Conservation Treatment Award Update: Iowa and Kansas Save Treasured Sculptures

The Conservation Treatment Awards are entering the final stage. Over 70% of the sculptures who have received awards have completed conservation, with a majority of the remaining 30% due to be completed by the end of 2003. Below are some recent conservation stories.

On the campus of Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, there is a magnificent grotto that was constructed by self-taught designer William Lightner from 1929 to 1941. The Our Lady of Sorrows Grotto, site of annual celebrations such as the May Day Festival, was featured in the state centennial celebration in 1946. The many structures and arches were ravaged by the passage of time, the pond was drained, and parts had been dismantled as maintenance funds dwindled. Through the research and perseverance of Jane Gilmor, Professor of Art, and the Mount Mercy College Art Students Organization, an assessment was made in 1998. A brochure was produced to further educate the college and surrounding community of the urgent need for conservation. At last, the preservation began this summer. Led by conservation professional Anton Rajer of Madison, Wisconsin, interns from the University of Wisconsin and community volunteers worked tirelessly to stabilize and clean the grotto structures. A rededication ceremony and a published account of the conservation odyssey are planned for the near future.

In Leavenworth, Kansas, a Fourth of July rededication capped a successful fund-raising campaign to conserve the copper Statue of Liberty and replace her eroded limestone base. The sculpture stands in front of City Hall, and her rededication, 52 years to the day after her dedication, was well attended. Lieutenant General James Riley, the commanding officer of Ft. Leavenworth, was the keynote speaker; he unveiled the preserved statue with the help of Mayor Larry Dedke. Boy Scouts and regional BSA representatives were also on hand, as the sculpture had originally been part of a nationwide Boy Scout program to provide the eight-foot replicas to local communities in the mid twentieth century. A local high school student designed the rededication program. Funds for the project were raised by a children’s patriotic show, a limited-time sale of commemorative cancelled envelopes, and individual donations. Paul Benson of Prairie View, Kansas, served as chief sculpture conservator on this project.

Leavenworth County also recently provided the needed funds to conserve their local WWI doughboy sculpture, which shows the continuing spirit of preserving county history.

Photo: The Ward Arch in the Our Lady of Sorrows Grotto. Credit: Tony Rajer.