CONSERVATION
PARMA
Conservation
The Story of a Post Office Mural
May
25, 2010
“Even we did not know it was that dirty,”
said John Salhus,
one of the conservators tasked with the project, “Its like the sun
just came out.”
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Conservation
of Pieta,
Wood
Relief by Malvina Hoffman
by Ryan Greene, Bernacki & Associates, Inc.
"The Pieta, carved on a walnut panel, (54 ¼”
H x 42 ¼” W x
3” D) had never been exhibited at CRMA, but in 2008 was
exposed to flood waters, and rediscovered during the
conservation treatment"
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Chicago Public Library and PARMA
Conservation presented with 2010 Marian
and Leon Depres Preservation Awards by
the Hyde Park Historical Society
On Saturday night, February 27th the Hyde Park Historical
Society presented its 2010 Marian and Leon Depres
Preservation Awards to Chicago Public Library and PARMA
Conservation at the group's annual awards dinner.
The award recognized the concentrated efforts for returning
the historic murals and gilt plaster in the cupola of the
Chicago Public Library Blackstone Branch to their original
beauty.
Mrs. Isabela Farnsworth Norton Blackstone gave this first
branch of the Library to the citizens of Chicago as a
memorial to her husband, Timothy Beach Blackstone, long-
time president of the Chicago and Alton Railroad.
Dedicated in 1904, the building was designed by Solon Spencer
Beman and styled after a Greek Erechtejon. The magnificent
murals depicting Art, Literature, Science, and Labor were painted
by the celebrated artist, Oliver Dennett Grover. During the last
hundred years the ornate plaster work was damaged by the
leaky dome, and the murals became dull from years of grime.
Thanks to a $100,000 grant from Illinois Department of
Commerce and Economic Opportunity, the Chicago Public
Library finished a complete restoration and conservation of the
cupola in August, 2009. The beautiful restoration was performed
by PARMA Conservation with assistance from Bernacki &
Associates.
Read more about the Blackstone Memorial Library murals and
gilt plaster conservation project...