FRESH FRIDAY | COLLABORATIVE CONSERVATION

As a major fan of public art, I find that the selection and curation of artwork within our natural spaces supplies an important and necessary feature for any community. The perspective of artwork as something that interacts with its environment engages viewers in a new light; outside of museum walls in a space more familiar.  As with any artwork however, comes maintenance and condition upkeep. Unfortunately, public art faces numerous challenges to retain its original vibrancy. In the hopes of restoring and sustaining key public icons, conservators teamed up with an unlikely partner to innovate the industry; the United States Army.

In the early 2000's Washington D.C. art conservator, Abigail Mack was looking for a paint solution for some public art works. In the process, Mack asked to use the US Army's weatherometer machine, which essentially provides an accelerated simulation of natural degradation; wind, UV rays and precipitation. US Army chemist, John Escarsega, was also interested in this need and had background knowledge dealing with camouflage for military equipment. This effort to find a commercial paint that could withstand these elements lead the two groups to collaborate in creating their own paint solution.

Repainting public artwork hosts a unique challenge because conservators must take the piece apart and strip the original paint in order to then repaint the work. This process requires the new paint to not only protect the work for years from the elements, but it also must retain the artist's original intent for color, texture and level of gloss. Over several years of research, the collaborating team has been working on a specific type of matte paint, which can be singularly problematic due to its limited amount of resin and high levels of pigment making it very vulnerable to the factors of degradation. Matte paint is also used regularly in camouflage paint in the military. Another key goal for the team was to create paint that was environmentally sound.

Louise Nevelson, City on High Mountain (1993). Dissembled prior to conservation.

This paint has been created with the likes of artists Tony Smith, Louise Nevelson and Alexander Calder in mind. Public art icons who use matte paint in many of their sculptures. However, this super team of art scientists has added many more artists to their roster including Claes Oldenburg and Ronald Bladen. The success of their paint research offers the hope of even making their final product available for commercial use.

Read more about the Getty Conservation Institute and this project.
Title image: Conservator Abigail Mack works on Louise Nevelson's sculpture City on High Mountain (1993).