Dear Folks: I have sent this message now two times this week and it gets
returned to me saying it identical to other text which is untrue!! I have
not seen my posting on MUSEUM-L and it is very important that the cause be
heard. I am posting this on behalf of my professor and the cause of public
art


Athena Tacha, Professor of Art
Oberlin College, OH & Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD
Home: 3721 HUNTINGTON ST., NW, WASHINGTON, DC, 20015
tel.:  202-362-2347
FAX:  202-362-5626
e-mail:  [log in to unmask]
>WEB site:  http://www.oberlin.edu/~art/athena/tacha.html
>
>
>Marianthe, one of my most beautiful and conceptually complex public art
>commissions (see enclosure), will be destroyed by mid- February.  I was
>notified
>to that effect a few days ago by the lawyers of Edison Community College
>(ECC)
>in Fort Myers, which now owns the sculpture. The University of South
>Florida
>(USF), its initial owner, is party to the decision.  Ironically, Marianthe
>has
>been selected for the cover of the forthcoming book on my work.
>
>The sculpture was commissioned in 1985 by the USF when I won a competition
>for a
>public sculpture on its Fort Myers campus grounds (which passed to ECC ten
>years
>later).  I designed and built it for only $48,500, partly with funds from
>Florida's Art in State Buildings Program ($25,000) and partly with a
>contribution from the 1985 local USF Student Government Association.  When
>I
>inspected the piece in the late 1980s, it had only minor damages on
>benches.
>But
>an S.O.S. conservators' inspection of 1994 (which was communicated to me
>indirectly in 1997) reported that "treatment was needed" because cracks had
>developed in several areas.  No measure was taken by either the past or
>present
>owner, despite my repeated urgent requests after receiving the S.O.S.
>report.
>
>In 1999, ECC decided that the sculpture had deteriorated to a dangerous
>degree
>and should be destroyed as "an attractive nuisance," declining my
>suggestion
>that it be rebuilt (the foundations exist, so the cost would not be great,
>probably less than $100,000).
>
>While my contract with USF specifically obligated the University to "keep
>the
>sculpture in good condition and repair" and "not to destroy or alter it",
>the
>work unfortunately is not covered by the 1991 Visual Artists' Rights Act.
>The
>owners maintain that damages are due to structural defects: the steel
>reinforcing rods, inserted and sealed in the walls at regular intervals,
>have
>rusted and split the bricks.  Yet, a structural engineer and the best
>contractor
>in the area (George T. Mann) built the work, and I made numerous trips to
>Fort
>Myers to supervise its construction.
>
>The sculpture's deterioration is due to lack of maintenance, a frequent
>problem
>for public art.  If the University had "inspected periodically for damaged
>mortar or cracked bricks," as my maintenance instructions clearly
>specified,
>and
>if it had repaired any cracks that developed , water would not have seeped
>into
>the walls and rusted the re-rods.  Would not such repairs have been made on
>any
>campus building? Even a sidewalk?  The implication is societal disregard
>for
>its
>cultural patrimony, and a deplorable failure of institutional
>responsibility
>for
>its preservation.
>
>Unfortunately, like most artists, I am powerless, for I cannot afford the
>legal
>costs of taking on two public institutions, my contract notwithstanding.
>It
>is
>a frightening precedent, yet all I can do is announce, and denounce, the
>destruction of my work.  Please share this information with others who care
>for
>the arts.  Should you wish to protest, please FAX:
>Lee Modica, Florida's Art in State Buildings Program, FAX: 850-922-5259,
>with a
>copy to:  Susan Nichols, Save Outdoor Sculpture (SOS), FAX: 202-634-1435.
>
>(PLEASE MAKE A PRINT-OUT)
>
>
>YOU CAN SEE IMAGES OF THE SCULPTURE ON MY WEBSITE (URL above)
>
>The idea for this work goes back to some of my earliest architectural
>sculptures
>-- the 1971 series of Space Disorientation Mazes.  The horse-shoe shape of
>the
>Ft. Myers campus and the complex configurations of low-land curlicues along
>the
>entire bay suggested curvilinear forms, as did images of shells, opening
>buds,
>leaf coral and hurricane whirls -- all plentiful in Florida.  I also wanted
>to
>create pleasant sitting areas with views of the campus and the pond, as
>well
>as
>a kinesthetic interaction of the sculpture with students who would be
>attracted
>to it.  However, the inspiration for Marianthe comes ultimately from a
>deeper
>level -- my fascination with circles and spirals and my discovery that in
>many
>natural phenomena spiral formations can occur "spontaneously" from
>concentric
>circles.
>
>To ensure safety and avoid claustrophobic feelings, I sought a type of wall
>that
>was solid enough, yet nearly transparent.  Open brickwork and decorative
>fence
>cement-blocks, often used for patio enclosures in Florida, Mexico, the
>Mediterranean and other hot climates, are particularly suited for that aim,
>and
>can be beautiful as well.  Marianthe's lattice-like, floral maze creates a
>playful and intricate garden pavilion in the middle of the campus,
>referring
>to
>clipped hedge mazes of Renaissance and Baroque European gardens.  It
>provides
>handsome views of its interwoven walls from all around the paths and campus
>buildings, as well as five benches in and around the sculpture, oriented
>for
>shadow or sunshine at different seasons and times of the day.
>
>The walls are built on a concrete slab with rusticated reddish brick,
>redder
>and
>smoother on the insides of the curves (like the inner surface of shells).
>The
>tops of the walls are all stepped, with step "intervals" of changing length
>depending on the varying incline of the walls, while the average width of
>the
>maze's corridors fluctuates between three and four feet (accommodating a
>wheel-chair at every passage).  In the middle of the higher, open spiral is
>a
>strong underground light that throws a beam of light upwards, like the
>luminous
>center of a galaxy .  The center of the second, closed spiral contains a
>four-foot round planter with bright red flowers, surrounded by a bench for
>small
>groups (seminars) or a contemplative sitter.
>
>The title, Marianthe, comes from the Greek root for flower (anthos), just
>as
>Florida comes from the Latin (flora).  The work was named for my adopted
>sister
>in Greece, Marianthe, who was taking care that year of my dying mother.
>(Athena Tacha, 1986)

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