jr., Fiesta-Jarabe, 1991 (airbrush-painted fiberglass);
Bob Haozous, Spirit of the Earth, 1995 (mild steel);
Located at the U.S.
Land Port of Entry.
The brightly colored Fiesta-Jarabe sculpture is by the artist who created the blue Mustang at the Denver International Airport and who was killed by this sculpture during his work on it in his studio. The project involves de-installation, substantial treatment, storage and then re-installation after building renovations.
The monumental sculpture depicts a man and woman performing
the Jarabe, called the "Mexican Hat
Dance" in English, the national dance of Mexico. The dance is performed to
the musical composition Jarabe Tapatio
and is a progressive dance of courtship and love involving flirtations,
machismo and zapeteado (stamping and
tapping of the feet), and a final "triumph" with the man's hat thrown on the
floor and his placing his leg over the woman as she reaches down for it - it is
that part of the dance that appears about to happen in this sculpture with the
hat down and the man about to raise a leg.
The sculpture by Bob Haozous was found to be in good condition and relocation is not needed. The razor wire is intact at the top of the sculpture. This was a controversial addition by the artist to a commission of a similar sculpture by the University of New Mexico and the artist was forced to allow it to be removed. The controversy is widely reported on internet-available documents.
San Jose:
Robert Graham, San Jose Fountain, 1983-87 (bronze);
Farley Tobin, Untitled, 1984 (ceramic);
Ray King, Solar Wind, 1984 (aluminum, glass, silicone sealant, stainless steel).
Located at the San Jose U.S. Courthouse.
Three art works at the San Jose U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building were studied for condition. One was removed by McKay Lodge, Inc to its facilities in Oberlin for treatment. This is the bronze figure from the San Jose Fountain.
IN COLORADO
Denver:
Sebastian, In Three Movements, 1982 (painted steel);
William Joseph, Justice, Freedom and the Release from Bondage, 1966 (wood).
Located in the Federal Building and in the Byron G. Rogers Federal Building and Courthouse.
The sculptures will need to be removed for building renovations. This will be an opportunity to refinish the three large steel parts that make up Sebastian's In Three Movements. The bright red paint coating has been overcoated once in the past and it is time to begin with a new primer and color coat. One of the three components is outdoors with the other two are nearby but protected in the building's lobby.
IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Washington:
Robert Kittredge, Railroad Employment, Railroad Retirement, 1941 (granite);
Located at the Mary E. Switzer Building, 330 C St., SW.
IN FLORIDA
Orlando:
Geoffrey Naylor, Artifact, 1978 (stainless steel in fountain).
Located at the George C. Young Federal Building and Courthouse.
IN ILLINOIS
Chicago:
Sol Lewitt, Lines in Four Directions, 1985 (powder coated aluminum).
Located on the entire west wall of a building at 10 West Jackson Street.
The large sculpture will be cleaned by us from a swing stage lowered from the roof - the only means of surface access.
IN MISSISSIPPI
Jackson:
Ed McGowin, Mississippi Inscape, 1979 (mixed materials);
William Christenberry, Southern Wall, 1979 (mixed materials);
Located at the McCoy Federal Building.
Ed McGowin's Mississippi Inscape must be temporarily removed for plaza renovations. It is a complex cast concrete pyramidal structure that is requiring a great deal of work investigating how to safely disassemble it. The artist has been involved in the matter.
IN NEW JERSEY
Newark:
Lila Katzen, Floten Escort, 1982 (aluminum and poured concrete);
Located at the Peter W. Rodino Federal Building.
IN OHIO
Cincinnati:
Marshall M. Fredericks, Eagle, 1964 (cast aluminum);
Charles B. Harper, American Wildlife, 1964 (ceramic mosaic);
Located at the John Weld Peck Federal Building.
Charles Harper's ceramic tile wall American Wildlife will be cleaned and damages repaired. It will be given protective barriers during the renovations of its space.
Marshall M. Fredericks' monumental Eagle, on the building's upper facade will be protected during building cleaning.
IN OREGON
Portland:
Dimitri Hadzi, River Legend, 1976 (basalt);
Jack Youngerman, Rumi's Dance, 1976 (textile);
Located at the Edith Green / Wendall Wyatt Federal Building.
Research and mock-ups are underway for removing Dimitri' Hadzi's River Legend which is a 10 foot tall arch of segments of carved basalt. A keystone segment holds the arch from collapsing. It is planned and desirable to pick-up the entire sculpture at once and turn it on its side. To do this, it is currently planned to hold and stabilize the entire structure in a steel exoskeleton made of a trussed wall frame and bind the stone within this frame using expanding foam.
IN PUERTO RICO
Hato Ray:
Jaime Suarez, Totemic Sculpture, 1993 (ceramic);
Located at the Degatau Federal Building & Ruiz Nazario Courthouse.
IN TENNESSEE (National Park Service Contract)
Dover:
Confederate Monument (bronze);
Located at Fort Donelson National Battlefield.
IN VIRGINIA
Roanoke:
John Paul Rietta, Force One; Consciousness is Crucial, 1976 (weathering steel);
Located at the Richard H. Poff U.S. Courthouse & Federal Building.
The 30 foot tall weathering steel sculpture had its steel base supports re-fabricated years ago to keep the bottom of the sculpture away from soil. Now, the sculpture must be temporarily de-installed and stored to accommodate equipment for building renovations. During this period, the sculpture will be erected outdoors and stored at McKay Lodge, Inc.
IN WASHINGTON
Seattle:
Isamu Noguchi, Landscape of Time, 1975 (stone);
Harold Balazs, Seattle Project, 1976 (Everdur bronze);
Philip McCracken, Freedom, 1979 (bronze)
Located at the Jackson Federal Building. |
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