Two separate acts of vandalism since last Thursday were responsible for the destruction of 10 pieces of a 15-piece sculpture at the Evanston Art Center.
Staff of the art center, 2603 Sheridan Rd., arrived at work Thursday morning to find eight pieces of the installation on the center’s front lawn knocked over, broken or ripped out of the ground.
A not-for-profit organization founded in 1929, the Art Center commissioned the piece, “Calm Before the Storm,” as part of it’s “Sculpture on the Grounds” series. Each year, an artist creates a piece for the center. The program began in 1991.
Evanston Art Center Executive Director Alan Leder said he was “shocked and very angry.”
“The vandal struck twice, and we don’t really have any physical evidence,” he said.
Chicago artist Micki LeMieux created “Calm Before the Storm,” which featured blue bodies emerging from the ground at different points on the lawn. The piece was valued at about $10,000.
Lelde Kalmite, the director of development and public relations for the art center, said the piece was a new addition to the center’s grounds. It was installed in late May of this year.
Leder said the temporary nature of the piece might have made it easier to destroy. Materials used in the sculpture – and the smaller concrete foundation the pieces were set in – were chosen because they would be easier to remove in May 2007.
“But each piece still weighed at least 100 pounds,” Leder said.
Members of the Evanston Police Department found empty liquor bottles and several pairs of men’s underwear among the scratched and broken pieces of sculpture.
EPD is continuing its investigation, but police have no suspects at this time, Cmdr. James Pickett said. The Evanston Art Center has also requested increased security patrol of its grounds at night.
This is not the first time a “Sculpture on the Ground” piece has been vandalized, Leder said. In 2000, several pieces of an installation designed by Darren Hallowell that featured life-size human figures standing in a row were knocked over and seriously damaged. It is the only other recorded act of vandalism to a “Sculpture on the Ground” installation.
Kalmite said the art center already has contacted LeMieux to discuss repairing “Calm Before the Storm,” but she said that firm plans for restoring the sculpture have not yet been set.
“We are talking to the artist about what can be done, but it will be a difficult problem to solve because these works were made from molds that were destroyed,” she said. “It was meant to be a one-of-a-kind piece … It will cost a lot of money to replace, so we’re talking to the artist about the problem.”
But an undiscouraged Leder said the art center would definitely replace the piece.
“We will repair,” he said. “We will reinstall the piece.”
