reatly to their long term preservation and best appearance. The following proposal can be a stop-gap intervention or could be a satisfactory long term resolution. This is a low cost, temporary (removable) option for the protection of the murals against direct sun. This option does not permanently impact or modify the design of the architecture.
The banner-like screens are attached to eye bolts installed at the sides of the openings in the building’s porches in the same way that banners are presently used at fairs and special events. The screen can be tinted or printed with designs (or images of the murals). The banner/screens can let air and some light pass through.
The Food and Fiber Building with screens installed to protect the murals from direct sunlight. The screens could be printed a specific color to help them blend better with the architecture or could be printed with images of the murals to simulate the historic presentation of the building from a distance.
An interesting practical example of what a minimal amount of protection can offer can be seen on the Women’s Building mural “alcove” decorative painting. This is in the arched architectural form around the mural (already treated).
In the lower areas of these walls, the direct sun has beat hard on the decorative painting for 64 years. The lower areas of the walls (lower half) have no image or color left. But the top section that has been protected from the direct sun (minimally) by the arch still has something to see.
In the apex of the arch, original colors and design are very discernable. As the wall begins to be vertical, the design element begins to fade away. The farther down on the wall, and the more sun that the decorative painting receives, the less original paint is visible.
One the South side of the Women’s Museum is located this “alcove” around the mural. At the apex of this arch the
green geometric designs, contoured by a yellow band then filled in with a peach color field is still very visible.
The painted decoration fades to nothing once it leaves the protection of the arch.
While the condition of the decorative painting at the apex of the alcove is in unacceptable condition for the murals, this example shows us that exposed painted surfaces do not survive even within a relatively short historic period and that minimally protected paint surfaces can benefit greatly. The murals on the Centennial Building and the Food and Fiber Building are protected partially by the porch overhang (much better protection than the arch of the alcove) and with the protective banner/screens, the direct sunlight would be eliminated. It is reasonable to assume that by blocking the direct light from reaching the murals we will greatly increase their chance to survive.
Action must be taken now. Immediate protection is needed for Future Transportation, Motion, Traction and Old Methods of Transportation. Before the end of May, we will need to protect two others on the Centennial Building. By the end of June, two more will be ready. In June two more murals will be ready and we will begin work on the Food and Fiber Building. By Fall, all the murals will require protection.
Scott M. Haskins, Senior Conservator