Wishard Hospital Murals

When you walk into the exhibition, you are greeted by a rare glimpse of art conservation.  The first painting you will see is Carl C. Graf’s Three Muses, which is presented in a partially conserved state.  The left side of the painting has not yet been conserved and is obscured by dirt, discolored varnish, and heavy restorer’s overpaint.  Walking into the gallery is like a behind-the-scenes visit to the conservation lab.  Take a look for yourself in the image below.

Three Muses

The difference in color speaks for itself.  Beneath those heavy darkened layers of the previous restorer’s materials there are delicate details and soft colors of the original painting.  Did you know that the human eye perceives value (dark and light) and color differently?  The discolored varnish effects both value and color, drastically altering the way you visually perceive the painting.  Once the exhibition closes, the conservation treatment of The Three Muses will be completed and this rare opportunity to see the process in person will be gone.

The Three Muses isn’t the only glimpse of the conservation work; there is a whole wall in the gallery that gives you a chance to observe and compare the process.  On the same wall as The Three Muses, there are two landscapes by Jay H. Connaway.  One has been conserved by the IMA and the other still retains the discolored materials from the 1967 restoration attempt.  Can you tell which one has been conserved?

two landscapes by Jay H. Connaway

As with The Three Muses, the color difference clearly shows how the current, careful conservation treatments have helped reveal the true palette of the painting.  With all the old restoration materials removed from the painting, the original colors and details can once again be seen and appreciated in Connaway’s Landscape with Rolling Hills—the painting on the right.  For a detailed, step by step, account of the IMA conservation treatment of Jay H. Connaway’s Landscape with Rolling Hills, check out the Flickr set here.

If you look closely at the Connaway landscape on the left, you can see the areas of damage and overpaint.  Conservators begin the examination and detection of these restored areas by simple observation of the surface.  The over paint is often discolored and no longer matches the surrounding original paint.  There is also a textural difference between the overpaint and the original paint; often the overpaint is more thickly applied.  Can you spot the overpaint in this detail?

Landscape with Rolling Hills

Perhaps you noticed right away that some of the details in this area of the composition (the bottom center of the painting) looked a little clumsy and heavy?  If not, the arrow in the image below will point you in the right direction.

overpaint detail

The portion of the bent tree indicated by the blue is much thicker and heavier that the original brushstrokes applied by the artist.  The color of this over painted area is also different from the original paint.  That makes this areas appear very flat; it lacks the same delicacy and detail that works in the other original areas of the composition.

Of course, looking at these paintings in person gives you a chance to better see these details and understand the importance conservation has on the visual appearance and interpretation of these murals.

Preserving a Legacy: Wishard Hospital Murals closes on March 29, 2009.

The portion of the bent tree indicated by the blue is much thicker and heavier that the original brushstrokes applied by the artist.  The color of this over painted area is also different from the original paint.  That makes this areas appear very flat; it lacks the same delicacy and detail that works in the other original areas of the composition.

Of course, looking at these paintings in person gives you a chance to better see these details and understand the importance conservation has on the visual appearance and interpretation of these murals.

Preserving a Legacy: Wishard Hospital Murals closes on March 29, 2009.

This exhibition details the journey of conservation and hints at the power of art to heal. I’ve always been intrigued by the idea of art therapy. While the halls and galleries of a Museum are my temple of healing, I would like to experience art’s power to heal in other settings such as classrooms, hospitals or shelters.

I recently had a conversation with two dear friends–one of whom is an art therapist/art teacher at a school for emotionally troubled kids in Virginia and the other of whom has experienced the healing of power of art at a local Indiana treatment center called Selah House. Their insights are shared below:

[Art therapist & teacher]
How do you become an art therapist?
To practice art therapy and to be considered an art therapist, you need to have a Master’s degree in art therapy. There are sometimes other requirements for practicing in various settings, but that is the minimum level. Refer to the American Art Therapy Association Web site for more.

How difficult is it to find work as an art therapist?
Location makes a big difference. It is difficult to be hired directly as an art therapist outside of major cities, primarily because art therapy is a relatively new field. With additional licensure and experience, you can be hired as a counselor, social worker or the like. If you would like to work outside of a major city, you would want to take additional graduate school credits in counseling and seek an LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor).

What do you consider the best and worst parts of your job?
I like working with adolescents who nobody else really enjoys working with. They are the kids who have tried really hard to get the adults in their life to give up on them. They feel like failures. Seeing them find a voice for self-expression in art and become successful at it, and therefore develop a sense of self-worth and more motivation to succeed in other areas of life, makes all the work worthwhile. Good art therapists are artists who have had life-changing or life-defining moments with their own artwork. They are the ones who understand the power that art has to heal.

What are the differences between art therapists and art teachers?
I think there are more similarities between them. I act as both, so I know that it requires more of a desire to help a student develop artistic skills to be an art teacher. Art teachers guide students with lesson plans designed to help them develop these skills. Art therapists guide clients with counseling skills and art tasks designed to help clients navigate whatever waters they are navigating in counseling. They both use art very intentionally.

Therapists need to be willing to look at deep issues. In doing that, you end up exploring a lot of deep emotional material that resonates with your own emotional life and life experiences. Judy Rubin, a renowned art therapist, said, “You cannot take clients where you have not been yourself.” Self-care is crucial, as is having good professional boundaries.

Art teachers need to be able to manage a classroom. You have to be comfortable with yourself as an authority member and being in front of a class. You have to be prepared and on your toes at all times so there is a lot of planning.

What contemporary art lends itself to art therapy exercises?
Dawoud Bey’s photography speaks to my students in a powerful way. They get really excited about it and can relate to it on many levels.

[Former art therapy patient]
What was it like to experience art therapy first hand as a patient?
While I could conceptually imagine what “art therapy” would be like, it was amazing to actually experience it. You think you know exactly what’s in your head…but when you draw and create what’s in there, it can be truly eye-opening. There’s something about taking the intangible and creating something concrete out of it. While it was difficult to dig through all the negative thoughts and emotions in my head, it was an incredibly freeing experience to see them on paper, work through them in therapy, and eventually literally burn them up to let them go.

Check out this photo on Flickr to see a diagram of my crazy.

This is a super-busy time for the Nugget Factory and it just sort of happened.  For a couple of days last week, Daniel was out of the office with Dan shooting some video in San Francisco for the upcoming show, Power and Glory: Court Arts of China’s Ming Dynasty. I found myself sitting at my desk, working at a normal pace…and bored out of my mind.  Two days later, with the full factory back in action, things sort of erupted, with new tasks flying in at every angle.  I guess I prefer it that way…Check out this selection of stuff we have coming soon:

• A new Flickr project giving you a look at some conservation work done by IMA conservators in conjunction with the exhibition, Preserving a Legacy: Wishard Hospital Murals (coming January 2009)
  
• The website for Power and Glory, which will integrate video in a way we have never tried before (coming October 2008)
• A full length documentary on Maya Lin that is in the home stretch, we hope you can see this late 2008
• The special web presence featuring Type A, in the final stages of editing, getting ready for the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park groundbreaking on September 18th
• A new Flickr group called “Class Picture Day” – submit your own class photo inspired by the exhibition, Class Pictures: Photographs by Dawoud Bey (You should submit your class photo, but even if you don’t you can find mine on there!)
• Two audio tracks recorded by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra for you to enjoy, inspired by works of art in the American Galleries

So that is a just a taste for the next couple of months.  We’ll keep you posted as new things come up.  Next year will be bringing some super exciting things that you will definitely hear about here, so stay tuned!!