May 29, 2020 – THE GOLDWATER MURALS FIND A NEW HOME

By admin

FRIDAY

May 29, 2020 

 RIHS’s 65th Issue of

PART   2
RESTORATION
EXHIBITION
RE-INSTALLATION

How Abstract WPA Murals Were Preserved for Cornell Tech Campus, New York City

Cornell Tech’s campus on Roosevelt Island will have technologically advanced and future-facing facilities, but it will also have something else: a glimpse into US history, and a critical link to the island it calls home.

That’s thanks to a team of conservators who carefully removed three historic murals from Roosevelt Island’s Coler-Goldwater Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility just before its demolition in 2014, and who will reinstall them within the new Cornell Tech buildings.

The murals were by Ilya Bolotowsky, Albert Swinden and Joseph Rugolo.

Bolotowsky, the best known of the three, was a protégé of Piet Mondrian and leading early abstract painter known for creating a sense of order and balance in his paintings. What makes the mural he created for the hospital so unique, according to Keri Butler, deputy director at the Public Design Commission of the City of New York, is that it was commissioned by the Works Progress Administration (WPA).

The WPA seldom commissioned abstract works of art, Butler said, but Bolotowsky’s work was championed by a fellow abstract artist Burgoyne Diller, who also happened to be project supervisor of the New York City WPA/FAP Mural Division.

Removing these murals was no walk in the park. In their original incarnation, all of the murals by Bolotowsky, Swinden and Rugolo had been installed on walls in three of the building’s 32 circular-shaped rooms. In these circular rooms, patients would congregate, get fresh air, and look out through the windows to the river — the idea being that sunlight and fresh air supported convalescence.

A total of eight murals were commissioned for these spaces, though only four were ever completed.
But over the years, these rooms were repainted many times. Eventually, layer upon layer of interior house paint obscured the locations of the murals themselves. Then, with demolition of the hospital slated for late 2014, Cornell and New York City worked together with a team of conservators on a kind of scavenger hunt, scouring the hospital to find these works.

—Bolotowsky’s, which had been restored in 2000, was easier to find than the other two. Though conservators knew a fourth mural may have existed, after searching each of the 32 rooms the group determined that the mural was not within any of them. Butler describes the discovery process like something out of a detective novel. “We were in one of these day rooms, and a conservator asked if it was okay to remove the light switch cover. So we got a screwdriver and removed the cover — there was canvas there! It was a revelatory moment.”

Once all of the murals had been painstakingly secured, they were chemically stabilized and, finally, restored off-site at a conservator’s studio, according to Stephanie Lee Wiles, director of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University. Where paint was missing, conservators filled in the blanks.

All of these New York City murals serve as reminders of an unprecedented government-funded initiative that provided essential work and income to artists, and supported the artistic careers of many otherwise overlooked abstract artists,” said Wiles. The murals, she hopes, will connect students and visitors to the history of the island. She also noted a conceptual overlap between Bolotowsky’s style of abstract painting, which was then avante-garde, and Cornell Tech’s mission in the world today: “In this brand-new building, [Bolotowsky’s murals] represent thinking about new horizons — and new directions that technology will take us.” Now that these paintings will be accessible to so many, Butler said she hopes they’ll inspire dialogue about not only the past, but also the future of public funding for art in America. “I can’t even imagine another time when the United States government had such an impact on cutting-edge American art,” she said. “I hope that students will look up and wonder what these murals are about, and that the murals provide inspiration and an uplifting experience.

ILYA BOLOTOWSKY

JOSEPH RUGOLO

Rugolo mural laid out at conservators

Mural  parts on exhibit at Johnson Museum at Cornell, Ithaca in 2016.
The Rugolo mural was not been placed yet and is in storage awaiting a suitable location.

ALBERT SWINDEN

Swinden mural laid out at conservators 

The Swinden mural was the most complex to install high on a wall in the TATA  Innovation Center

The Swinden mural high above the tiered study area in the TATA Innovation Center

EDITORIAL

Now that we have tempted you with these photos of the murals at Cornell Tech. Cornell Tech offers monthly art tours. On exhibit are some other contemporary artworks and installations.

To book a tour see: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cornell-tech-art-tours-registration-44681635976

All tours are subject to the campus being open. The tours are free and limited to 10 persons.

Judith Berdy
212 688 4836
Jbird134@aol.com

PHOTO OF THE DAY

What is this and where is it located?
E-mail answer to jbird134@aol.com
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YESTERDAY’S PHOTO OF THE DAY

This is the WILDLIFE FREEDOM FOUNDATION Cat sanctuary at Southpoint Park on the east side of the Island. 

This arrived from Jay Jacobson this morning:

This morning’s very interesting picture appears to me to be the southern and western facades of the Roosevelt Island Residence for Less Fortunate Felines.

It is located in the northeast corner of Southpoint Park, adjacent to the East Channel of the East River. Although RIRFLFF does not appear on any copies of the RI Master Plan I have ever seen, it is believed to be the Quantico equivalent on the Island.

There, elite teams of cats, rescued from abandonment by sympathetic trainers and friends, are working to learn to herd the Canada Geese into parts of the Island where their signature pooping pattern is removed from the Island’s lawns and pathways and confined to places not populated by people.

I understand that Ben Kallos has been asked for funding support for RIRFLFF but has deferred a decision until he sees how many have registered to vote.

Beano, my long time friend and neighbor passed away last night with her family.  She is socializing with her felines in cat heaven.

Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Melanie Colter  and Deborah Dorff


All image are copyrighted (c) RIHS
Thanks to the RIHS Archives for Images
Museum of the City of New York
Cornell University Johnson Museum

FUNDING PROVIDED BY:
THE ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS

CITY COUNCIL MEMBER BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDS ADMINISTERED BY NYC DIVISION OF
YOUTH AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT