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Sunday, June 19, 2011

Ind. Courts - "Fountain County in quandary over courthouse's murals"

A long story today in the Lafayette Journal Courier, reported by Mikel Livingston, begins:

Historic murals on the walls of the Fountain County Courthouse are at the heart of a polarized debate taking place in Covington.

The murals, painted by or under the direction of renowned artist and Covington native Eugene Savage in the 1930s, played a prominent role in landing the building on the National Historic Register.

The murals were last touched up in 1983, but the sealant in use then shrinks with age and has pried the paint from the walls, leaving the murals in increasing disrepair.

"They touched those up 20 or 25 years ago and now there's plaster underneath them, and you know when plaster gets old it bubbles up," said Walt Wilson, chairman of the Fountain County commissioners. "They need to be repaired."

Enter Cheryl Harris, a Covington-based artist who petitioned commissioners last week to allow her to reproduce the murals. Her proposal entails covering the murals with canvas and then replicating the images exactly on top of the canvas.

"If the paint is deteriorating and creating the loss of these images, something needs to be done," Harris said. "My opinion is that I believe the images could be reproduced and reillustrated onto a different type of surface so the memory and illustration work is still there for everyone to see."

But some community leaders are staunchly opposed to Harris's plan, including Kathy Haas, president of Fountain County Landmarks, who called the idea "a travesty."

In the past year, Haas's group has hosted experts from the Chicago Conservation Center and Baltimore-based Thomas Moore Studios who came up with a restoration plan for the murals that would cost around $450,000.

"We've had them assessed and went to the commissioners a week ago," Haas said. "And a local artist offered her thoughts on the murals, wanting to put up cloth and paint her own mural up there. Those of us interested in history and preservation are horrified."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 19, 2011 12:57 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts