Jeffrey Schiff, Artist and Art Professor, Writes in Support of "Greenwood Pond: Double Site"
On January 23, 2024, Jeffrey Schiff wrote the following letter to the Des Moines Art Center (DMAC) Director Kelly Baum concerning plans to demolish Greenwood Pond: Double Site, a site-specific installation by the internationally acclaimed leader of the land art movement, Mary Miss, commissioned for the Art Center’s permanent collection. The work, which opened in 1996, is in a diminished condition with some sections fenced off, suggesting the DMAC has not fulfilled its contractual obligation to “reasonably protect and maintain” the work. The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) is calling for the DMAC to reverse it demolition decision and, instead, to engage in meaningful consultations with the artist and others to find a solution that restores the artwork and develops a long-term, ongoing maintenance plan.
Dear Kelly Baum:
I write to express my dismay in learning that the Des Moines Art Center plans to demolish Mary Miss’s landmark site-sculpture Greenwood Pond: Double Site, and I urge the DMAC and the city to reconsider. As a sculptor and a professor of art for over 35 years, I understand the importance of this singular artwork in the historical development of contemporary sculpture, and in particular sculpture’s relationship to landscape. The work achieves a remarkable integration between an extant landscape and a sculptural vision that expands a viewer’s capacity to perceive it. The sculpture’s presence enriches the perceptual experience of movement through the landscape, articulating vistas and making available new positions from which to view. As such, it is a canonical work of its time, having a substantial influence on artists and landscape architects over the years, and is taught in many universities such as my own. One of the responsibilities of museums and cities is to preserve and protect such works as our cultural heritage so that generations of Des Moines citizens as well as visitors from afar may benefit.
I recognize that there may be significant expenses required to restore and maintain this outdoor work of art. But I would urge the city and the DMAC to engage in a dialogue with Miss and other community stakeholders to find a solution that restores and maintains the sculpture in place. From my own experience in producing public art, I am confident that by working directly with the artist a more affordable way to rebuild and maintain would be discovered.
Best Wishes,
Jeffrey Schiff,
Professor of Art Wesleyan University
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