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More About Prairie Moon Museum and Sculpture Garden

Grasses had overgrown many of the sculptures, and years of exposure to the elements had stripped away the original colors. This project is a great example of art restoration. Jensen Conservation not only stabilized the materials of the pieces, but made efforts to reestablish the original character of the site.

Above: The Fence facing the road before treatment.

Below: Following restoration.

Rusch used the materials immediately available to him in the creation of his art. Automobile headlamps, house paint, stone, and concrete went into creating the garden pieces. The house paint was matched by microscopic examination of the few remaining original paint samples. Twenty-seven different colors were identified.

One of the challenges facing Jensen in this restoration was the varied conditions and consistencies of the materials used. Some of the concrete and stone elements were becoming soft and needed to be strengthened.

There were portions of the sculptures that needed to be reconstructed. The cement:sand mixtures used on the mortar were variable from piece to piece, and a detailed analysis needed to be made to ensure each piece was faithful to Herman Rusch's original construction. Jensen Conservation identified the type of sand used in the mortar mixtures and found a close facsimile at a nearby lumberyard.

Many of the works had cut glass, shells and ceramics embedded into the mortar. Some of the embedded pieces had fallen out. One of the technicians diligently spent day after day cutting glass to complete such pieces as the Fence at the top of this page and the Decorative Fence shown further below.

From August to October of 1994, Herman Rusch's sculpture garden went through a distinct transformation. As each of the 41 pieces was painstakingly restored, the faded garden began to come alive with the re-introduction of color. The success of Jensen's efforts is apparent in the before and after photos of the sculptures.

Above: Decorative Fence
After Treatment

Below: Hindu Temple
After Treatment

Another formidable task the Jensens faced was the rapid regrowth of organic materials. Sculptures cleaned in August exhibited noticeable regrowth by October. Therefore, a regimental maintenance schedule of biannual cleaning was proposed. With proper maintenance, the integrity of the sculpture garden can be more easily upheld.

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