Joyce Pomeroy Schwartz, Public Art Consultant, Curator, and Lecturer, Writes in Support of "Greenwood Pond: Double Site"
On January 22, 2024, Joyce Pomeroy Schwartz 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 Ms. Baum,
Coincidences abound every day learning about the care and maintenance of significant public art works in America.
I have just published a major book about the perils, pains and pleasures of Public Art, "The Private Eye in Public Art”, ORO Editions. Reading about the possible destruction of a major landscape environment “The Greenwood Pond Project” by the Internationally acclaimed contemporary artist, Mary Miss, in Des Moines, is shocking to me. Mary Miss’s work is noted in my book which has become a textbook in the field for University Art schools, art professionals and artists.
We, in the United States, have not always been the most sensitive and devoted guardians of important public art works in our country. Throughout history nations, cities, states and civic places are long known and defined by their lasting cultural amenities and public art by innovative artists.
We do an irrevocable disservice, not only to our ancestors and creators, but to our future generations by willfully destroying landmark artworks in our communities, both large and small. All public artworks define and mark people and places as being unique, special and worthy.
I hope the Des Moines Art Center reconsiders their potential demolition of Mary Miss’s "Greenwood Pond: Double Site," a place to visit in your city for many reasons.
Sincerely,
Joyce Pomeroy Schwartz
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