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Saturday, December 03, 2005
Ind. Courts - Court renovation reveals hidden artwork
"Court renovation reveals hidden artwork" is the headline to this AP story via the Louisville Courier Journal:
CONNERSVILLE, Ind. -- Officials are looking to save and restore intricate artwork, including hand-painted designs on a courtroom ceiling, that workers discovered while renovating the Fayette County Courthouse.The ceiling features a large center medallion surrounded by ornate, hand-painted designs.
"We knew the medallion was there," said Fayette Circuit Court Judge Daniel Pflum. "We also knew there was historic painting on the walls in the hall, but the ceiling was a surprise. We haven't been able to find any record of it or when it was painted."
The courthouse is in the process of a $1.7 million renovation. The county is spending another $6.9 million for a three-story addition to the 1849 building.
Restoring the artwork on the ceiling and walls is estimated to cost $120,000 -- money that's not in the project's budget.
Architect Dean Illingworth of Schmidt Associates, which designed the addition and the renovation, and Fayette County Economic Development Corp. deputy director Jolissa Bates are searching for grants to help save the art. They also are asking for donations to the Fayette County Foundation.
On one side of the courthouse ceiling, workers removing old paint uncovered a painting of what might be a goddess of agriculture and industry -- a woman with flowing hair surrounded by a sheaf of wheat, a beehive, a plow and a mill wheel.
Experts believe the design might be repeated on another side of the ceiling, perhaps with a justice theme, but that area is yet to be uncovered.
Rebecca Garland of the Garland Guild, an Indianapolis company that specializes in historic restorations, said paint likely did not adhere to the artwork because of a thin layer of dirt that had accumulated on the ceiling. So when workers starting peeling off old layers of paint, the artwork was intact.
"This is exceptional work," Garland said. "It's fabulous."
Officials also want to put the courthouse on the National Registry of Historic Places.
"The Tippecanoe County Courthouse has artistic paintings, but nothing this elaborate," Illingworth said. "Fulton County has great detail in its paintings and unique paint colors, but this is a treasure. I have never seen anything like this painting."
Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 3, 2005 12:04 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts