Artist Mary Miss Files Suit Against Des Moines Art Center to Stop Demolition of "Greenwood Pond: Double Site"

Media Contact: Nord Wennerstrom | T: 202.483.0553  | M: 202.255.7076 | E: nord@tclf.org

Art Center is in breach of contract and is violating the Visual Artists Rights Act

Washington, D.C. (April 4, 2024) – The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) today announced that land art movement leader Mary Miss has filed suit in federal court in Des Moines, IA, to prevent the demolition of Greenwood Pond: Double Site (1996), an acclaimed outdoor installation commissioned and owned by the Des Moines Art Center.  TCLF first revealed the Art Center’s then-secret plan to destroy the work on January 16, 2024; demolition is slated to begin on April 8, 2024. Miss is seeking a temporary restraining order “until such time as the matter can be set for a hearing and a determination as to the proper length for injunctive relief can be determined.”  The suit cites the Art Center’s breach of its 1994 contract with the artist and calls for the terms of the contract to be enforced, and violation of the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) of 1990 concerning the “destruction of a work of recognized stature, and any intentional or grossly negligent destruction of that work." Miss is also seeking monetary damages pursuant to VARA. The suit was filed by the Des Moines-based firm Wandro, Kanne & Lalor. The artist is also represented by Dave Bright with the Iowa Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.

According to Miss, the demonstration wetland project Greenwood Pond: Double Site is the only installation commissioned for a museum’s permanent collection and her first work to directly engage communities with environmental issues. Former Whitney Museum of American Art Director Max Anderson says the artwork, “enjoys an importance and a prominence in public art second to none in this country.” Nancy Princenthal, former Art In America executive editor, says the Des Moines installation “helped establish a paradigm for public projects that promote deep understanding of the natural environment.” More than 40 letters have been sent to Art Center Director Kelly Baum, who signed the demolition permit, by nationally prominent arts patrons and philanthropists, former museum directors, artists, landscape architects, architects, and others  in support of the work and protesting the planned demolition. Patron and philanthropist Emily Pulitzer wrote: “This decision, if carried out, will adversely affect the Museum, its board and you as the Director professionally.”

The Art Center’s leaders blame the installation’s materials, the site’s environmental conditions, the engineering, and even the weather for the decay, and they claim it’s too expensive to repair. The Art Center’s leaders have refused to substantiate these claims and have repeatedly ignored the artist’s questions and document requests. Moreover, works created by Miss in the 1980s, a decade before Greenwood Pond: Double Site, and constructed from similar materials used in the Des Moines installation - treated wood, metal mesh, concrete, and other readily available materials - have been well maintained. One of them, South Cove in Battery Park City, survived 9/11 and Hurricane Sandy. The Art Center’s leaders are citing public safety concerns to justify demolition. The Art Center’s negligence resulted in the installation’s “eroded” state and the ensuing public safety hazard; the Art Center Board and Director’s unethical response is to deny their negligence and destroy the evidence. 

Rather than engaging in consultations with the artist, as the Art Center is contractually obligated to do, Ms. Baum first notified the artist of the demolition decision on December 1, 2023, and stated: “we do not and will not ever have the money to remake” the artwork. In other words, no effort would be made and there would be no consultations; instead, the artist was being told to surrender, give up.

“The Art Center Board and Director’s lack of consultation, disregard of their contractual obligations, and shameful treatment of the artwork have forced this issue into the courts,” said Mary Miss. “They have only themselves to blame for this avoidable scandal.”

“The current leadership of the Des Moines Art Center has offered no alternatives to demolition and has brought the city along on the idea that this misguided and highly unethical action is just a routine business decision,” said Charles A. Birnbaum, TCLF’s President & CEO.

About Mary Miss
The internationally renowned New York-based artist Mary Miss created her first temporary site-specific installations in the 1960s, later producing permanent works such as Greenwood Pond: Double Site. Her works are interdisciplinary, often informed by the history and ecology of their settings, and include elements of architecture, sculpture, landscape architecture, and installation art. In 2009 Miss launched the City as Living Laboratory (CALL) an initiative that encourages artists to collaborate with scientists, planners, and other experts to create place-based artworks that engage the public with the environment and issues of sustainability.

Miss has received numerous awards and honors and her work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art (both in New York City); Harvard University (Cambridge, MA); and the Tate Modern (London, UK). The artist was recently featured in the widely hailed 2023-24 Nasher Sculpture Center exhibition Groundswell: Women of Land Art. A complete biography is available on the artist’s website.

About The Cultural Landscape Foundation
The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 1998 to connect people to places. TCLF educates and engages the public to make our shared landscape heritage more visible, identify its value, and empower its stewards. Through its website, publishing, lectures, and other events, TCLF broadens support and understanding for cultural landscapes. TCLF is also home to the Cornelia Hahn Oberlander International Landscape Architecture Prize.

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