The other, a room which he titled, “Prismatarium,' shows a color wheel on the ceiling. His theory about the relationship between color and the human psyche is certainly novel. The photo above shows the artist who was commissioned to work on the murals at the Maritime Museum. A planet of mine 300 daycare. Notice the colors of the murals which cover the walls of one room in.
The story of the, a hidden San Francisco gem, is not just one of architecture and design although that is what pops when you walk in the subterranean Ghirardelli Square-adjacent entrance. Looking out over the historic seafaring vessels of the Hyde Street Pier and the crescent shaped beach that could easily be mistaken for Miami, a visitor is struck by the graciousness of this temple to the history of West Coast Maritime History, rich with exhibits that speak of the life of the people who made their living at sea. Unlike the more famous however, also a product of WPA largesse, the Maritime Museum has been very much under the national radar until now. Built in 1939 jointly by the WPA and the City of San Francisco as a bathhouse, the museum is part of a that highlights the city's connection to the sea.Though the exhibits fascinate, inevitably, what thrills are the sublime murals, tilework and paint fantasia that are the work of WPA artists, each with a very different background whose work combines to make this space as dynamic and important as any art moderne building in the world. The whole project came to fruition over more than four years under uber-artist Hilaire Hiler who not only did the phantasmagoric first floor murals of the Lost Cities of Atlantis and Mu but supervised the other floors and artists and was the liaison to the architect. Worms 4 mayhem construction. Hiler, a Jewish, 6 foot hulk from Minnesota who had his ears pinned back in an effort to appear smaller, was an American artist and color theoretician, a polymath who also wrote a bibliography of costume, worked as a set designer and jazz musician and whose psychoanalytic training became the underpinning of much of his work.
He attended RISD and became one of the many Parisian expats, befriending Henry Miller and Anais Nin and Hemingway among others at the Jockey Club in Paris where he was a host and was often seen out and about with his pet monkey. His ‘neonature' theories about art found supporters in Miller and William Saroyan and one ceiling, the Prismatarium” is an ode to his color theory in which he proposed that color and the human psyche interact to enhance creativity. He had a long, eccentric and distinguished career including a stop in Hollywood and a collaboration with Rene D'Harnoncourt in San Francisco. He was authoritarian but respected his fellow artists as they collaborated on the design of the over 20,000 square feet of the elegant building. Sargent Johnson, once a prominent black sculptor, painter and ceramicist and Communist of African American, Cherokee and Swedish descent who designed the mosaic tile murals was inspired by the work of Diego Rivera, Jose Orozco and David Siquieros.
His mosaic tile murals in shades of sea greens which grace the rear exterior deck overlooking the bay and his green carved slate which adorns the building entrance are further delights. Johnson had been orphaned as a child and grew up in asylums. He was born in the east but came to San Francisco to study and was employed by the WPA on a number of projects in a supervisory role. He had a small retrospective in Oakland in the 70s. He is lumped in with the Harlem Renaissance but in fact made his own way in the west.
He was an artist who wanted above all 'to show the Negro to himself' even though he was half white. Richard Ayer was charged with the newly refurbished second floor murals. The themes are nautical like puzzles which refer to abstractions of boat rigs, pressure points, wave patterns, plimsall, davits, signal rockets, naval arches, wireless hookups interspersed with wave forms, fish, spars, sea fowl. There are 5 shades of marine color and abalone shells in the terrazzo floor. Ayer used a novel technique called Polychrome Bas-Relief which allowed for raised areas depicting anchors, coral beds and birds. Artist Shirley Staschen, who had also done the WPA murals at the Coit Tower worked on the second floor murals with him. Despite the fact that the WPA was meant to give work to American artists, many immigrants got involved when specialities were called for.
An Egyptian tile worker custom cut and lay the tilework which was fabricated locally. Anna Medalie, Russian-born, assisted in the gold leaf and glazing on the first floor. (Women were largely equal partners at the WPA.) Benjamin Bufano, an Italian did most of the free standing sculpture. The socio-political values of the artists mandated that the space be open to the 'public'. They protested and walked off the job when they feared it might become too exclusive.The basement or ground floor was the beachgoers entrance, through turnstiles and a newly invented system of sanitization including foot baths and automatic sensors that turned on the showers, stainless baskets to keep clothing, one room each for boys, girls, women, men. The structure, once referred to as a ‘Casino’ at which elegant parties and dinners were often held has gone through a number of iterations, but is now a monument to the life of the sea-the seductive, watery depths below abundant with marine life, the boats and tools of the trade at eye level-and to modernity, and to the WPA and its profound importance in our cultural history.This whole notion of public access and innovation is a testament to the way the federal government, when its working properly, can utilize the arts for the benefit of the public as no other entity can. The Park Service has been working for years on this new restoration and I could not think of a finer place for my tax dollars.Images courtesy National Park Service, San Francisco Maritime Museum and the author.
