Best Bronze Protection

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‘Whale Dance’ by Jim Sardonis, July 2019, bronze with dark patina, 16’ x 12’, Randolph, VT. Photo by Lelonie Oatway.
‘Whale Dance’ by Jim Sardonis, July 2019, bronze with dark patina, 16’ x 12’, Randolph, VT. Photo by Lelonie Oatway.

Why Coat Bronze

Don't use wax on outdoor sculpture. And here's the research-based reasons why. I list the research at the end of this article, and full disclosure: I receive no remuneration whatsoever for any products referenced in this article.

First a little history. The use of wax with bronze has a long tradition. Archaeological evidence of the 'hot-wax' technique for creating bronze jewelry dates back as far as the first evidence of bronze itself - around 3500 BC. So I imagine that it wasn't too long before someone noticed how nice a bronze statue or pendant looks when polished with wax, and how it protects against fingerprints and weather. This is just a theory, but regardless of how it started, the use of wax to coat metal sculpture, particularly bronze, started long ago and continues today.

The Trouble With Wax

I've used wax myself on sculptures, such as traditional hot wax coating for outdoor bronze, and Renaissance Wax for indoor sculpture. Since most of my work involves outdoor sculpture, I wanted to know just how durable wax is. To my surprise research shows that wax lasts only a few months on outdoor sculpture. Furthermore, the development of new bronze coatings such as polymers protect longer, are easier to apply, and dramatically reduce the cost of maintenance.

So about 10 years ago and after thorough research I began using a polymer known as Everbrite. Though it's a proprietary blend, its ingredients include polymers which seem to me to be similar, if not identical, to Paraloid B44 which has extensive research. We also know that Everbrite has UV-protecting ingredients and a low VOC.  After 10 years of use, I continue to find advanced polymers such as Everbrite the best choice for outdoor bronze protection. Here's why.

The Advantage of Polymer

First, let's talk about application. Polymers are much easier to apply. Simply brush it on, and anyone can do it with careful attention to temperature, drippiness, and a very clean surface. If the bronze surface is too hot the polymer will streak rather than self-level. If it's too humid, the polymer will not stick properly and blister over time. And it's such a thin - very low viscosity - substance you need to watch out for dripping. Most importantly - because I learned this the hard way - the surface must be very clean especially of any previous wax coatings or the polymer will blister and peel within a couple years.

In contrast, wax application is difficult and time consuming, aka, more expensive. Wax has to be applied hot which requires an experienced conservator. Additionally, before applying wax, old coatings have to be removed and the surface cleaned. With Everbrite as mentioned above, yes, any dirt and previous wax has to be meticulously removed, but when it comes time to recoat Everbrite - anywhere from 5 to 10 years - previous coats do not need to be removed. Just recoat over the old coat. It 'self- anneals', meaning it chemically bonds to the previous coat. This is a huge plus over wax - anyone can do it, no expensive application, no expensive maintenance - meaning tremendous cost savings for our clients.

And cleaning a polymer coating is a much easier process of simply wiping with water and cloth.

Now let's look at another benefit of polymer, protection. Only in the last couple of decades have we developed the technology to determine just how long wax lasts. Research conclusively shows that even the best quality wax doesn't last as long as we thought and polymers last much longer.

How long wax lasts on an outdoor sculpture depends on the weather. We  took it as gospel that wax lasted a year or more when in fact research indicates as little as 3 months in outdoor conditions! It's so variable that wax on one side of a sculpture weathers more than another side. To know just how long wax lasts, you need to test the particular sculpture which is a time-consuming and expensive process. Without such testing it's only a guess how long wax is protecting an outdoor sculpture. And here is the real danger: if your wax application lasts only several months, the harsh acids of bird droppings, acid rain, and pine pitch can damage and discolor a bronze patina before your next annual wax application.

I found that on 3 sculptures located in the harshest outdoor environments (freeze-thaw marine) 2 coats of Everbrite last 4-5 years. In less harsh environments (freeze thaw but not marine) several sculptures I coated in Everbrite are still showing no signs of wear after 7 years.

And all polymers are reversable with solvent. Any solvent will do, though xylene does not evaporate quickly so it's able to break down the polymer coating more effectively than other quick-drying solvents. But xylene, like all solvents, is harmful especially to lungs and skin so protection is critical. By the way, any solvent will not harm the common hard chemical patinas applied to bronze sculptures in the foundry. Solvent will remove painted patinas.

Everbrite also provides UV and anti-oxidant protection, and does not yellow. Frankly, I think it's simply nonsense to ever use wax again on outdoor sculpture.

Assessing Different Polymers

I rely on the US Park Service and the Getty Conservation Institute for the latest research on best products and practices. Unfortunately they have not yet studied recently-developed polymers. They have studied the earliest ones (Incralac and Permalac) developed in the 60's which they found superior to wax.

By the way, when you search for polymers you will find many other terms - acrylic polymer, synthetic polymer, acrylic resin, lacquer - all of these terms refer to a particular kind of polymer so to keep it simple I'm calling them polymers.

Incralac was the first. Improved coatings followed with Permalac. Everbrite was developed in 1990. Now there are many. I've used Everbrite for the last 10 years with excellent results.

According to Getty research, Incralac lasts a little over a year in the harshest environments, but top-coats of wax can extend its life up to 3 years. This wax coat means that when it comes time to apply a new coat of Incralac, the wax needs to be thoroughly removed. Permalac last 3-5 years with 4 coats. Everbrite lasts 5-10 years with 2 coats and does not need to be removed when it comes times to recoat. All the latest polymers provide UV protection, self-anneal, and self-level.

Everbrite provides any gradation of satin or matte finish desired. Permalac now comes in a satin finish but as of this writing (2025) no gradations. A cautionary note: the method of coating Incralac with wax was developed by the Getty Institute to improve its durability and provide a wax look. I've just heard of a conservator who uses this technique on Everbrite, that is, coating Everbrite with wax. First, this does not in any way improve the surfaces of the latest polymers including Everbrite. And second, the wax will have to be thoroughly removed before applying a new coat which uselessly increases maintenance costs.

Surprisingly - and happily! - I've also found that Everbrite on bronze helps protect against graffiti - more about this in the case study below.

For cost, protection, and ease of application I prefer Everbrite.

The Downside

One criticism of polymer is that it cracks and peels allowing water to seep in and discolor the bronze surface. Yes, I have seen this and it's entirely caused by not thoroughly cleaning the surface before coating. Often this is wax residue from a previous treatment. I've made this mistake myself and learned the hard lesson which I repeat for emphasis: thoroughly clean the surface of bronze before applying any polymer. When cleaned properly I have not seen any cracks or blisters or peeling in dozens of applications.

Another criticism is that it's too shiny or just doesn't produce the same look as wax. This was true for early versions, but not any more. Everbrite, for instance, comes in any shade of satin or mat finish desired. In fact, the case study presented below is an example of just such a test of many different shades before the artist found the perfect match for the original wax look that he preferred (1/4 matte).

A downside of any polymer is that it darkens verdigris. But I found a solution for those who wish to preserve the beautiful shades of green oxidation on their sculpture. I apply a faux-verdigris by painting the polymer coated bronze surface with acrylic pigments to match the original bright verdigris. Then I coat the acrylics with another coat of Everbrite - polymer does not darken color-fast acrylic paints. The verdigris look is preserved and the sculpture is protected.

verdigris look to an outdoor bronze sculpture

Final Thoughts

One drawback is that any polymer is solvent-based so it's flammable and can irritate skin, eyes, and lungs. Thus, gloves, respirator, and eye protection must be used. Some plastic containers and brush bristles will melt on contact with these polymers, so I use metal containers and natural-hair brushes, available at any hardware store.

The final comparison is expense. When you think about all the issues mentioned above, polymer is dramatically easier to use and less expensive than wax.

Case Study: Coating 'Whale Dance' - Do's and Don'ts

I most enjoy working on sculpture when I can work with the artist.

Bob Hannum and Jim Sardonis

Bob Hannum and Jim Sardonis

This job was just that. I met the sculptor Jim Sardonis when he asked me to remove graffiti from one of his sculptures. He then asked me to clean and coat this wonderful 16' tall bronze sculpture.

Related Projects:

The first step was a close inspection and estimate of what the job required. That done, I asked the artist if he preferred a product for coating his sculpture. This is a touchy question because Jim no longer owns it. It was purchased for permanent public display. Thus, Jim doesn't really have any say in this, though recent laws give artists some control over their art even after they sell it. Nonetheless, any decent conservator wants to know and respect an artist's wishes when reasonable. And like most sculptors, Jim preferred wax, but after I presented the wax versus polymer issue, Jim decided to try a polymer.

Polymer is particularly protective in the harsh freeze-thaw weather cycles we have here in Vermont and throughout New England. Acid rain, bird droppings, salt, and pine needles add an extra degree of stress on the surface of metal sculpture. Wax lasts only a few months in these conditions. Polymer last years.

Getting Started

Next we worked on a perfect shade to match a wax look. I applied several small test patches of different degrees of satin and matte. Jim settled on a final selection as we stayed six feet apart to adhere to our state's Covid-19 precautions at the time. The final selection turned out to be 1/4 of a standard matte chemical mixture. We also tested brush versus wipe. The coating takes only 20 minutes to dry to the touch and 60 minutes between coats.

