To: Members of the Public Art Commission
From: Maia Aman, Town Liaison
Title
Discussion/Direction: Repair of Dancing Moon IV
Body
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Executive Summary
The responsibility of determining locations for Town-owned sculptures belongs to the Public Art Commission. While researching relocation options for Dancing Moon IV due to roundabout construction, damage was identified. Accordingly, staff reached out to the artist to inquire about the cost and process of repair and artist Reven Swanson offered to fix the piece by reusing and refusing the existing glass with new glass. She also offered to visit Castle Rock to install the new glass piece inside the existing steel structure. The artist explained that she will charge a nominal fee of a few hundred dollars for time and materials.
Since receiving the piece in the mail and upon further assessment, the artist believes the glass is nearly beyond repair due to the amount of breakage that resulted during deinstallation and the amount of cleaning that would be required to properly restore the glass. The artist believes it would be more time and cost effective to simply use a new glass disc that is already in existence in her studio. While the new disc would feature a new design, it would contain similar colorings as the previous. The artist did confirm her ability to provide the new disc and install it for $500, which falls within the approved budget. In addition, the artist was not able to provide solutions for reinforcing the glass disc and noted that many similar pieces have withstood severe weather throughout the country, including hurricanes in Florida.
In addition, after assessing magnesium chloride corrosion on the glass piece, the artist believes it is very likely that the base of Dancing Moon IV has experienced corrosion. The artist would like the Commission to consider funding restoration work in 2020, which she stated would cost $200. The restoration would include cleaning and resealing the base, which would make the piece look essentially brand new. The artist also recommended relocating the piece further away from roadways to limit corrosive damage in the future.
Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends the Commission consider approving allowing the artist to create a new disc, as opposed to repairing the existing disc, as well as consider whether or not to restore the metal components of the piece during the disc’s installation in 2020.