The Prismatarium mural during treatment, approximately halfway through grime removal.This brightly colored room can be found in the western end of the Bathhouse Building (aka the ) of the. Hilaire Hiler, the man behind the spectrum, referred to the space as the Prismatarium: he wanted visitors’ experience within the room to be similar to that within a planetarium, that is, an educational transportation to his world of color. Hiler was a psychologist and color theoretician, and in the late 1930s he was hired by the WPA as the chief artist for the Maritime Museum.
From gorgeous murals and mosaics to maritime-themed doorhandles, the building is an exquisitely designed public tribute to the San Francisco bay and to American artisans. The Prismatarium is a circular room with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out to the bay. Its ceiling is a mural of Hiler’s own 30-step color wheel, which he developed by defining sensational, rather than mathematical, differences in hue.During the 70+ years since its creation, the Prismatarium developed some major condition issues, the most visually disturbing being a heavy build-up of environmental grime from the busy surrounding city.
This, combined with light exposure and a yellowed coating, left the once vibrant ceiling as a dismal version of its original presentation. The National Park Service decided it was time to do something about this problem and hired San Francisco-based conservator Anne Rosenthal to care for the artwork. Anne, in turn, took on my classmate Samantha and I as interns for two weeks to help her with grime removal. 70+ years of grime — gone, with the stroke of a gel-soaked sponge!Cleaning a painting is rarely simple (and should only be attempted by qualified personnel!).
In this case, solubility tests revealed that water removed color along with the grime. However, solvents that could remove grime without disturbing the paint layer were not appropriate for use in a public space due to their toxicity.
This is where a conservator’s training in chemistry comes into play. At the appropriate pH (acidity), polymeric acrylic acids cross-link to form a gel that is capable of suspending water without altering its chemical properties. This gel can then be brought briefly to a sensitive surface, such as that of the Prismatarium, and the suspended water draws the dirt away without ever interacting with the paint! It’s like magic or science.After two weeks of mixing gels by the gallon, driving scissor lifts in circles, and cleaning the ceiling while simultaneously toning our triceps, the Prismatarium revealed the gorgeous colors that had been hidden for so long.
Although we exceeded our goals for the two weeks, Samantha and I had to leave before the entire project was complete, so I can’t dazzle you with a full “after treatment” image yet. The good news is: the Maritime Museum has free admission, so next time you’re in San Francisco, stop by and check out this profound example of WPA craft and design in person!Jessica. Paul Seide (American, born 1949), Radio Light, glass, blown; mercury and argon gas, 1985, H: 16 1/2 inc. (41.9 cm); W: 16 3/4 in.
Toledo Museum of Art, Gift of Dorothy and George Saxe, 1991.135 Photo Credit: Richard Goodbody, New York © 1985 Paul SeideConservation isn’t always glamorous, but I’m discovering that sometimes it glows! This summer I am working under conservator Suzanne Hargrove at the Toledo Museum of Art in Toledo, Ohio.Toledo is a small city located in the northwestern portion of Ohio, right on Lake Erie.
The was founded around the turn of the 20 thcentury by Edward Drummond Libbey of the Libbey Glass Company. So it’s not surprising that (among other amazing collections) the TMA boasts what is considered one of the premier collections of glass art in the United States. It houses the majority of this collection, which spans from ancient to contemporary, in an all-glass building known as the. (Incredible, isn’t it?)But that’s not really what I want to tell you about today. Instead, I’d like to tell you a bit about one of my favorite objects that is currently on display in the main museum building. It’s called Radio Light, and it is a contemporary glass piece by artist Paul Seide. Radio Light is really the centerpiece of the TMA’s first show in its newly renovated contemporary gallery. And for good reason.
It is an absolutely incredible piece of art. Okay, I’m gushing a bit. But seriously, it’s awesome.So what’s all the fuss about?Radio Light is essentially comprised of a pair of looped, blown, colored glass tubes.
The tubes have hollow cavities that are filled with mercury and argon gas. These two gas-filled glass loops sit atop an antenna plate that is connected to a specially designed radio transmitter. Both the radio transmitter and the glass need to be tuned to achieve the correct frequency to excite the argon and mercury. When this frequency is achieved, the sculpture lights up! (Think neon lights or similar principles at work). When the transmitter is off, the sculpture is pretty. But when it’s on, it’s absolutely magical!As with most modern art, Radio Light‘s conservation needs aren’t readily apparent–But, as I’m constantly learning, successful conservation is just as much about preventive care and preparation as it is about treatment/stabilization. And (before my arrival at the TMA), Suzanne and the rest of the conservation team did some research on Radio Light’s radio transmitter.
The transmitter is really one of a kind because it was hand-modified And no transformer= no excitation of the gas = no Radio Light. So it’s really important that the components of the transformer are carefully documented and that it’s lifespan is maximized.
Practically, maximizing the lifespan means opening the exhibit casework at the beginning and end of every day to (a) turn the transmitter on and off and (b) tune the glass and radio to the correct frequency. And that’s where I (along with my fellow interns in the lab) come in. It may not be the most glamorous or challenging job in the world, but I have to say that I love the feeling of tuning the transmitter and manipulating the glass until Radio Light comes alive. It’s like hitting a home run!Courtney.
Courtney explains the preservation of outdoor sculpture to fellow DelPHI participant Isabelle Havet, at the Delaware Art Museum.It’s only three weeks into the summer, and I already feel like I have absorbed so much! I (along with my classmates Courtney and Lizzie) just completed the (DelPHI), a crash course in public scholarship sponsored by the University of Delaware and the (NEH). The institute was co-directed by and, and brought together thirteen students from various disciplines in the humanities to teach us how to reach out to and actively engage the public in our research.As a photograph conservator, my goal is to help people and institutions care for their photographic collections.
It seems like an easy enough task, but more than once I have seen a person’s face go blank when I start talking about what I do. And, it’s not their fault; it’s MY responsibility to find a way to make conservation sound exciting and important enough to spark an interest.Through DelPHI, I have learned how to speak about my topic both in public and in a radio or TV interview (I have video footage to show for it), how to interpret my topic in both web and film formats (a provided an intro into iMovie), and how to write an effective mission statement to captivate audiences through a press release or marketing plan. Becoming familiar with new technologies and social media platforms was great, but whittling my project topic down to its most basic and relevant form was certainly the greatest challenge. Examples of appropriate housing and handling techniques.Luckily, the first of my upcoming summer projects lends itself well to public outreach. I will be drafting the text for an informational leaflet on photograph preservation in the Middle East, as part of the (MEPPI).There is a wealth of photographic heritage in the Middle East, but currently no formally-trained photograph conservators to care for it. For this reason, MEPPI was created through a partnership between the, the, the, and the to give collection caretakers the knowledge and confidence to care for their photographic materials.
Throughout the next three years, MEPPI will conduct a survey of all photograph collections in the Middle East, teach annual workshops, and organize a symposium in 2014. The most recent addition to MEPPI is my leaflet, which will provide basic tips for the care and handling of photographs, and will be translated into Arabic and French.The MEPPI leaflet is a perfect example of a preventive conservation project, helping to prevent the damage to photographs before it starts. At the end of the month, I will shift my focus to another aspect of conservation—restoration. To hear more about my summer work project at the, you can follow my personal blog, or check the and websites for the dates of my upcoming public lectures this fall.Heather. Post-comprehensive exam relaxation.It feels really, really good to be on this side of first year comprehensive exams. (Note our bleary smiles of relief in the adjacent image.)For a moment, though, I’m going to take us back in time to the weeks preceding comps, to the weeks that were full of springtime, paintings block, and the final segment of preventive block.taught paintings block for the first time in 27 years, and she wasn’t about to let us get bored! Our examination projects were quite diverse, including a mural and a reverse painting on glass.
We staged somewhat theatrical debates on topics such as ArtWatch, working with living artists, and visible vs. Deceptive loss compensation (incarnations of and even made appearances!). Additionally, we each had a“dance card” to fill with different activities, and by the end of block we had all experimented with cleaning, filling, inpainting, varnishing, egg tempera and oil painting techniques, historic pigment preparation, sampling, cross-section fluorescence microscopy, and pigment ID. As usual, our chemistry classes with Richard Wolbers were both conceptually and practically enlightening throughout these processes.