I cleaned the sculpture surface of all the old wax and accumulated dirt using the solvent xylene - any solvent does not harm the patina, but xylene does not immediately evaporate.

I applied two coats of the custom-mixed Everbrite that Jim chose. The first coat sealed small cracks and pits.

Final Results

More and more conservators now use polymer coatings. This is the best recommendation of all since the conservation industry is quite careful. Conservators are not known for using products such as polymers that are 'only' 30 years in use!

This particular coating restored a new look identical to the original dark brown wax-coated bronze patina.

No maintenance is required other than wiping with a cotton cloth and tap water. Most of the time, rain water washes away most dirt. When the coating began to fade five years later, I simply reapplied 2 new coats without removing the old. Anyone with painting experience can do it.

I find that hear in New England, Everbrite begins to need a new coat in 5 years.  Polymers are so durable that I offer a five-year warranty to all my clients.

Oh, and one more thing - a surprising result. Polymer coating reduces the damage of graffiti! Everbrite is easy to scratch so most graffiti 'artists' are satisfied with scratching the polymer and not the patina below. So the fix becomes quite easy, simply apply another coat of polymer and the scratch disappears. The Everbrite people now make a harder coating called Protecta Clear which I will try on areas where kids like to climb - their shoes scratch off the Everbrite as well as the patina. I'll let you know how this goes in future updates.

graffiti
Repaired graffiti

References

1. Latest European study on wax, 2002, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303158807_Protect_our_European_outdoor_bronze_monuments_Good_Practice_Guide_Culture_2000

2. Assessing the Protective Quality of Wax Coatings on Bronze Sculptures Using Hydrogel Patches in Impedance Measurements, 2016, Downloadable PDF at www.mdpi.com P. 10 - polymers are more protective than all waxes tested.

3. Latest research abstracts on polymer coatings for bronze, 2020 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222801665_Developing_and_testing_a_new_generation_of_protective_coatings_for_outdoor_bronze_sculpture

4. More research, 2019, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0300944018309743

5. Latest GCI Research: https://www.getty.edu/conservation/

6. Anecdotal comparison of Everbrite and Incralac: https://www.everbritecoatings.com/public-art

7. Latest CGI bronze restoration: http://blogs.getty.edu/iris/revitalizing-barbara-hepworths-figure-for-landscape/

8. Latest National Park Service research: https://ncptt.nps.gov/blog/ndsu-outdoor-bronze/

9. Latest Getty Research: Incralac vs Permalac: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/viewer.html?pdfurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.getty.edu%2Fmuseum%2Fconservation%2Fdecorativearts_and_sculpture%2Fimages%2Fdasc_featuredproject_sculpture.pdf&clen=596502

Sculpture on the Highway

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Untitled sculpture by Herbert Baumann 1968
Untitled by Herbert Baumann 1968 located at the I-91 southbound Hartford Rest Area

The Story Begins in 1968

"OK, now what?!" Or so I imagine the words of Paul Aschenbach standing in front of over twenty monumental sculptures.

He gathered artists from all over the world to create these huge works of art in marble and concrete. It was an ambitious project and a grand vision of the power of open minds and communication at the height of the Cold War when the political world was rife with fear and closed borders.

Now, where to put them!

Aschenbach was Associate Professor of Art at the University of Vermont. He brought together fellow sculptors on three separate occasions in 1968, 1971, and 1990. The first two would result in what is now called 'Sculpture on the Highway', the largest sculpture park in the world!

The Symposia

Aschenbach's events were inspired by a worldwide movement known as the International Sculpture Symposium founded in 1959 by the Austrian sculptor Karl Prantl who participated in the first Vermont symposium.

As noted in Wikipedia,

This initiative grew from the need to facilitate communication and exchange between members of the international sculpture community. It was also rooted in Cold War tensions, which lent a particular urgency to the need for cross-cultural dialogue on a person-to-person basis. The first international sculpture symposium took place in an abandoned stone quarry in Sankt Margarethen im Burgenland."

'Axe VIII’ sculpture by Bradford Graves 1971
'Axe VIII’ by Bradford Graves 1971 located at the I-89 northbound Williston Rest Area

Prantl organized several sculpture symposia in Europe and elsewhere including Japan, Israel, and Canada.

Supporting Vermont's symposia were grants from the Vermont Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts which matched goods and services provided by two regional industrial benefactors, the Vermont Marble Company (1968) and the concrete manufacturer S.T. Griswold & Company (1971).

Four Towers by Eduardo Ramirez
'Cuarto Torres’ (Four Towers) by Eduardo Ramirez 1971 located at the I-89 southbound Williston Rest Area

Marble and Concrete

Twenty-two sculptures were created during Vermont's first two symposia. Some were sold according to an agreement among the artists, including a sculpture by Clement Meadmore. One was damaged beyond repair during a later relocation effort. The remaining sixteen were placed at rest areas along 400 miles of Vermont highways I-91 and I-89.

Half are marble created in the first symposium and the other half are reinforced cast and applied concrete created in the second symposium.

Untitled by Viktor Rogy 1968
Untitled by Janez Lenassi 1968

My Role

Several years ago my wife and I moved to Montpelier to be closer to grandchildren. My business of many years, art conservation specializing in contemporary sculpture, was stopped cold by the Covid outbreak. Looking for something to do I introduced myself to Vermont's State Curator, David Schutz who told me about this unusual collection, mostly hidden, because they were placed in highway 'Pull Offs' over 50 years ago that are now either closed to the public or overgrown by trees and bushes. He asked me to find them and determine what they need to be accessible to the public and restored to their original appearance. I couldn't believe my good fortune: a chance to go on a treasure hunt, to be Harrison Ford in my own Indiana Jones movie!

This assessment was essential for plans by David and his team to submit grant proposals for funding to conserve this unique public art collection. The goal is to preserve the collection for public enjoyment and tap its potential as a significant contribution to the economic engine of Vermont's tourism industry. Here's some information about my background:

To assess the condition of this collection, and develop conservation plans, the Vermont State Curator’s Office turned to Robert Hannum, founder and principal Art Conservator for Arts Management Services, LLC. This is an international art installation and restoration company serving museums, artists, and corporate collectors, including the US Department of State, which maintains the art in our embassies and ambassador residences abroad. For over 45 years Hannum has specialized in the installation of large public art projects, and the design and implementation of conservation strategies for contemporary sculpture. He has worked with municipal, state, and national governments around the world. Mr. Hannum has committed his pro bono consultation to this endeavor to ensure continuity, the highest quality conservation standards, and the thorough completion of the Sculpture on the Highway project. - RAYCROFT/MEYER Landscape Architecture

Some sculptures need to be moved. Others need foundations. All need to be cleaned. Cracks, chips, and graffiti need attention. The good news is that they're all in remarkably good condition for over 50 years old. With timely and proper attention, they can last another 50 years and beyond.

Untitled by Minoru Niizuma 1968
Untitled by James Silva 1971

The Adventure Begins

So off I went to find these huge objects, and then create assessments and plans for restoration and on-going maintenance. The objective, as explained by Vermont's State Curator, is not to bring these sculptures back to their original condition but rather to delay the natural deterioration for as long as possible.

‘Socha pre Betón/Sculpture for Concrete’ by Rudolph Uher 1971
'Trois Traces' by Yasuo Mizui 1968
'Sculpture for the Highway' by Isaac Witkin 1971
Untitled by Carl Floyd 1971

Conservation Needs

The first priority is to move those that are too close to a roadway, or in locations susceptible to vandalism, or in areas that are now inaccessible to the public. The second priority is to give them all durable foundations. Next, fill cracks since the freeze/thaw cycle of Vermont weather causes the most damage - each year cracks get a bit wider and longer.

Another major concern is 'sugaring'. This is a kind of degradation to the surface of outdoor marble. The cause is weather, acid rain, pine needles, bird droppings - just about every outdoor condition. Marble is simply not a great choice for outdoor sculpture. Over time, smooth marble surfaces turn into tiny rough grains of stone the texture of sugar. The good news is that Vermont marble is much more durable, favored worldwide for applications that receive the most wear and tear such as floors and outdoor monuments. Once again, our marble sculpture is in amazingly good condition for over 50 years old!

Other needs can wait a bit longer if necessary, such as chip repair, coating exposed rebar, removing graffiti, cleaning off moss, dirt, and mold, and installing signage.

Related Projects:

Signage of some kind is important not only for interpretation, but also for preservation. Research shows that signage on outdoor art reduces vandalism. But signage for these artworks presents a challenge. Many symposia artists felt that signage and even titles impede a viewers encounter with art, an idea popular at the time and championed by Susan Sontag's famous1966 essay Against Interpretation. So we'll have to give further thought to this issue. Maybe signage at the beginning of a long path leading to the sculpture? We'll see.

Untitled by A. Dieter Trantenroth 1971
Cracks in the sculptures are a high priority

VTrans to the Rescue

Then a wonderful surprise! The Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), our state highway department, got wind of our efforts and offered to help. Now we're working with VTrans to move sculptures and create foundations.

