CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The effort to save a group of historic campus murals received a boost last week after officials agreed to help fund the project.
The vibrant room-size murals, inside the former site of the department of Latina/Latino studies building at 510 E. Chalmers St., Champaign, which also once housed the La Casa Cultural Latina, were created in 1974 as a protest piece by alumnus and artist Oscar Martinez and fellow students.
The funding announcement allows project leaders to seek competitive bids for removing and restoring the murals. The mural removals could be completed by the end of summer, with the art conservation work continuing off-site.
“The work to remove the murals will take the coordinated effort of three entities: an art conservator, an art mover and a general contractor,” said Brent Lewis, the landscape architect at Facilities and Services.
Work stages include photographing the murals to create a digital archive; carefully removing and packaging them for travel; then transporting them to a conservator, who will separate the paintings from the 40-year-old plaster wallboard and place them on canvas for framing or storage.
“On-site, the art mover and general contractor will work in concert to safely remove the murals from the building,” he said. The building will be stabilized during the removal process and razed immediately afterward.
Consultants last year estimated the cost to remove and conserve the murals at $300,000. The Office of the Chancellor and the Office of the Provost each will provide one-third of the funding, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs will split the remaining third.
Alicia P. Rodriguez, the academic adviser and administrative coordinator for the department of Latina/Latino studies, said the murals hold a special place in the hearts of the department’s students and faculty members, present and past.
“The murals represent the legacy of Latino students on campus and their role in and importance to the student population here,” she said.
Chancellor Phyllis M. Wise said the murals and the struggle to save them are important to everyone on campus.
“We want to do all we can to preserve the history of this institution,” she said. “The beauty of the murals and the activist spirit that created them should inspire all of us.”
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