Public Art Conference Archive—2003
Study Session: Maintaining Success: A Case Study of the Regional Arts & Culture Council’s Collections and Maintenance Program
Friday, June 6, 2003 2:15–5:30
Lecture and Walking Tour
Presenter:
Robert Krueger, Collections Manager, Regional Arts & Culture Council, Portland, Oregon
Session Summary by Katrina Gilkey
This session began with a slide lecture that reviewed the history of the collections overseen by the Regional Arts & Culture Council and addressed current collection management protocol. Time was also devoted to answering diverse questions from the audience. Following the session, Krueger led a tour to several of the outdoor works in the collection, at which maintenance demonstrations and discussions occurred.
History of the Collection & Current Management Protocols
The Regional Arts & Culture Council is responsible for the care and maintenance of the permanent public art collections of both the City of
Initially, maintenance and conservation treatments would occur on an emergency basis, when it was clear that an object was at risk, if immediate steps were not taken. Now that the most problematic components of the collection have been addressed, a program of regular cleaning and minor conservation has been established. RACC administers these projects in a variety of ways. Efforts have included the following:
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Contracting with trained conservation technicians who perform basic maintenance and will always seek advice if they run into unexpected problems.
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Hiring certified (listed by the AIC) conservators to work on specific projects.
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Collaboration with local governmental agencies, such as the Parks Bureau or the Water Bureau.Such efforts at teamwork should be undertaken cautiously, with close oversight, in order to avoid accidental damage caused by well meaning city or county employees
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Affiliations with volunteer organizations. This, too, must be undertaken cautiously, and with a thorough educational process to avoid accidental damage.
As new works come into the collection, RACC has the valuable opportunity of establishing a clear plan for maintenance of each new piece. During an age in which artists are constantly experimenting with new media, it is very important to assess the conservation issues of a project at its earliest stages. Therefore, any contract with an artist requires that they consult with a conservator in the development of the work, and that they provide clear maintenance instructions for the work following its completion. Artists are provided with written guidelines to help them in this process.
At the time of accession, it is also important to have a clear idea of the expected life span of an artwork and its component parts. Similarly, consider what steps should be taken if unexpected problems would demand overwhelmingly expensive repairs.
Assessment of object condition should occur each time maintenance or cleaning is undertaken. At RACC, every time the a technicians works on a project, they complete a form that addresses structural condition, surface condition, tests conducted, what treatment was performed, what equipment was used, and if they have any recommendations for future maintenance. This data is stored in both hard files and a computerized database, to provide guidance for the future.
Basic maintenance that RACC regularly conducts includes:
- Outdoor Sculpture
- Assessments
- Washing
- Waxing
- Graffiti removal
- Works on Paper
- Re-matting and framing of works not currently archival framed.
- Other works
- Contact Conservation Professionals when needed
To conclude his discussion, Krueger addressed the need for arts councils to have a clearly defined Deaccession Policy. RACC’s deaccessioning policy can be found on their website www.racc.org.
Following the formal presentation, Krueger addressed questions from the audience:
Q:How do you ensure that artists will complete their conservation forms at the end of the project?
A:Make their final payment contingent on receipt of those forms.
Q: How do you address artists’ desires to let their works age naturally?
A: While administrators should attend to artists’ concerns, it is important to make artists aware that allowing some works to age naturally will shorten the artwork’s life. If the artist isn’t interested in longevity then a projected life span should be written into their contract to avoid excessive maintenance to a work that is not meant to last.
Q: At RACC, who rotates artwork and how is it coordinated?
A:There is a regular preparator for RACC, who responds to requests and coordinates placement of new work as it comes into the collection. Inevitably, city bureaus will make last minute calls when their offices are undergoing renovation, and work must move ASAP. While this is troubling, it is important to appreciate that they are contacting the art council in the first place.To ensure awareness of who needs to be called if agencies have artwork concerns, it is important to install clear, consistent signage with all artwork that is placed.
Q: Please address issues of deaccession further.
A: It is important to let artists know that their work could be considered for deaccession after 10 years, if unforeseen problems arise.When the possibility of deaccessioning occurs, the first step is to return the object to the artist, whether for repair or otherwise.If the artist is unavailable or uninterested, the arts council does have the option to sell the artwork, or to destroy it, if it no longer fulfills the artist’s original intent.