Getting Started

The plan is to move some of the sculptures to high-use rest areas to reduce the risk of vandalism and enable visitors to walk around them. Others will have their current areas cleaned and improved.

Untitled by Erich Reischke 1968
Untitled by Paul Aschenbach 1971

Grant applications were submitted and accepted! The federal 'Save America's Treasures' program awarded us generous funding to clean and repair the collection. But fundraising will continue because we have much more to do after we restore and preserve the collection such as creating exciting interpretive presentations and materials at rest stops, welcome centers, and websites, a 'passport' program that encourages and awards visitors young and old to check out all the sculptures, and even another symposium, this time in granite!

We created 'Friends of Sculpture on the Highway', a non-profit group of the original artists, their family members and friends, and interested citizens to join us in advocacy, fundraising, and brainstorming. Please join us by contacting me at rwhannum@gmail.com. All are welcome to join this exciting project!

These sixteen sculptures are an important piece of Vermont history. They hold a unique place in contemporary art as works of significance and value that must not be neglected.

Update: August 2019 - Support Grows!

The niece of one of the sculptors, Erich Reischke, just contacted me! She read this article and is coming to visit Vermont this fall with her sister and would like to see their uncle's artwork.

Also, one of my clients, the Office of Cultural Heritage (CH) of our US State Dept, just offered to review our conservation plans. CH is a small team of incredibly talented art conservators who travel the world repairing the vast collection of art in our embassies and ambassador residences. They're a wonderful group of people and I'm thrilled to be working with them!

As one of the members of our group recently remarked, there's a lot of positive energy gathering around this project. The stars are aligned!

Update: October 2019 - Reischke and Ruddick

Our group continues to meet, visit the sites, and plan for their preservation. We continue to search for the artists that are still alive or their family members. Three are still alive - Ruddick, Silva, and Kishida.

We just met with two sisters who are nieces of Erich Reischke. They came from California to see his sculpture. Byron Breese who heads our volunteer group, and I, spent an afternoon with them at their uncle's sculpture, talking and reminiscing.

They shared memories of Erich's fascinating and unusual life - living on a commune, becoming a Sikh, shunned by his family, and then later beloved.

Rita Reischke Bauer (left) and Sylvia Reischke
Rita Reischke Bauer (left) and Sylvia Reischke, nieces of Eric Reischke, sitting on his sculpture.
Sylvia Reischke, niece of Eric Reische standing next to one of his sculptures
Sylvia Reischke

Yesterday Byron and I traveled to Northampton, MA, about 2.5 hours drive south to meet halfway, Peter Ruddick and his friend who drove up from New York City where Peter has an art exhibition. He lives in California.

We spent three hours listening to memories of his upbringing in England during the WWII, his teaching career in Oregon, then at the Pratt Institute in New York City, and then Goddard College in Vermont. He spoke at length of his recollection of both Vermont symposia. Each one lasted about two months. He spoke about the artists that influenced him most such as Louise Bourgeois and especially, for him, Alberto Giacometti. I was particularly enthralled since I'd recently restored a Bourgeois sculpture at our ambassador's residence in London, and Giacometti is my all-time favorite, too!

Peter supports our plans for signage and foundations for his sculpture and all the others. His contribution to 'Sculpture on the Highway' was thought to be 'Untitled' but we discovered that it's 'Sextant'. He explained the influences behind it such as climbing over bunkers and looking thru machine gun sites left over from the war in England as a child.

He explained that he and the other artists were involved in choosing the location and exact placement of their pieces. For him the circle of 'Sextant' framed the mountains in the distance and the diamond framed cars on the highway and parked at the rest stop. We plan to move this sculpture and Peter enjoyed our suggestion of the Sharon Welcome Center where it could once again align with a view of the mountains at one end and the highway at the other.

Plans are also afoot to reconstruct a missing sculpture by Kishida Katsuji who is still alive. It was destroyed years ago while trying to move it.

Our long-term vision is another symposium, national and state Historic Register designation, the reconstruction of this piece, and other exciting possibilities.

Peter Ruddick, Bob Hannum, and Byron Breese
Peter Ruddick, Bob Hannum, and Byron Breese in Paul & Elizabeth’s Restaurant, Northampton, MA 10/7/19
‘Sextant' by Peter Ruddick
Peter Ruddick’s ‘Sextant’ at a closed weigh station on I-89 South in Sharon
Sculpture on the Highway by Kishida Katsuji
Kishida Katsuji sculpture at Sharon Rest Stop, I-89 North, destroyed years ago in an attempt to move it.
‘Stone for Meditation’ sculpture by Karl Prantl
‘Stone for Meditation’ by Karl Prantl 1968

Update: March 2020 - Kate Pond

A local reporter from 'Seven Days' called me. He saw this post and wanted to know more about 'Sculpture on the Highway.' He mentioned that Kate Pond participated in these symposia and that she lives close-by. So began my adventure with Ms. Pond!

"What Is the Large Metallic Structure at the Border in Highgate?" is a wonderful article about the work of the prominent Vermont sculptor Kate Pond. She and I are in conversation about her memories as a student of Paul Aschenbach and Clement Meadmore. Meadmore was another prominent sculptor and participant in 'Sculpture on the Highway'. The article mentions a third Vermont sculpture symposium organized by Aschenbach in 1990. Sculptures from this symposium can be seen in Battery Park in Burlington.

Update: August 2020 - The Maine Symposia

We discovered that another symposium was held 20 years ago in Maine resulting in 34 sculptures found in cities and towns along 200 miles of the northern Maine coast from Castine to Eastport. Known as the Maine Sculpture Trail, five symposia were organized by the Maine sculptor Jesse Salisbury who is now a wonderful supporter of our project and a new member of 'Friends of Sculpture on the Highway.'

Update: February 2021 - Karl Prantl

Our 'Friends' Director Byron Breese just found this video of Karl Prantl who passed away in 2010 at the age of 87.

Update: September 2021 - Save America's Treasures

Fabulous news! We just received a 'Save America's Treasures' grant! And for the entire amount we requested. I'm dancing as I type! This grant is entirely devoted to cleaning and restoring the sculptures.

We're not stopping here! Soon we're set to submit an equally important grant application to Vermont's Agency of Transportation (AOT) to move sculptures, place them on foundations, and upgrade their rest areas - a huge endeavor.

We continue to track down friends and relatives of the original artists. We found Doug Griswold whose father was the owner of ST Griswold Company (later sold to SD Ireland) which donated concrete and work space for all of the second symposium artists. Doug was just out of college having worked at his dad's company since he was 11. He was assigned to assist all the artists. We can't wait to gather and share his stories.

Concrete was an experimental medium for art in the early 70's. Doug made himself available daily to the artists to problem-solve in the creation of their sculptures. We just had the first zoom call with Doug and one of the many interesting memories he shared was that he spent a lot of time trying to convince the artists to look at concrete as a new medium rather than the medium they were used to. He said he didn't succeed with certain artists and you can tell from the pieces they created. For example, Meadmore designed his sculpture like he did his metal sculptures:

Meadmore Sculpture

Ramirez's piece looks like the wood he's used to:

Ramirez Sculpture

And Graves created a large block of concrete as if it was stone:

Graves Sculpture

Others were more experimental such as Sylva, Ruddick, Uher, and Floyd. Fascinating!

These meetings are being recorded. Soon we'll make them available on our new website created pro bono by the website development team of Midnightsons Designs.

Update: November 2023 - AOT

Our state legal team - God love 'em! - deem it necessary to contact remaining living sculptors or their next-of-kin to request that they donate the sculptures to the State of Vermont. The purpose of this effort is to settle any question of ownership. That is underway and the good news is that the response is positive.

Meantime, no further grant is needed by the Agency of Transportation. They love our project so much that they've agreed to provide whatever improvements to each rest area where the sculptures are located. Thrilling plans include accessible paths, signage, foundations, landscaping, and much more!

Our website at SculptureontheHighway.com, generously donated by Midnightsons Designs is being updated and soon to be a source of regular updates for our growing worldwide group of 'Friends of Sculpture on the Highway'. Join us!

And finally, consultation and planning proceeds so the exciting conservation work funded by the federal 'Save America's Treasures', and the site improvements by our highway department can finally begin this coming spring.

Update: January 2024 - Found!

Exciting news! A 'lost' Aschenbach marble sculpture has been found. I ventured down to Proctor on other business yesterday for the Vermont Marble Museum which is a marvelous place - you must see it! A Board member of the museum, Jackson Evans, gave me a wonderful tour.

Paul Aschenbach sculptureI asked him about Sculpture on the Highway, and he recalled seeing some of the sculptures over the years during highway travels. I told him all about our project. Well, we spent more time talking about SOTH than our original business. He shared local contacts for first-hand accounts of memories of the marble symposium in 1968 which was held right there in the field in front of us - the symposium lasted two months there, ending in a grand party where all the local townspeople gathered here in this here to view the finished sculptures and celebrate with music and food.

Then he said to me that I should go across the street and talk to an engineer from Omya which now owns Vermont Marble Company and all the marble quarries in VT, some still active including the largest underground marble quarry in the world located in a mountain in Danby, Vermont.

