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May 9, 2008 Over a long weekend, a long-lost friend of Parish Episcopal School has returned. In the entrance to the atrium, the “Cactus Flowers” wall hanging was reinstalled Monday, April 28. All day Saturday, a four-story scaffolding platform was created, just like a giant Lego project. Professional museum installation experts then were able to raise the 30 foot long by 16 foot wide wall hanging back to its original location, inch-by-inch on Monday. Mural History Parish Episcopal School was originally built for Mobil Oil as their International Research Laboratory. I.M. Pei, this building’s architect who is internationally recognized, requested an art piece be commissioned for the large atrium wall. Ivan Chermayeff, a famous graphic artist of New York City, was selected to design the mural which was then hand-woven in India. The multi-colored pile textile was finished circa 1982. Restoration Process Last year, the 1,000 pound fiber art mural fell. Once it was down, research was done to try and find the best way to restore it back to its original beauty. Melanie Sanford, who has a Masters in Textile Conservation from the University of Rhode Island, was hired as the restoration artist. She found a way to bring the art mural back to its original colors and revitalize the material. She did this by cleaning the rug and then using textile paints, applied by hand, over a period of many weeks. When the work was done in India, color-fast dyes had not been used, except for the color yellow, thus the colors of the wall hanging had faded. When you see “Cactus Flowers”, you may think it is a new piece of art because of its very vibrant colors. Through the use of research, science and fine arts, “Cactus Flowers” has been restored for everyone to enjoy. |
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