Rescue Public Murals, based at the national nonprofit organization Heritage Preservation, seeks to bring public attention to U.S. murals, document their unique artistic and historic contributions, and secure the expertise and support to save them. Since Rescue Public Murals began in 2006, it has initiated the following projects:
- Assessments: to date Rescue Public Murals has brought conservators and artists together to evaluate the condition of 16 murals in 11 sites across the country. The assessment teams documented what steps will be needed to preserve these murals.
- Restoration: in fall 2009, Rescue Public Murals completed its first restoration project of Eva Cockcroft’s Homage to Seurat: La Grande Jatte in Harlem.
- Best practices for mural creation: Rescue Public Murals is working with artists, conservators, conservation researchers, public art programs, and paint manufactures to identify techniques and materials that will ensure the longest life for new outdoor murals.
- Advocacy: Rescue Public Murals tracks murals in the news and mural programs and initiatives across the U.S. Constituents are encouraged to notify Rescue Public Murals of murals that are deteriorated or at risk for destruction.
- Documentation: because it is not possible to save all outdoor murals, Rescue Public Murals has a partnership with the ARTstor Digital Library save digital images and information about murals and to make them available for noncommercial, educational use. In late 2010, about 1,000 images will be available in ARTstor adding to the 5,000 mural images in the Community Murals collection contributed by Rescue Public Murals co-chair, Dr. Timothy Drescher.
For more information contact rescuepublicmurals(a)heritagepreservation.org or sign up for Rescue Public Murals news and updates.
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The photographs in the top and left bars of this page are of Against Domestic Colonialism by Arnold Belkin, one of the most important 20th century muralists. This mural, painted in New York City in 1972 (left) and measuring approximately 60 by 70 feet, is the only surviving exterior mural by the artist in the United States. It is also significant because it calls attention to the struggle between communities and urban renewal programs, one of the most common mural themes for the first phase (1965-73) of the community mural movement. The detail at the top of this page, taken in 2007, shows the wall's serious drainage and surface flaking problems.