So I walked on over to meet Joel Blumenthal, Senior Geologist for Omya. I asked him about the symposium and he said, 'Follow me!" He took me to the back yard and showed me a huge half-buried mound of marble, clearly a sculpture because among the quarry marks are the distinct lines of carving tools. He said the Vermont Agency of Transportation wanted to dig it up 2-3 years ago, but something happened and it never came about which may have been a blessing in disguise since a previous effort to move one of the sculptures on the highway resulted in its destruction. As you can imagine, I got excited, but Joel added that I should sit down because he had something else to show me. He took out a thick manila folder with dozens of large black and white photos of the symposium! In perfect condition - images of the sculptures in-process with artists working on them, as well as finished pieces clearly identical to the ones in our collection, plus others, probably the ones that were sold. And there among them was a picture of the un-buried version of the sculpture out back with Aschenbach standing right next to it!

So now we know where it is with proof it's Aschenbach's. But many mysteries remain - how did AOT know about it, and why did Aschenbach bury it? Why didn't he place it along the highway like all the rest? Maybe he didn't like it? Maybe Aschenbach left it as a gift to the Vermont Marble Company...

So now we have lots of people to interview, photos to scan, and new mysteries to solve. The adventure continues, and Byron and I will keep you posted. And a very special thank you to Jackson Evans of the Vermont Marble Museum and Joel Blumenthal from Omya, real heroes of this story, for sharing their amazing information, and being so generous with their time.

Update: February 2024 - Noguchi!

In our ongoing interviews of folks who remember the artists, we just learned of a Proctor resident who provided lodging for all the sculptors in her bed and breakfast. One intriguing story she tells is of another sculptor who briefly visited. He didn't participate in the symposium but just came to see his friends. She distinctly remembers that he was very polite and Japanese. And he told her to call him by his last name 'like everyone does, Noguchi'!

Update: March 2024 - Marble History

The stone of our marble sculptures was sourced from 3 Vermont quarries: white marble from West Rutland known as ‘West Rutland White’ (Mizui, Aschenbach, and Prantl), white marble from Danby variously known as ‘Danby Imperial’ and ‘Danby White’ (Baumann, Lenassi, Reischke, and Rogy), and a block of black marble from the Fisk quarry in Isle La Motte variously known as ‘Vermont Radio Black’, ‘Fisk Black’, ‘Isle La Motte Black’, and ‘Champlain Black’ (Niizuma).

The marble quarries throughout Vermont in 1968 when this symposium took place were owned and operated by the Vermont Marble Company of Proctor, Vermont. For a period of time beginning in the late 1800’s, the Vermont Marble Company was the largest producer of marble in the world.

Vermont marble has a higher composition of dolomite resulting in a harder, denser, and less porous marble with greater resistance to scratches, cracks, stains, and corrosion. For instance, the absorption rate of marble from Vermont is .06-.08 versus .13-.18 found in Italian marble which is much more popular among artists due to its carving qualities and brilliant color. The durability of Vermont marble makes it the most sought-after for kitchen counters and floors.

The unusual hardness of Vermont marble is visible throughout our 55-year-old collection with only a few thin cracks and very little surface erosion despite acid rain and our harsh New England freeze-thaw environment.

The Danby Marble Quarry is still in operation having produced marble for such prominent landmarks as the US Supreme Court, UN Headquarters in New York, and the Jefferson Memorial.

The quarry extends 1.5 miles inside Dorset Mountain, the largest underground quarry in the world. It's 'Imperial' marble is considered the finest white marble in the world. Some of the caverns are so large - 3 stories high - that all the production facilities are within the mountain.

The Fisk Quarry which as mentioned above as the source of Niizuma’s black marble, was the first marble quarry in Vermont going back to 1664.Fisk Quarry It is no longer in operation. Marble from this quarry is found in the ornamental walls of Radio City Music Hall, the National Gallery of Art, and the Vermont State Capitol.

The West Rutland quarries are also no longer in operation. Its marble was primarily used for grave stones.

Omya is the current owner of all 17 active marble quarries in Vermont. The company extracts marble primarily to produce calcium carbonate powder which is one of the most common ingredients in everyday products such as toothpaste, gum, antacids, food, and paper. Omya uses ‘progressive reclamation’ by which unused quarries are transformed into forest and farmland.

Update: May 2024 - Work Begins!

After a winter composing a detailed conservation plan for the concrete sculptures which was generously reviewed buy one of the foremost art conservation organizations in the world, the Getty Conservation Institute, work has begun at last!

We began work on the Ramirez (I-89 south Williston). Staff of the center and their Manager, Lisa Sanchez, and the area head of BGS, Josh, have all been welcoming and most helpful. Ramirez Sculpture

This coming week as cleaning continues, I'll start testing concrete patching colors for the closest match. The plan is when cleaning is finished, we'll move to Graves (across the highway at Williston north) while I repair Ramirez.

I showed Mat Calcagni, expert art handler from Granite Corporation of Barre, the Trantenroth (I-89 south  Middlesex) our most damaged concrete sculpture. Mat will be removing the six sections of this sculpture so that the heavily cracked section can be repoured as planned. Trantenroth moveI also showed him the Silva (I-91 north Putney) so he can lift it and transport it to a closer location - hoping BGS will give us a small section of parking lot or other outdoor state-owned area to clean and repair this piece.

ABC TV interviewed me 2 weeks ago at the Ramirez sculpture, but the video was just shown 2 days ago - have a look -

https://www.mychamplainvalley.com/at-this-place-in-history/this-place-in-history-i-89-i-91-sculpture-park

The concrete sculptures in our collection are first on the agenda because their conditions present the most risk of further damage.

Work began by assembling a team - a local public high school students and a graduate student intern, plus a retired and passionate laborer Richard, and my assistant Rebecca Driscoll. Next we tested various methods and products for cleaning and repairs - all approved by the Getty - and chose the ones that produced the best results. We are documenting our work with before and after images all along the way. Finally we hired a professional photographer, Eric Killorin to document our project from an artistic point of view. We will use his images to create an exhibition to start this winter and travel around the state drumming up support during this multi-year project.

Stop by and visit anytime!

Update: July 2024 -Granite Museum

Scott McLaughlin, the Director of the Granite Museum in Barre, Vermont graciously invited us to move 3 sculptures to his large outdoor viewing area in order to clean and repair them in a cost-effective and secure setting. The Ruddick and Trantenroth just arrived. Silva joins them next week.

Update: Nov 2024 - Season 1 Success

It's was a wonderful first season - 6 warm months! - and now that the cold weather has arrived we've can't apply coatings or concrete repairs so we've wrapped-up the restoration of our Sculpture on the Highway project until the weather warms again in May. We exceeded our goals for this year - here's what we did.

As many as 9 talented people endured our overly hot and humid summer including a local high school student, a professional photographer, a graduate studies intern, and a marble conservator from Romania! We are on-time and on-budget.

Specifically, we completed the cleaning of all 9 concrete sculptures as planned, and although we fell short of completing all the repairs - a bit more to do on 2 - we also completed the restoration of our most valuable and damaged marble sculpture, 'Stones for Meditation' by Karl Prantl. Plus, the marvelous Ambassadors at our Guilford Welcome Center cleaned their marble sculpture.

Before Cleaning
Before Cleaning
After Cleaning
After Cleaning
Siva Before
Before Restoration
Silva After
After Restoration
Prantl Before
Before Restoration
Prantl after
After Restoration

This marble work was not expected until next year, so overall, we are ahead of the game and well on our way to completing the conservation work as planned by the end of next summer.

Though the hands-on work is done for the season, work continues through the winter. I'm documenting all the products and methods we used in order to guide future maintenance. And our AOT friends are planning their exciting involvement that begins next season - pouring foundations, moving sculptures, and improving all the rest areas where the sculptures are located.

Phew! It's been a busy and exhilarating project, and thanks to everyone involved.

Update: August 2025 - Highs and Lows!

The bad news is that our Save America's Treasures grant money was cancelled in Feb by DOGE, but a successful appeal restored the money. However, the administration appealed the appeal so we are waiting to hear the outcome. Meanwhile conservation is on hold.

The good news - and there's lots! - is that most of the conservation work was completed and the funding spent last year. So, we are seeking state and private help to complete the conservation work in case the federal funding is not restored. And already we have a donation.

Meanwhile, our Agency of Transportation is gearing up to start their piece of the project - pouring foundations, moving sculptures out of obscure locations, and upgrading each rest area with accessible paths, evening lighting, and wonderful landscaping. My hope is that 2 or 3 sculptures are moved onto foundations before the end of this year.

Another exciting development, we hired a consultant, Meg Ostrum, who has worked within the arts community for decades, to create a strategic plan. First step is to approach some deep-pocketed folks which is to begin soon.

Meanwhile I did a 40-minute presentation to a local conservation group a couple months ago and it was very well attended and received. So, I’m approaching other groups to raise awareness and financial support. Here it is:

 

Chris Miller Installation of 'Ruin' commissioned by the Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences

Chris Miller installing 'Unity'

And we just added a new sculpture to the collection, a granite artwork by Chris Miller. It was placed at the Welcome Center in Bennington. We hope this is the beginning of our dream of a Granite Symposium in which many more sculptures will be created by international artists and placed along our other highway rest areas.

