In 2014, a small group of volunteers in Marshalltown, Iowa, met to discuss the conservation of the Fisher Community Center art collection, which had been untouched since the 1960s. The artworks were in desperate need of repair, care, and cataloging, so the group set to work applying for grants and hiring specialists to help in the process.
The Conservation Center was hired in 2018 and our team was sent out to conduct a three-day onsite evaluation and to draft a long-term treatment plan. The day after our team returned to Chicago, Marshalltown was hit by a tornado. Fortunately, no one sustained any serious injuries and the Community Center was not directly hit, but the effect on the community as a whole was detrimental.
The following year fundraising and building work continued only to be interrupted once more by the pandemic in 2020. Following all appropriate health and safety guidelines, our shipping crew arrived in July 2020 to pack up all of the artwork for treatment and storage while the Community Center underwent restoration, as seen in the video above. One month after the artwork was removed, the building was one of the worst hit during an inland hurricane. The building was badly damaged and needed to be evacuated. Everyone was very grateful that the artwork was removed prior to this unfortunate event.
The small group of community members assisting throughout this project has since grown into multiple committees of volunteers dedicated to restoring the Community Center and its art collection for the benefit of Marshalltown. Today they are working with architects to design a space that is both safe for the art and an asset to their community. The Conservation Center is honored to preserve this important collection for the future.
For more information about the Fisher Foundation’s fundraising campaign, click HERE.
