From the Lab :: Mission Mural Rescue - Chapter 2

“Pour, and ooze,” is the EAC Conservation department mantra these days. Jugs of resin and recycled yogurt tubs adorn the conservation lab workbench as Public Art Conservator Andrea Bowes meticulously inserts shims beneath a mural panel.

She’s preparing to stabilize the object with a layer of resin. The panel is a section of the 1967 Norman Yates mural, which the Conservation team cut into sections and removed from its original location on the main floor of the Stanley A. Milner Library last year. Since then, the team has cut and ground about four inches of 50-year old architectural plaster from the back of each section.

A mural restoration project of this scale and complexity is rare in North America, says David Turnbull, the EAC Director of Public Art and Conservation. ​“You see projects like this more frequently in Italy, where there is a history and tradition of fresco painting. There have been similar undertakings in other North American municipalities over the past 30 years or so, but like anything, methods and materials continually change. In the end, a conservator must rely on research to see what has been done in similar instances, hard knowledge of established conservation protocols and techniques, and the ability to problem solve and trouble shoot when challenges inevitably appear.”

So far, the team’s methods have ensured that the mural was able to be removed with a minimum of damage. Now that all the old architectural plaster is gone, and they’re down to the original, one-inch, fragile artist’s plaster layer, the challenge is stabilization.

Andrea likens this process to giving the panels a skeleton – in this case, made from lightweight aluminum channel, fibreglass, resin, and sand. ​“In a sense, these are like architectural tiles that get mortared onto a wall. However, we can’t handle the mural pieces like a tile – they’re too fragile. Tiles have their own integrity and strength, so we had to devise a way to create that. We did mock-ups with mortar and plaster first to make sure this would work.”

Andrea and Conservation Assistant Jenika Sobolewska pour the resin onto the panels’ back surface, then use paintbrushes and rollers to even it out. The panel edges are dammed with a mixture of wax and silicone caulking to prevent the resin from pouring over the edge and seeping into the cut sides. From beginning to end, it takes three days to stabilize each panel, work that happens in conjunction with other projects, and the day-to-day maintenance of the public art collection.

Once this stage is complete, Andrea and Jenika will restore the panel edges, then the entire mural will be stood up using customized A‑frames. This will allow the mural to be safely stored until it can be re-installed in the new Stanley A. Milner Library. Only then will the team remove the tissue paper protecting the painted surface and restore the painting itself. The end result will be revealed to the public when the Milner reopens in 2020.