And finally, a popular Vermont-based podcast known as Happy Vermont just featured Sculpture on the Highway. Have a listen:

Update: March 2026 - A Busy Year Ahead!

All good news! The presentation I made last year about the history of the project and the restoration we have almost completed was accepted for presentation at this year’s American Institute for Conservation Annual Conference in Montreal this coming April.

And Meg Ostrum, hired last year by our State Curator David Schutz to develop a strategic plan, just completed it. We’ve received positive feedback, including from the Vermont Arts Council, an original sponsor of both Symposiums so long ago. They offered to be a partner as we start grant writing and other fundraising efforts for our multi-year project. First step in the plan: create a Board of Directors for our non profit 'Friends of Sculpture on the Highway'. Take a look at our Prospectus and Summary, and let us know what you think!

And finally, a local filmmaker Alan Dater of Marlboro Films contacted me to say that he had produced a 20-minute documentary on the 1971 Symposium. None of us had heard of it! Alan graciously gave me permission to share it. The film captures all the artists at work and features Paul Aschenbach explaining the inspiration behind both Symposiums. Take a look: https://vimeo.com/1168615097?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci

Art Installation at Becton, Dickinson and Company

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Award-Winning Art Installation

In 1986, Arts Management Services LLC was part of the team commissioned to install two large sculptures. The piece shown above is titled Atrium Garden by Michael Singer and is located in the world headquarters of Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) in Franklin Lakes, NJ.

Singer was commissioned to create works of art for two interior atrium spaces in the executive building of BD’s vast corporate campus.

“Both atria were planned by the architect to be central light wells for the building, providing natural lighting for the core circulation space as well as the adjacent offices and gathering spaces. Upon entering the building there is a view of the central Atrium Garden and its linear water element which carries one’s view deeper into the space.

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Low dense ground cover blankets much of the sculpted ground plane, with several excavated shapes below the surface and around the fountain and water channel. These excavated areas contain different configurations of stone and wood forms.

The garden may be viewed from the adjacent offices and walkways on the upper levels. The many viewpoints reveal different forms within the underground chambers. In the second atrium, which faces an outdoor courtyard, there is a wood and stone sculpture Cloud Hands Ritual Series 1986, an etched copper tablet and an old quarry cart. The elements of the sculpture and etched copper plate reflect the larger forms seen in the sculptural garden atrium.

This project won an American Institute of Architects Gold Award.”

Made of granite, pine, and field stone, I return for yearly maintenance to clean both pieces and apply repairs as needed which is infrequent.

Restoration has involved replacing rotted infrastructure elements supporting the granite. Other than these minimal repairs the piece is remarkably durable. An electrical leak in the ceiling above the Cloud Hands sculpture caused staining on several wood surfaces. The owners have chosen not to repair it due to the fact that the stains look just like knots in the pine surface.

Update 

In 2019 Arts Management Services LLC restored both sculptures. The entire below-ground infrastructure was replaced and the electrical stain damage was restored. See this article for further details.

Fountain Restoration in Tokyo

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Fountain Restoration in Tokyo

A Successful Project With Surprises!

Arts Management Services LLC was asked to restore this Japanese fountain to its original 1929 look.

Tokyo fountain

The fountain is located in the back yard of the US Ambassador’s residence, one of the most important properties in the history of U.S. diplomacy.

It’s among the first residences specifically built as a U.S. ambassador’s home. More importantly, this is where, at the end of World War II, Emperor Hirohito met with General Douglas MacArthur and renounced his divinity, ending the influence of Japan’s imperial family on the world stage. Apart from historical significance, this quiet residence with its spacious garden sits in the heart of busy Tokyo.

The large circular fountain pool is lined with a distinctive pattern of colorful tile that shimmers in the shallow water. The central bronze urn is believed to have come from an ancient royal temple where large vessels, usually made of wood, catch and conserve rainwater. Its surface is beautifully aged with brilliant shades of orange and green oxidation.

cracked Tokyo tiles

The fountain has many wide and long cracks from many earthquakes and tremors, large and small, over it’s 100 years. The cracks have been filled with silicone, leaving unsightly remains of the damage such as cracked tiles and large voids. In addition, several ugly elements were added over the years such as a stainless steel band of lights and a ‘lobster pot’ of a metal grate protecting a water fixture as seen in the image above. Finally, the pipes feeding water to the pool and fountain spraying from the center of the urn werer corroded and leaking excessively. 

To begin the project I met with several experts to plan a course of action to address these problems. First, I found  Japanese artisans capable and willing to create matching tile. Then I spoke with engineers experienced with repairing concrete tunnels damaged by seismic events – Tokyo averages 6 tremors per year and a serious damaging one every five – to determine the best way to repair the concrete foundation under the pool. And finally, I spoke with plumbers about a way to replace underground pipe by boring through the soil using water pressure, rather than digging up the entire fountain. 

Once all the estimates are gathered and final decisions made, I assemble materials, people, and equipment for what looks to be a 2-3 week project scheduled for April or May.

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Restoration Options

Several options are on the table. One involves removing the entire existing surface of the tile and replacing it with a very hard 4″ thick ‘bowl’ of reinforced concrete so that when an earthquake occurs, the bowl doesn’t crack but rather moves over its foundation.
 
Another option is to leave the existing structure intact and just replace the cracked tile.
 
Yet another option is to create concrete facsimiles from a silicone mold and paint them to blend in with existing and original tiles of soft green, blue, black, orange, and white.

Restored historic Tokyo fountain

The option chosen after much discussion is to fill the cracks and paint over the faux tiles, allowing crack to continue as they will. This is the least expensive option and one that stops water from leaking – fresh water is an expensive commodity in Tokyo and an increasingly important focus of conservation all over the world. Corroded pipes would be replaced. Lights would be removed and instead placed on surrounding rooftops to achieve the same effect of illuminating the fountain for evening events. 

Surprising Discovery

It was a two-week project and completely successful.

The most exciting part of this project was the urn, unusual for several reasons. First, during World War II all such metal was reclaimed by the Japanese government for use in the creation of ships, planes, and munitions. So no such metal object of this age should exist. Turns out that because it was on embassy grounds (this residence is located right beside the US Embassy), it was sovereign territory respected by the Japanese government even during wartime when the US was an enemy. Thus the urn remained untouched.

Japanese bronze urnThe other unusual feature of the urn was the kangi or Japanese writing on the urn. Digging into this writing revealed the original artisan’s name. Digging further with the help of the Japanese bronze labor organization, we discovered where the urn was created, a company and district in Tokyo that long ago ended operations and was absorbed into another company. Digging even further we found two great granddaughters of the craftsman who created the urn. We contacted them. They were overjoyed to hear of their ancestor’s work and that this still survived. We invited them to a special event to see their ancestor’s urn and what a special time it was. Take a look at the following video about it.     

https://www.magisto.com/album/video/fHYsAl1bCAd8ISEGDmEwCXx7

Marble Restoration in Japan

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Broken Marble Fingers

The Sculpture

Two fingers on a delicate marble sculpture by an unknown French artist, a nearly life-sized nude, were broken in the past and then glued back using a substance that darkened over time.

My job was to restore the fingers to their original look.

The Restoration

The process involved carefully removing just enough of the old glue so as to fill it with new white epoxy, but not so much that the fingers break again, and without touching any part of the original stone.

Using a professional-grade Dremel, and a variety of accessories, I removed a thin layer of the old epoxy without touching any of the original marble surrounding the old repair. Once this was done I applied a 2-part non-glossy white epoxy, filling the cracks so that it looked like the original stone. Finally, and quickly before the epoxy set, I applied white marble dust to match the texture of the stone.

Once dry I did a few minor passes with the Dremel for finishing touches.

Before Repair

Before Repair 1
Before Repair 1
Before Repair 2
Before Repair 2
Before Repair 3
Before Repair 3

After Repair

After Repair 1
After Repair 1
After Repair 2
After Repair 2
After Repair 3
After Repair 3

 

I was happy with the result.

Sculpture Restoration in Manila

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Several Projects at Our Embassy and Ambassador's Residence

Finding the Spot

I recently returned from a week in Manila and the successful completion of several projects at our embassy and ambassador's residence.

First up was relocating the exact spot where a small concrete sculpture memorializes a significant and dangerous time in our involvement in the Philippines. During World War II the Japanese briefly took over the Philippines. Just before they arrived to occupy our embassy, the small group of remaining staff gathered all our flags and burned them to prevent them from being mistreated by the invaders. The memorial marks the exact spot where the flags were burned and the ashes buried. The memorial was recently moved temporarily to protect it during construction that will last the next two years. Luckily, Dan Larson located an old photo of its location confirmed by the legend that it is '...six paces from the tree away from the ocean, and seven paces to the right...' reflecting the 13 stripes. And sure enough the legend is correct placing the memorial smack in the middle of the flower bed shown below between the two trees.

