I apologize for the length of this positing but Ms. Tacha's work is very
powerful.

Please post this story or pass it on -- it might lead to some action that
will prevent other institutions from destroying works of art built with
public funds for the public's benefit.

>From:

>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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