Arts & Life

CSULB prepares for FAR-SITED: Creating and Conserving Art in Public Places

The lucky sculpture on CSULB’s upper campus that has been isolated by chain-linked fencing for the past few weeks is getting a makeover from the Getty Conservation Institute.

The institute is restoring the sculpture known as “Duet by Robert Murray, which was originally crafted in 1965 as part of the Long Beach Sculpture Symposium. It has since been repainted numerous times, changing from its original yellow coat to most recently a dark red.

The restoration is happening in preparation for a conference in October, according to their website.

The conference, FAR-SITED: Creating and Conserving Art in Public Places, will use the 50th anniversary of the Long Beach Sculpture Symposium as a launch pad for three days of curated panels and presentations on new art techniques, as well as creating and maintaining outdoor art in the 21st century.

“The plan with the Getty really isn’t just about the one Murray piece,” Brian Trimble, the Interim Director of the University Art Museum, said. “The idea is that this the starting point to go through and first conserve all of the original nine sculptures from the sculpture symposium and then move into the other works on campus.”

The Getty Conservation Institute started with “Duet” because the piece was painted in the mid-20th century, something in which the institute has particular interest. It will be the most complicated of all the restorations but should be finished in the next one to two weeks, according to Trimble.

“Research and scientific analysis has been happening for at least the last year,” Trimble said. “We actually started the conversation in 2013.”

The Getty Conservation Institute is funding the entire restoration. In order to return “Duet” to its original color, Trimble said that the institute peeled through 13 layers of paint and has been working with Murray to bring the sculpture as close to the initial swatch as possible.

“Well, I think it’d be important to the artists who designed it,” senior international studies major Michelle Forrester said. “We have so much art on our campus that it’s kind of nice if it is still looking good.”

Forrester admitted that she finds some of the sculptures to be a bit weird but overall, she appreciates and enjoys the art on campus.

“I don’t really think about the sculptures very often because I’m running to classes but when I happen to see them, I think they’re a nice touch to the campus,” Henrietta Haycraft, a junior creative writing major, said. “I think campus art is important because it breaks up the monotony of the trees and it can start conversations about things one might not consider without being exposed to abstract art.”

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.

Daily 49er newsletter

Instagram