Saving Hands and Feet

manansala2

Vicente Silva Manansala 1910-1981

Next up was an odd job involving tile artwork adorning the pool at our ambassador's residence.

This tile design was created by the Picasso of the Philippines, Vicente Manansala (1910-1981), in the early 60's when the pool was constructed. The tile needed its sharp edges softened. The embassy mason and I softened over 1000 tiles to prevent injury to the hands and feet of swimmers.

Repairing 'Big Washers'

Next on the agenda, restoring a sculpture. There were cracks in several locations on the sculpture "Yellow Rings" by Carol Brown Goldberg, affectionately known as 'Big Washers' by embassy staff.

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The restoration involved removing chipped paint, filling the cracks with two-part metal epoxy, sanding smooth the epoxy and paint edges, and applying several coats of three distinct matching enamel colors, lightly sanding between each coat. The artwork was moved to a location to eliminate employee exposure to harmful dust and fumes. Once fully dry and off-gassed, the sculpture was placed back in its original location for a final wipe-down with a soft cloth and mild alcohol.

repair 3 before 1 sm

The damage: each seam was cracked

First step: sand smooth all the damages

 

Next step: fill with epoxy

 

Next step: sand the epoxy smooth

Final step: repaint.

End result as good as new!

Final Restoration

One color did not exactly match so I feathered the paint to hide the mismatch. What's the saying, it's not how fine your craftsmanship but how well you hide your mistakes!

Art Conservation of the Buddha

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The Buddha in New Jersey

FUDO MYOH-OHI periodically return to the world headquarters of Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey to provide maintenance for the world's largest wood sculpture of the Buddha.

Wait a minute...New Jersey? Not somewhere in Asia? What's he doing in New Jersey?

Completed in 1993, this astonishing sculpture - 3 stories tall! - was carved by a team of Japanese craftsmen following an age-old Buddhist tradition as a project of the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). It took over 2 years to complete. A plaque beside the immense artwork reads:

Yasuhiko Hashimoto, Jinichi Itoh & Isao Yanagimoto, 1990-1993 Alaskan yellow cedar, Japanese lacquer, gold leaf FUDO MYOH-OH (Immovable King of Light).

Created by Japanese artists at the Maryland Institute College of Art, the Fudo represents a fierce and raging manifestation of the Buddha's power against evil. The warrior stands motionless and firm upon a rock ready to protect humans from their greed and negativity.

He appears as he has for hundreds of years, holding a rope in his left hand to symbolize bondage to ego and self-indulgence. In his right hand he holds a sword poised to cut loose those bonds and all other impediments in the way of enlightenment. Ancient interpretations of Fudo Myoh-oh show him as a messenger of the Buddha and as such he is given a boyish body, but because he combats evil and symbolizes the destruction of wickedness, his face is filled with rage.

Traditional Buddhist literature describes him as having bulging eyes and ferocious, protruding teeth. The braid over his left shoulder suggests his servant status. Fudo is also loved for his ability to control disease, subdue enemies, and to assist in the acquisition of wealth and peace.

The sculpture was made according to techniques dating back to the 11th century. It was fabricated with the help of students at the Maryland Institute College of Art and donated to Becton Dickinson by the Institute to insure its preservation as a work of art and as a symbol of friendship and understanding between Japan and the United States.

This sculpture is the largest wooden Fudo Myoh-oh in the world. The following images were taken during the 2-year project. The video that follows offers fascinating details of the entire project, the artists, the carving techniques, the making of the glass eyes, the ceremonies, moving it into the atrium - a wonderful documentary.

When completed, MICA sought a permanent location for this giant 2-and-a-half-story sculpture. BD's campus of beautiful award-winning buildings, designed by the architecture firm Kallmann McKinnell & Wood, became a perfect home with its large sunlit atriums. The Buddha was placed in one such room at the head of an ornamental pond, providing humidity that helps prevent damage to the wood. A large hole was cut into the side of the building to install the sculpture.

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Art Conservation Techniques

Fudo Myo oh art conservationMy assistant and I spent 2 days removing dust and repairing sections of gold and silver leaf.

We used special brushes made of squirrel hair. Unlike other brush hairs, squirrel has no barbs which is ideal for removing dust without damaging delicate surfaces such as the leaf and pigment.

Scaffolding was carefully constructed so that no part of it touches the sculpture while allowing close contact with every surface. The scaffolding costs several thousand dollars for our 2 days of use. Luckily, the dust buildup takes about 5 years before it becomes visible so we don't have to do this very often! Have a look at these wonderful details.

Gloves are worn at all times so that the corrosive oils in our hands never come in contact with the art.

Iconography

Known as Fudō Myō-ō, this is the wrathful Buddha venerated especially by the Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism. Also known as Fudo Myoh-oh, Fudo Myo, Fudo Myoo, Immaculate Wisdom King, Achala Vidyaya, and Udjaraja, Fudo converts anger into salvation with a furious face that subdues all impediments to the spiritual goals of wisdom and compassion.

His devil-subduing sword represents wisdom cutting through ignorance. His rope symbolizes several things - catching and binding demon impediments to knowledge as well as the terribly binding and restrictive quality of our egos and ignorance. The third eye in his forehead is all-seeing. He stands upon a rock representing the immovability of faith.

Fudō is also worshiped as a deity who can bring good health and financial success.

Myō-ō is the Japanese term for a group of warlike and wrathful deities known as the Wisdom Kings. All Myō-ō statues appear ferocious and menacing, protecting the teachings, removing all obstacles to understanding, and forcing evil to surrender. Introduced to Japan in the 9th century, the Myō-ō were originally Hindu deities that were adopted into Buddhism. In Japan, among all the different Myō-ō, Fudō is the most widely venerated.

For more details about this fascinating Buddhist deity and his Japanese sect please refer to this Ohio State University MFA thesis by Dorothy Jean Sutton.

We finished our work, bowed respectfully to Fudo and wished him well until his venerable protector, BD's Projects & Facility Services Manager, Tony Albanese, calls again.

New Developments

Fudo Myoh-oh receiving maintenanceRecently, a reader contacted me. Peter Wechsler was a student at MICA when this sculpture was created and became a life-long friend of the chief sculptor, Mr. Hashimoto. He kindly shared his fascinating memories.

I met Hashimoto when he worked at MICA. He is from Fukushima, where I also studied temple carpentry. Fortunately, his family was OK after the earthquake, but were probably not too far from the nuclear plant. As I recall, he and two other sculptors, all students of the same teacher, came over to MICA together, but I think Hashimoto stayed the longest. I believe a patron in Japan supplied the money for the project. The sculpture was created using a traditional technique called 'yosegi' or joined wood, gluing together blocks of wood, in this case Alaskan yellow cedar.

They made a model of the sculpture, and sliced it into thin sections, each representing one 2" thick section of the finished sculpture, or whatever the size of the materials they were using. They then glued these together and assembled them. The inside is hollow to save on materials and weight, and to avoid problems with humidity. They then started carving, using all hand tools which took quite a while. Then they painted it and inserted the glass eyes.

The paint is a very durable finish made from the sap of urushi, a relative of poison ivy, so those who use it usually have strong reactions until they develop a tolerance. It also requires humidity to cure. Then they applied the gold leaf.

After it was finished, there was an impressive fire ceremony with a Tendai priest. They also read a poem about Fudo Myo by Gary Snyder that I haven't been able to find. However, I came across an interesting account of hiking in the Japanese mountains in 1969 by him that talks a little about Fudo Myo's position in Japanese Buddhism.

http://www.kyotojournal.org/the-journal/spirit/the-womb-diamond-trail/

I think they assumed that it would be easy to find a home for the statue when it was finished, but was too big for most interior spaces. It couldn't be left outside without a building. We talked about building some sort of building, but it was also probably too religious for most public spaces. It was therefore a big relief when they made contact with the CEO of Becton Dickinson who was interested in Asian art.

They were just building their new headquarters which sounded perfect. I went up there to visit when they installed it. The head and arms were removed and I could see marks where they had dragged it through the hallways. The space seemed perfect with a fountain for humidity and the skylight. I remember talking to one of the guards who said some of them were afraid to go in there at night. He said he went in there once and it was looking down at him with lightning visible through the skylight.

Later [in my career as a carpenter] I went over to Japan and worked on a temple where Hashimoto was creating carvings, and visited him a couple of times at his home in Kyoto. He later moved to Osaka and I visited him when I was there three or four years ago. I definitely recommend getting in touch. His house is a taste of an older Japan, and he would probably be happy to put you up...

Peter

And this from another reader, David Brown.

I was the Director of Exhibitions at MICA from 1989-96. Yashuhiko, the lead, and his two accomplished sculptors had a temporary studio in the parking lot of the old train station which housed among other things, the school's library, the Decker Gallery, and grad and undergrad sculpture studios and classrooms.

Fudo was created in a three story temp studio made out of corrugated metal with large front doors. We checked on the progress almost everyday by looking through the gap in the doors, watching the work slowly come together.
I took the artist James Grashow there to see the work. Grashow was there to help oversee the installation of his giant standing sculpture called 'Building Man' and was so blown away that when I see him today, that's always the first thing he brings up. We envisioned a battle between Building Man and Fudo, knowing full well that we didn't stand a chance! Building Man is a cross between a skyscraper and a business man, complete with Gulliver-like tiny attendants, hanging off the side, washing windows, elevators in the shoes...a nice work for Grashow, who resides in Connecticut.

