SOS! Survey Shows Deterioration of Contemporary Outdoor Sculpture
At the outset of the project in October 2001, SOS! was given grant information from NEA on 457 public art projects in 44 states plus the District of Columbia. Our task was to obtain the exact location, current condition, images, and background information for each outdoor sculpture. Through contact with NEA grantees, public art administrators, museums, city officials, and volunteers, SOS! accounted for 416 (91 percent) of the public art projects. The high participation rate allows SOS! to paint a clear picture of the state of our national NEA funded contemporary art collection. Of the 457 original projects, 86 (19 percent) were excluded from the survey because they were classified as temporary, indoor, or non-sculptural; 330 (64 percent) permanent outdoor sculptures were documented.
NEA sculpture owners are beginning to step up to the preservation challenge. From the survey, we learned that six sculptures have been conserved through the SOS! Conservation Treatment Award program, and six additional sculptures were conserved independently by the owner. This honor roll includes Mermaid by Roy Lichtenstein (Miami, Florida), Wichita Tripodal by James Rosati (Wichita, Kansas), Moses by Tony Smith (Seattle, Washington), Windows to the West by Louise Nevelson (Scottsdale, Arizona), and Minneapolis Project by Jackie Ferrara (Minneapolis, Minnesota). For more information, visit the SOS! Web page about the NEA survey. |
The SOS! national survey of permanent outdoor sculpture funded by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Art in Public Places program (1967-1992) paints an alarming picture for contemporary sculpture. Nearly half need conservation, and only a third are well-maintained. Eleven percent of the sculptures have already been destroyed after years of deferred maintenance.
SOS! Assessment Awards were granted to owners of 67 sculptures that were part of the survey. The awards paid a conservation professional to conduct a condition assessment of the sculpture and to propose a plan for its conservation. The condition reports show it will be no small undertaking to preserve America’s contemporary art collection. The cost to conserve a sculpture ran as high as $15,000.