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From: Cambridge Arts <cambridgearts@cambridgema.gov> Date: 07/07/2022 11:25 AM Subject: Murals At North Cambridge Senior Center Restored

https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001iX9NwWoYPL19wS8Cowtt83YXixmMrLIlcken10pZ1oaC...

Murals At North Cambridge Senior Center Restored

Cambridge Arts has restored Cambridge artist David Fichter’s 1986 murals inside the North Cambridge Senior Center. Watch our video of the process https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001iX9NwWoYPL19wS8Cowtt83YXixmMrLIlcken10pZ1oaC... .

“As we welcome more seniors back in person, we are excited that visitors to the North Cambridge Senior Center will be greeted by the vibrant murals restored by Cambridge Arts, reinforcing that the North Cambridge Senior Center is a bright and welcoming place to explore your interests and connect with others,” Susan Pacheco, Director of the Cambridge Council on Aging, says.

“Cambridge has the largest collection of contemporary public art in New England, with more than 280 artworks. One of Cambridge Arts’ key responsibilities is taking care of this major community resource to protect it for the future,” Cambridge Arts Executive Director Jason Weeks says. “We’re excited to see how careful attention to these three-decade-old murals helps them feel fresh again.”

Art conservation is a STEAM project (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math), in this case combining chemistry, materials science, and fine arts expertise. In April 2022, with the help of conservators Theresa Carmichael and Geraldine Brooks, Cambridge Arts restored Fichter’s murals.

How do conservators prevent further problems while repairing damage caused by water leaking from pipes above, adhesive from tape stuck on the murals while covering the walls to protect them, and fading caused by sunlight?

“The conservators used cleaners and solvents, carefully formulated and selected to avoid further damage to the paint surface,” Cambridge Arts Director of Art Conservation Craig Uram says. “The solvents had to be able to remove the adhesive without removing the acrylic paint. Losses to the paint surface were inpainted using paints selected to be distinguishable and removable from the original acrylic paint. The overall fading and blanching caused by the water leak was re-saturated using a varnish that will help to protect the painting and allow the inpainting to be removed in the future, if the need arises.”

The results of our conservation work at the North Cambridge Senior Center are murals as vibrant as when they were new.

Find these murals and explore the rest of our public art collection via our new public art map: cambridgema.gov/publicartmap https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001iX9NwWoYPL19wS8Cowtt83YXixmMrLIlcken10pZ1oaC... .

The North Cambridge Senior Center is open Mondays from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. About Cambridge Arts

Cambridge Arts https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001iX9NwWoYPL19wS8Cowtt83YXixmMrLIlcken10pZ1oaC... is the River Festival, Open Studios, Gallery 344, Sidewalk Poetry, Summer In The City, Community Supported Art, grants to artists, street performers, more than 280 works of contemporary public art in every neighborhood of the city, and a conservation program to preserve them for the future.

We are the Cambridge Arts Council, a City agency that funds, promotes, and presents high-quality, community based arts programs for the benefit of artists, residents, and visitors in Cambridge. Active since 1974, Cambridge Arts is one of the most dynamic local arts agencies in the country. Cambridge Arts exists to ensure that the arts remain vital for people living, working and visiting Cambridge.

Cambridge Arts is located on the Indigenous homelands of the Massachusett, Nipmuc, Pawtucket, and Wampanoag peoples. We are guests on this land. We honor the people who were here before colonization, are here now, and will be here in the future. In our work as a cultural organization, we are committed to doing whatever we can to dismantle harmful structures built from violent colonialism. Our work seeks to expand the visibility of and celebrate the histories, cultures, and stories of indigenous peoples, who are of this place.

Cambridge Arts embraces a vision that welcomes and supports everyone. Believing that a multiplicity of perspectives is essential to a strong society, we are committed, both in our policies and practices, to building participation in and awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the arts and all cultures. In our ongoing work to address cultural and historical inequities, we strive to be a community anchor that reflects the entire Cambridge community and expands access, opportunities, and inclusion in every form of creative expression. We value diverse voices and people of all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, abilities, gender identities, sexual orientations, socioeconomic situations, religions, citizenship statuses, and family configurations.

The City of Cambridge does not discriminate on the basis of disability. We will provide auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternate formats, and reasonable modifications in policies and procedures to persons with disabilities upon request.

For information contact Cambridge Arts: cambridgearts@cambridgema.gov mailto:cambridgearts@cambridgema.gov , 617-­349-­4380 or TTY: 617­-492-0235.

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