There was a series of ceremonies that blessed the creation but I can't recall what they were or if I even attended.

I found these two stories online today from the Baltimore Sun that may shed some light:

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-03-14/features/1993073140_1_buddha-sculpture-ken-ludwig-maryland-institute

David

Update: March 27, 2019

This article appeared in the online publication Kyoto News, and is reproduced with permission of the author. 'Giant Buddhist Statue Marks 25th Year Since Creation in U.S.' by Justin Maki.

A contemporary Buddhist statue thought to be the world's largest wooden image of the deity Fudo Myo-O recently passed the 25th year since it was completed and installed in its permanent home on the U.S. East Coast, following a years-long collaboration between a team of Japanese sculptors and the Maryland arts community that embraced the project.

The cedar statue, which stands just over 10 meters tall, depicts "The Immovable King of Light" -- a benevolent but fearsome manifestation of the Buddha who wields a sword, coiled rope and angry scowl against evils such as illusion and ignorance.

Yasuhiko Hashimoto, 64, the sculptor who initiated and led the effort along with colleagues Jinichi Ito and Isao Yanagimoto, said he felt drawn to the project at a time when Japanese culture was not well-known or appreciated in the United States.

"I knew America to be a free and open-minded country, though at the time (in the early 1990s) Americans tended to see Japan as an industrial nation represented by its cars," said Hashimoto, a native of Fukushima Prefecture who lives in Osaka. "Creating a Buddhist statue was a way to help introduce them to the depth of Japan's spiritual culture."

The project, which took place over the course of three years, officially began in the summer of 1990 at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. With outside funding including from a Japanese arts patron and local in-kind donations, the sculptors worked in a temporary studio built for the purpose in a campus parking lot to bring the massive 6-ton figure to life.

While not explicitly aiming to create the world's largest statue of its kind, Hashimoto wanted to exceed both the 5-meter Fudo Myo-O the trio had previously made for a temple in Japan's Yamanashi Prefecture as well as the 8-meter historical masterpieces by 12th/13th-century sculptors Unkei and Kaikei, whose realism in depicting Buddhist deities greatly influenced the present Fudo's style.

"The audacity of size is a tremendous statement in this work," said Jane Elkinton, an Asian art specialist who witnessed the sculpture's creation as a professor at the Maryland Institute. She explained that while "the stance, lay of the drapery with its elegant flutters, and proportions" of the giant work are consistent with Japanese tradition, it also embodies a "humanistic quality" for the sake of Western viewers by changing the customary blue skin to a warmer, human tone and shifting the typically straight-ahead angry glare to a "less confrontational" gaze to the side.

The sculpture team used the "yosegi zukuri" or joined-block technique to assemble the figure from multiple hollow parts, giving students and visitors an understanding of an artistic practice perfected in 11th-century Japan.

"The greatest aspect of the project was the overwhelming generosity on the part of the sculptors,"Elkinton said. "Hashimoto inspired everyone who visited his studio with his talent, his ready communication, and his enthusiasm."

From its early stages, the project sparked interest among students who either assisted in the sculpture work or helped spread the word beyond campus. Kerrie Bellisario, a senior at the art school when the project was starting, heard about it through her library job and soon got involved as a liaison for the press and a guide for visiting groups.

"Jinichi Ito taught me basic carving techniques, and with a group of schoolchildren we did some carving on one leg of the Fudo," she recalled. "Seeing the Fudo, carving it, and being introduced to Japanese culture was such an eye-opening experience for the children."

Bellisario went on to visit Japan a number of times while organizing an international art exhibit in Hiroshima, a collaboration with other students from the sculpture project that became an important early step toward her career as a design teacher and international curator.

"If it weren't for the Fudo project which led to the Bridge (program in Hiroshima), I can't imagine what path my life would have taken," she said.

More than a year after getting under way, the team finished its detailed carving work and assembled the unpainted figure at its full height for the first time in 1991.

The lacquering, painting, gold leaf work and other finishing touches were completed after a six-month hiatus, during which arrangements were made to donate the piece to Becton, Dickinson and Company for its headquarters in northern New Jersey, where it still stands today.

Every few years, conservators visit the medical technology company's 140-acre (about 567,000-square-meter) campus to attend to the statue, removing dust with special squirrel-hair brushes and reapplying gold leaf as necessary.

"I'm grateful the piece continues to be cared for so well, and also for the open-mindedness of everyone who embraced the project in the first place," Hashimoto said. "Although we couldn't readily express in English what we wanted to share, the experience let us communicate with American people whose kindness and curiosity about the world we will never forget."

Following completion of the project, Hashimoto continued to sculpt fine-art pieces that have appeared in shows across Japan and abroad, while Ito resumed his work in temple carpentry.

Yanagimoto, alongside whom Hashimoto had apprenticed under the late Japanese Order of Culture-winning sculptor Seiko Sawada, has since become a university professor.

The deity Fudo Myo-O, known as Acala in the Hindu tradition where it originated, gained prominence in Japanese Buddhism over a thousand years ago, particularly in the burnt-offering ceremonies of the Shingon sect.

The protector god was depicted in wood sculptures in Japan as early as the 9th century, with larger figures in a standing position appearing in the 11th century as the joined-block technique advanced.

Myokei Matsumoto, a well-known Japanese sculptor of Buddhist images, is reportedly at work on a wooden Fudo in excess of 10 meters for a temple in Saitama Prefecture, with completion expected around the opening of the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2020.

Sculpture Restoration for Williams College

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What Began as an Installation Became a Restoration

 

Uh Oh, Something's Missing!

Arts Management Services LLC (AMS) installed a sculpture from the collection of the Williams College Museum of Art.

1 week installation in 1.5 minutes!

It's a sculpture by the environmental artist and architect Michael Singer entitled Ritual Series 1990 now on exhibit through February 19, 2017. It's the centerpiece of a group exhibition titled 'Shaping Space,' which also includes works by Richard Serra, Mel Edwards, and Louise Nevelson. To learn more about this exhibition, visit the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA).

During the installation I discovered that a few pieces were missing much to the chagrin of the artist and museum staff. After an extensive search the pieces were not found. Michael Singer determined that the sculpture looked fine to exhibit, but that the missing pieces should be restored. So WCMA commissioned AMS to restore the missing pieces. My son William joined me and we completed the project and replaced the missing pieces on February 7.

Acquisition

Arts Management Services assisted in the original fabrication of this sculpture in the early '90's.

Related Projects:
Restoration in Istanbul
Art Restoration in Manila
Conservation of the Buddha
Sculpture Restoration in London
Sculpture Installation in Athens
Restoration at the Denver International Airport

Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts added this sculpture to their permanent collection as a gift from an alumnus and closest friend of the artist, Dr. William Fishkind.

About the Sculpture

Ritual Series, 1990 consists of wood, granite, field stone, copper and bronze measuring 230″ x 230″ x 75″ tall.

Williams College restoration 1The wood has a gorgeous texture created by sand-blasting 2″ thick rough-cut pine, harvested from the woods nearby Michael's Vermont studio by a local mill. After sand-blasting, the large and heavy planks were carefully singed to create an ancient look. The wood is not coated and easily bruised so handling is careful with gloves at all times. Likewise packing and storage is done with special care to avoid bruising or scratching the soft wood.

Field stone was collected from around the artists 100-acre property in the mountains of southern Vermont. Mr. Singer would assemble a group of us from his studio and line us up behind him in a single row. We would then follow him all over his fields like ducklings. He would point to a rock and one of us would pick it up and carry it. Most were too heavy to carry more than one. When we all had one we would load them on his pickup truck and transport them to be cut flat on one end.

Holes were drilled into the planks. These holes refer to the aboriginal maritime culture of the Chumash who lived along the coast of what is now California. They created their canoes by lashing planks together which they referred to as Tomol, which was the original name of this artwork when first exhibited outdoors in a dry riverbed of the Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens.

Another interesting feature is the 'barrewood' and the barrewood patterns reflected in some of the bronze elements. Barrewood is a term used by the artist because these distinct patterns are created by huge saw blades that cut thru granite and slightly into 2 x 4 planks that line and protect the floor. Michael's stone cutters are located in Barre, Vermont.

The Installation

Williams College restoration 2One of the secrets of this artist's work is the precise degree of vertical plumb and horizontal level. Most good carpenters notice when something is off-level by anywhere from an 1/8″ to 1/4." Incredibly, Mr. Singer notices pieces that are off-level by only 1/32″! This precision creates a subliminal effect of calm and quiet, making the heaviness of stone, metal and thick wood seem light, floating, contemplative, even otherworldly. This stunning effect can be felt in this and many of his other sculptures. Many of the granite and bronze pieces are heavy and the long and thick pine planks bulky, needing 2 to handle and place precisely according to the instructions.

Our team devised an instructional system with carefully marked photographs whereby intricate sculpture such as this can be assembled and disassembled by museum and gallery preparators. This art installation required two people five days to install. This is only the second showing of this sculpture at Williams since it's purchase and exhibition in 1990. The current exhibition notes this about the artist and this work:

In 1971, Michael Singer fled New York City and settled in rural Vermont, where he found solace and renewed inspiration in nature. Comprised of sculptures and landwork, much of Singer's body of work exists outside of traditional art spaces. In his architectural designs, gardens indoor and outdoor artworks, and infrastructure projects, he consistently endeavors to produce ecologically sustainable objects and spaces that draw inspiration from their particular environment. This sculpture is part of Singer's ongoing Ritual Series, a collection of indoor installations crafted using an array of natural materials. Curved wooden beams enclose a labyrinthine interior of stone, metal, and wooden forms. For Singer, this central sanctum is akin to an inner realm - a sacred space from which to contemplate one's place in the natural world.

Sculpture Restoration at the Winfield House

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Sculpture Restoration Begins With a Conditions Report and Repair Estimate

This brief trip to London was to inspect the indoor and outdoor sculpture at the US Embassy and the Ambassador's residence at the Winfield House. I return in the coming months for sculpture restoration.

The One Ton Eagle

Roszak Eagle in London

Roszak Eagle Atop Former US Embassy, London

First stop was our embassy to look at 15 indoor sculptures, mostly busts of presidents in bronze, resin, and plaster. Next I ventured out onto the roof to inspect the 37 foot long, two thousand pound aluminum "Eagle" by Theodore Roszak that perches six stories above street level.

In 1960 when the eagle was placed atop the embassy, locals hated it as a symbol of American poor taste and brash attitude. Now, 56 years later, our embassy is moving to a new location and the old building has been sold to a businessman from Qatar. Ah, how time heals, because now the neighborhood insists that the building and especially the eagle remain.

So the Qarari businessman has agreed to restore the building rather than tear it down for a new hotel. He also agreed to keep the eagle where it is. The US for their part agreed to gift the sculpture and share the history of its maintenance. One of those rare stories of conflict where all parties end up happy!

One of my tasks is to figure out how exactly this piece was coated over all the years it was exposed to the elements. What kind of resin coating was used? How many coats? Did any contain metal, because this sculpture is often described as 'guilt' which is a reference to a coating that contains metal. The new owner intends to care for the sculpture in the best way possible by removing, cleaning, and re-coat it before placing it back on its perch as a major attraction in its rooftop restaurant and bar.

Oh, and about that 6-story high detail, this is a bit of a challenge since I'm not all that comfortable with heights! I survived the inspection, but any restoration by me will have to wait until it's lowered to the ground.

Gorgeous Winfield House

Winfield_House

US Ambassador's Residence in London - the Winfield House


Next it was off to the Winfield House to inspect all of the permanent outdoor sculpture and a garden pool. During this visit I had the pleasure of interviewing the talented Head Gardener of 20 years, Mr. Stephen Crisp, who was most generous with his time and whose input was invaluable for the report.

These inspections were arranged for the following reasons:

 

  1. Determine how best to prepare the eagle for its transition to new ownership.
  2. Determine if there are any current sculpture restoration needs.
  3. Create a plan for ongoing maintenance of the sculpture and pool.

Elie Nadelman sculpture restored by Bob Hannum at the Winfield House

Elie Nadelman Sculpture and Fountain Restored by Bob Hannum

My employer for this project is the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE) and the US State Department's Art in Embassies program. The folks in these organizations are a pleasure to work with.

We've worked on several sculpture restoration and installation projectsover the years including our consulate in Istanbul and our embassy in Athens. After this London project there's talk of work to be done on an outdoor fountain at our embassy in Japan.The plan is to return in August when the Ambassador and his family are on vacation, to spend two weeks restoring the artworks so that minor maintenance by in-house staff is all that is needed for decades to come.

To give you a sense of the unusual challenges that come with every project, two concrete garden ornaments in the approximate shape of the American bald eagle, with no artistic value whatsoever, must be replaced! It turns out that major garden publications often feature the exquisite grounds of the Winfield House, and photographs often include these eagles. Thus, although they have no artistic value, they have a great deal of aesthetic value. They have deteriorated over time, been chipped and glued, and now need replacement.

Louise Bourgeois sculpture restored at the Winfield House

Louise Bourgeois Sculpture Restored by Bob Hannum

No identical concrete eagles have been located. So a discussion is now underway as to whether we should replace them with similar eagles, replace them with flower-filled urns which look quite nice as well, or make molds of these and make copies. Or do we leave the whole issue up to the fine taste of the gardening staff to do whatever they think is in keeping with the look and feel of the entire garden?

If we copy the existing eagles, we would then let them sit outdoors in some storage area for about 18 month in order to age so that the next time there's a repair need we'll simply replace the two eagles with our copies and no one will even notice!

Art Restoration at the Denver International Airport

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Back Again!

One of Several Visits

Singer Sculpture at Denver International Airport

This is the latest of several visits to Denver International Airport (DIA) to restore the large Michael Singer sculpture in Concourse C.

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On at least two occasions since the sculpture was installed in 1994 irrigation has failed and the art has been removed to repair or replace the irrigation. In these instances I set the artwork back in place. On another occasion, rot required the replacement of several elements.

This is always a delightful project as the staff of DIA are wonderful.

Critics Love It!

Singer Sculpture Repair at Denver Airport

Here’s what one local has written about this striking work of art:

“In 1994 nature took over the 650 square meter Concourse C within the Denver International Airport and changed the usual anonymous, expected airport in both a dramatic and evocative way.

Singer’s public art project brought nature into the antiseptic airport setting by creating a vast, indoor garden, in which various climbing plants creep up the walls and across the concrete surfaces.  There is, on the whole, a multitude of intense connections between the non-linear growth elements and the more linear structures in the sculptural forms.

The garden can be viewed from the level above, where there is a McDonald’s restaurant and other fast food shops, a fascinating contrast. Singer comments, “the garden is covered with vines, ferns, all manner of growth. It becomes a living ecology, and therefore a complete contradiction to its surroundings.”   The garden, akin to the Japanese Zen-gardens, can be viewed from several vantage points but is not open and available directly to the public, which gives it a mysterious air.

However, it establishes a network of expressive, contrasting effects in its grey, cold surroundings.  The moss-covered surfaces in the northeastern end of the space lead one’s thoughts to the Moss Gardens in Kyoto, creating a poetic Japanese reference.”

And here’s what the artist says about his Atrium Garden:

“Concourse C of the Denver International Airport was re-imagined as a garden oasis within the steel and concrete cathedral-like core of the building. The garden encompasses the entire circulation space where passengers enter and exit the airport train connecting the concourse to the main airport terminal. On the lower level, adjacent to the trains, is a sculpted 7,000 square foot plaza of patterned inlaid granite and copper. Exiting the train one immediately steps upon this patterned plaza and can see hints of the garden above where the sculpted walls emerge from the platforms above the trains. As one travels up the stairs or escalator to the main concourse level the garden slowly emerges as two surrounding stepped gardens bounded by sculpted walls. The two facing gardens, each built over the train system below, frame the entire circulation core, creating the experience of ascending into the garden from below or descending into the garden from above (when returning to the main terminal). The design of the garden takes advantage of this unique experiential space with a layering of multiple sculptural levels and details that are sequentially revealed by moving through the building and ultimately understood as a whole by viewing the entire interior garden from above.

Singer Sculpture in Concourse C at Denver Airport

The two 2,500 square foot gardens are sculpted from stone, wood, concrete panels, stucco, soil and vegetation. The walls of the garden space are fifteen feet high and constructed at an angle, creating the illusion of deep hallow spaces behind the walls. Carefully selected vines climb and weave through the patinated walls and over the ground plane and sculptural elements. A moss garden is placed at the northeast end of the space, in other areas ferns abound. During periods of growth the garden vegetation can overtake the sculptural elements, leaving only traces and glimpses of the complex pieces below, and creating the sense of an archeological ruin. In the original construction irrigation water was allowed to wet the sculptural elements creating small pools of water within the garden, making the interior garden seem as though it were outdoors.

This project was restored in 2007 at the request of Denver International Airport. Prior to the restoration Michael Singer Studio received numerous inquires about the gardens expressing concern that the irrigation system had been turned off and the garden was dying. Several individuals, including travelers and people who work in the concourse noted that the gardens were also providing a refuge for birds trapped within the airport. They feared without the garden that the birds might not survive. In part due to these inquires, the waterproofing and irrigation systems were upgraded and the gardens were restored and re-planted.”

For more from the artist go to http://www.michaelsinger.com/project/denver-airport-concourse-c-atrium/.

The Restoration

My team and I completed the latest art repair, restoring it to the artist’s original intent.

The moss in one of the central concrete and wood elements did not establish itself despite the special addition of buttermilk to the concrete mixture which fosters moss growth on concrete. This failure was due to a lack of moisture. The irrigation has never been able to deliver enough moisture to this area. So artificial moss is now used and surprisingly looks quite nice.

It’s a beautiful airport terminal complex with lots of wonderful art. I highly recommend visiting DIA even if you’re not flying.