Q: How do you find conservation technicians?
A: The following methods were described:
- Advertise for people who are familiar with working with art and know its limitation
- Get references from professional conservators
- Contact the American Institute of Conservators (AIC) for recommendations in your area
- Hire a conservator to train a group of potential conservation technicians properly
- Local foundries can be good resources for finding conservation technician candidates
- If you utilize volunteers, make sure they are well supervised and trained by a conservator
- Develop a list of appropriate products for us
- **Maintenance is far less expensive than conservation
Q What do you think about hiring artists to maintain their own works?
A: Artists can occasionally be valuable resources, but it is important to be aware that they may want to actively change their work if given the opportunity, thus fundamentally altering its original intent and circumstances.Also, issues of long term maintenance are often not well understood by artists.This is why it is always important that they consult with conservators in the early development of their work.They can also seek guidance through the AIC.
Q: How long is an artist responsible for what they have made?
A: Under RACC’s contract, the artist is responsible for the maintenance and health of their work for an average of one year.If the piece is more complicated, it may extend up to five years, but that would be specified in the contract.
Q:What are your thoughts on new materials?
A:It is important to be very cautious.Resin is very popular now, but its long term stability is unclear. Similarly, fiberglass was very popular for a while, and it is now degrading.If using new materials, artists should be pressed to provide evidence about its possible long-term viability.Sometimes commissioning an artwork is risky.
After this question and answer session, several members of the audience joined Krueger on a walking tour.Below is a list of the sites visited, together with some comments about the topics discussed.Krueger encouraged anyone to e-mail him at rkrueger@racc.org with specific questions about projects or products.
Walking Tour Sites
1. Interlocking Forms, Don Wilson, 1977, 17 tons of Indiana Limestone.
- Some damage occurred when "Clean and Safe" employees of the Portland Business Alliance power-washed the sculpture.RACC’s conservation techs are using D-2 Architectural Antimicrobial now to prevent excessive biological growth (which is harmful to any stone surface).
2. Portland Columns, Walter Dusenberry, 1983, Travertine
- Found Power-washing would cause damage to the stone—Now using D-2
3. Spanish American War Soldier's Monument, Doug Tilden, 1906
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Bronze - Column by Horace Wright of Vermont Granit Co. Harvy Scott, Editor of the Oregonian, raised $16,000
- 8 stone posts list names of battle sites where infantrymen died
- Pillar lists the 64 men from the regiment who died during the war, 19 of which were combat deaths and 43 were from disease.
- Discussion of graffiti removal and the use of G-Pro barrier coating from Great Barrier Systems.
4. Second Oregon Company Volunteers, John Beaver, 1914, Limestone
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Discussed restoration of some missing components.
5. Judy Pfaff
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This major outdoor sculpture was commissioned as part of a Design Commission exception called the Floor Area Ratio bonus, giving developers certain privileges if they added public art to their building. However, the building owners have permitted changes to the artwork, raising some questions about maintaining the artists intent.
6. Animals in Pools, Georgia Gerber, 1986
- Downtown Merchants and Tri-Met funded
- 25 life-sized bronze animals financed by building owners along SW Yamhill and SW Morrison Streets
- Artist wanted to give the general public something "They can be proud of and relate to."
- Wildly successful with the public
- Received their first maintenance last summer (2002). Removed rust stains and waxed
- One of the bears was stolen; local paper wrote an editorial entitled "Bring Our Bear Back"
7. Allow Me, J. Seward Johnson, 1984, bronze, aluminum, and stainless steel
- Gift to the city
- Meeting place, tourist pictures
- Problems with incralaque, now do maintenance ourselves
8. Thor, Melvin Schuler, 1977
- Funded by Tri-Met, U.S. Department of Transportation
- 1999 Dry-rot repaired and an aluminum bottom plate was replaced w/ stainless
9. Da Tung & Xi’an Bao Bao, 2002
- Shang Dynasty Replica of a wine vessel
- Gift of Huo Bazhu
- Sand Cast
10. Pod, Peter Beeman, 2002
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Stainless, Titanium, Bronze
