Oberlin, OH – Midwest Fine Art Service and Transportation Co. recently was called on to move the monumental Claes Oldenburg sculpture, “Giant Three-Way Plug,” from its home at the Allen Memorial Art Museum in Oberlin, Ohio to the Intermuseum Conservation Association in Cleveland for conservation treatment.

The sculpture is made of Core Ten steel and bronze and weighs an estimated three thousand pounds. It is one of an edition of three, produced in 1970 at the famed Lippincott studio in New Haven, CT. The piece was a gift to the Allen from the artist and the Fund for Contemporary Art the same year.

 The Lippincott center has been a destination for some of the most revered monumental sculptors of the latter twentieth century for the fabrication of their works. Some of these artists include such titans as Ellsworth Kelly, Clement Meadmore, Louise Nevelson, James Rosati, Roy Lichtenstein, George Sugarman, and many other notables.

The project was coordinated by FAST’s new Managing Director, Charles G. Eiben, and facilitated by technicians Tim Carney and Mike Moore, as well as lead conservator Mark Erdmann of I.C.A. MidWest was honored to have on site their original founder Marvin Fannin, who as a former staff member of the Allen prior to starting MidWest was a participant in the piece’s original installation and dedication.

Preparation for the project began in January while the ground was soft and the earth and stone encasing the lower half of the giant sculpture could be carefully removed. Due to the sculpture’s location and the difficulties of accessing the site with heavy equipment, it was decided that the move would take place once the ground was frozen. On January 25th, MidWest got its wish, the temperature was 6 degrees with a wind chill well below zero. The sculpture had to be moved across the grounds of the museum and around to the rear of the building to be loaded onto a waiting flat bed truck. Extreme precautions were taken to protect the property’s paving bricks as well as any concrete walks encountered in the portage. Sheets of ¾” plywood were maneuvered throughout the two hundred and fifty yard crawl to protect the pavers and walkways. Once loaded the sculpture was delivered to the I.C.A. lab where it will undergo its restoration.

The Intermuseum Conservation Association is the oldest regional art conservation lab in the country and a premier multi-disciplined conservation studio. The Oberlin Campus was once home to the I.C.A. lab. The lab moved to Cleveland and is presently located in the historic building that once housed the Vitrolite Company showroom.

MFAST maintains a close professional relationship with I.C.A. and has collaborated on past projects including moving Oldenburg’s colossal “Inverted Q” and the Akron Art Museum’s move into their newly opened expansion. In fact, MidWest’s Eiben is the former Associate Preparator at the lab and remains an adjunct staff member of the institution. 

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