Survey, Treatment, and Maintenance of Municipal Public Art Collections

statue and monument maintenance

City Of Sioux Falls, SD

 
RLA was selected as the City of Sioux Falls, SD’s conservator in 2013. Work began by performing a city-wide object-by-object survey that identified priorities for treatment. Documentation included evaluation of fabrication, siting, installation, prior conservation practices, exposure to potentially hazardous public access, conservation and maintenance recommendations, and estimated costs. Following the survey, a program was initiated to treat the collection over 5-years. A pilot treatment plan on five bronze sculptures and routine maintenance of 13 works was expanded to include repainting steel sculptures and developing protocols for caring for works in the wide extremes of temperature that the city incurs. In order to efficiently deal with the collection, RLA trained local technicians to assist with the maintenance. Rosa Lowinger and the local public art manager appeared in a press conference during the course of the project to explain the processes
and gain public support for ongoing collections care. The project is now in its sixth year and continuing.