The contributions to this volume address aspects relating to the preservation, maintenance and protection of open-air sculpture and sculptural landscapes based on case studies in Europe, North America and Australia. Sculpture parks are found in a range of settings – urban, rural, forest, coastal, desert – each facing challenges in relation to its location, climate and management such as negligence and vandalism (including graffiti) and material degradation: physical damage, corrosion, fading and flaking paint, biological growth etc.
The authors, sometimes after discussions with the artists themselves, consider methods of conservation and management of both the sculpture park environment and collections of artworks made of different materials: wood, metals and alloys, ceramic, stone, concrete, glass, composites etc.
Extended abstracts of the six posters that were presented at the conference could not be included in the publication due to financial restrictions. They can be viewed at https://spark2015sisak.wordpress.com/.
The conference was closely related to a project that aims to protect and conserve a collection of 38 outdoor sculptures created between 1971 and 1990 within the Sisak Steelworks Artists Colony.
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Foreword
The Sculpture Park in Sisak: in search of answers
Sagita Mirjam Sunara
When art meets technology – can the love affair last? The legacy of the 1965 Sculpture Symposium at the California State University Long Beach and the challenges of maintaining a sculpture park on university campus
Rachel Rivenc, Julia Langenbacher, Christina Varvi, Rosa Lowinger, Maria Coltharp and Brian Trimble
Museum collection in a public space
Agnieszka Wielocha
Conservation plan for the Forma Viva Sculpture Park in Kostanjevica na Krki
Rok Dolnicar and Miladi Makuc Semion
The Biedermeier cemetery of St. Marx in Vienna: planning, management and treatment implementation
Matea Ban and Martin Pliessnig
The Spoerri sculpture garden in Seggiano (Italy): regular maintenance within a challenging environment
Alfredo Aldrovandi, Elisa Pannunzio and Luigi Vigna
The eternal youth of Capalbio’s Monsters: a planned preventive conservation project
Serena Vella, Claudia Bortolussi and Bruno Zanardi
Small SPark ignites big discussion: the sculpture park of the Vjenceslav Richter and Nada Kareš Richter Collection (Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, Croatia)
Mirta Pavic and Vesna Meštric
Conservation and documentation of site-specific collections
Marta Gómez Ubierna
La Comella or the spirit of non-conservation. The Rufino Mesa Sculpture Garden
Aida Marín Yrigaray
Defining and preserving sculptural landscapes
Andrew Thorn
The restoration and care of zinc sculptures in the Baroque Garden of Frederiksborg Castle, Denmark
Anders Ekstroem Loekkegaard
Local treatment for outdoor painted metal sculpture: research on products and methodologies for priming, filling and retouching
Nikki van Basten, Julia Langenbacher, Catherine Defeyt and Rachel Rivenc
How the ‘Seven Deadly Agents of Destruction’ can help preserve the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs
Liesa Brierley, Ellinor Michel, Anthony Lewis, Chris Aldhous and Lois Olmstead
Summary of the panel discussion ‘Reviving neglected sculpture parks in Croatia’
Neven Peko and Sagita Mirjam Sunara