only on decorahnews.com: Fixing a damaged Luther College statue will require "a hospital for art"

"Oedipus and Antigone"

Art conservator Megan Emory has visited the Luther College campus, trying to find an answer to a simple question: "What happened to Oedipus and Antigone?"

In this case, Oedipus and Antigone are the names of two figures in an outdoor statue next to the Center for Faith and Life.  Luther College officials think the two figures might have been vandalised earlier this spring.

That's where the Midwest Art Conservation Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts came into the picture.  The organization consults with clients at 225 museums across the country and the occasional college or private institution like Luther.  Executive Director Colin Turner says art conservators at his non-profit organization handle questions involving four separate categories of art--textiles, paintings, paper and objects.

Art conservator Nicole Gradow, a colleague of Megan Emory, says the "objects" category is the broadest.  It's also the busiest category this time of year, with Gradow and Emory doing a lot of traveling after the snow melts.

Gradow, like Emory, has a Master's Degree in art preservation.  There are only four such graduate degree programs in North America and their coursework includes not just art classes, but three years worth of chemistry classes in restoration work.

That gives art conservators the ability to examine artwork and answer questions.  By slowing down and looking at the artwork with a careful eye, conservators are able to spot imperfections in the work--and to determine whether they were originalk to the work, or signs of later damage.

In the case of a bronze statue like "Oedipus and Antigone" at Luther College, it's important to examine the chemical patina that gets applied to a bronze statue after casting, says Gradow.  "The problems are varied," she notes, and it's up to an art conservator like Gradow or Emory to describe the current condition of the artwork and recommend a treatment.

Turner says the Midwest Art Conservation Center provides a specialized service, but one that can be easily summarized: "We're a hospital for art," he says.

A sign states the statue is being restored