Summer 2009 Newsletter

Conservation News

Guidelines for the Care and Handling of
Donald Judd Works in Metal

On May 20, the Foundation announced the creation of the Guidelines for the Care and Handling of Donald Judd Works in Metal written by Eleonora Nagy, a leading conservator and published author on Judd works in metal. Produced with support from Judd Foundation's Advisory Committee on Conservation and Restoration (ACCR), the manual provides technical knowledge on proven maintenance and treatment practices that can prevent permanent damage to Judd works. A pilot project for what will become a comprehensive manual for Judd works in various media, the Guidelines are now available online at www.juddfoundation.org/guidelines as a research tool for conservators, collectors, museum professionals and all those who handle Judd works. A printed version of the Guidelines for the Care and Handling of Donald Judd Works in Metal will subsequently be released. Additional publications will complete the series, including the Guidelines for the Care and Handling of Judd Works in Wood, which will be published in 2010.

Established in 2005, the ACCR was created by Judd Foundation to promote best practice in the handling installation, maintenance and care of works of art by Donald Judd. The Advisory Committee members are Dudley Del Balso, former studio assistant to Donald Judd and co-editor of the 1975 Catalogue Raisonné; Eleonora Nagy, former conservator of sculpture at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, and present owner of Modern Sculpture, LLC; and Derek Pullen, Head of Sculpture Conservation, Tate Britain.

Support for 101 Spring Street Restoration Plan

Judd Foundation has received the unanimous support of members of both the Landmarks Committee of Community Board 2 and NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission for its plans to restore 101 Spring Street. At a meeting on March 30, 2009, the Landmarks and Public Aesthetics Committee of Community Board 2 reviewed the restoration proposal, and among the actions realized was the approval of a certificate of appropriateness for the restoration to be undertaken on the historic 1870s cast iron façade, and the approval for a change of use for the property to allow it to function as a public programming space following the restoration. According to the minutes released by the Community Board, Judd Foundation’s presentation was “the most extensive, laudable and justifiable 74-711 Request for Change Of Use that has ever been presented, towering over all prior commercial requests in its scope, sensitivity and adherence to the spirit of the law.” The presentation was greeted with a unanimous vote of support. One week later, Judd Foundation presented the restoration proposal to the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, where Foundation staff and the restoration team spoke on behalf of the plan, and again it received unanimous support. As a final step in the approvals process, Judd Foundation will submit the restoration project to the Department of Buildings this year, after which it hopes to receive the necessary permits to begin construction.

Conservation work in Marfa, Texas

In keeping with its mission to preserve Judd’s permanently installed spaces, Judd Foundation has completed a number of restoration and renovation projects of its various holdings in Marfa, Texas. At La Mansana de Chinati/ “The Block” , windows of the studio building have now been restored: sills, sashes and mullions have been replicated from the existing windows, allowing the original glass to be re-used pane-by-pane. At the Architecture Studio/"The Bank", the marble detail was restored, and the exterior was repainted. This past fall, Judd Foundation conducted a structural analysis of all the buildings and the adobe structures. In March 2009 the metal roof of the Whyte Building/"The Schindler House " was replaced; and the restoration of the gypsum plaster finish on the interior walls was completed in May.

The Foundation is in the process of establishing an on-site conservation laboratory for the inspection and treatment of artworks that complements the facilities at neighboring Chinati Foundation. The Foundation's new conservator, Shelley Smith, began a comprehensive, piece-by-piece survey of Judd Foundation's installed collection  this winter, in preparation for a long-term conservation plan for the Foundation's permanently installed collections in both Texas and New York. The Foundation's appeal to raise funds for the restoration of a ten-unit Judd piece installed at La Mansana de Chintai/"The Block" in the East Builiding was successful, and this necessary conservation treatment will soon be begun. Ms. Smith comes to the Foundation from the Intermuseum Conservation Association of Cleveland, Ohio, where she held the position of Associate Objects Conservator. She received her Masters of Art Conservation from the Queen’s University Program in Art Conservation (MAC). She is a member of the American Institute for Conservation, the Association for Preservation Technology International, and Americans for the Arts.

Oral History Project Updates

As part of the ongoing Oral History Project, Judd Foundation continues to film interviews with individuals who knew and worked with Donald Judd. Among the recent subjects of these interviews were William and Elita Agee, Peter Barton, Tiffany Bell from the Dan Flavin Estate, Trisha Brown, John Chamberlain, Rupert Deese, John Good, Mary Heilmann, John Jerome, Maureen Jerome, Emily Jerome, Ivan Karp, Brice Marden, Anthony Meier, Jonas Mekas, Mary Obering, Irving Sandler, Joel Shapiro, Daniel Templon, Lauretta Vinciarelli, and John Wesley.

These interviews are part of the over 70 interviews that Judd Foundation has recorded since 2006. Captured in HD Video, the interviews make up a remarkable visual archive that helps to shed light on Judd's studio practice and his relationships with artists, dealers, studio assistants and fabricators, and members of the art community in New York and Marfa. First-hand accounts of significant events, such as his move from New York to Marfa, are interspersed with personal anecdotes about the artist and his love of the desert, his philosophies about art and a wide range of diverse subjects, and the vibrancy of the New York art scene in the 1960s and 70s. All interviews are transcribed and entered into Judd Foundation's archives for use by researchers.

101 Spring Street, New York: Updates

Docent Training Program
Partially funded by a grant received from the Department of Cultural Affairs, the Foundation began a Docent Training Program for artists in the spring of 2008. To date, the Docent Training Program has trained 17 artists, who have had the rare opportunity to learn about Donald Judd and 101 Spring Street through access to the building and Foundation records, and who at the end of their training, have the knowledge to lead tours of the building once open to the public. The next session will begin in Spring 2010.

Partnerships
This past year, the Foundation partnered with Columbia University's Graduate School for Architecture, Preservation and Planning to use 101 Spring Street as a case study for preservation students to develop interpretation plans for future visitors. This Spring, Judd Foundation's lead architects for the restoration of 101 Spring Street Adam Yarinsky and Stephen Cassell introduced undergraduate students at Princeton University to architectural design concepts using Judd's home and studio as a case study for creating a public space for research and programming. Students studied Judd's writings and permanently installed spaces as a model for a hypothetical building to house Judd's expansive 10,000-volume library and extensive archives. Panelists for the presentation of their final designs included Andres Lepik, Curator in MoMA's Department of Architecture and Design, Paul Lewis of LTL Architects, Amale Andraos of Work Architecture Company, and Michele Felicetta, Project Manager, Judd Foundation.

The Donald Judd Library, Marfa, Texas

In fall 2009, Judd Foundation will complete the cataloging of The Donald Judd Library, installed at La Mansana de Chinati/ “The Block” in Marfa, Texas. The project includes the creation of an electronic database which will be launched online in Spring 2010. This project will enable online study of the 10,000 volumes in the collection and guidance for how to access them in loaning reference libraries.

Administration and Board News

Foundation becomes 501(c)(3): In the fall of 2008, Judd Foundation adopted a Strategic Plan outlining the activities and goals of the Foundation, affirming its mission and implementation strategies. Accordingly and in order to achieve the goals outlined in the Strategic Plan Judd Foundation terminated its Private Operating Foundation status and is now registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) Public Charity under an advance ruling period.

Grants

The Foundation has been able to raise new funds for a number of its programs: from the National Endowment for the Arts for a conservation position; a first time grant from the Wellspring Foundation in order to film additional interviews for the ongoing Oral History Project; and from the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund for Historic Interiors of the National Trust for Historic Preservation for research toward interpreting the collection at 10 Spring Street, New York.

Recent Projects: Judd Furniture

Judd Furniture installed at the Farmer's Market, Marfa, Texas.  A project completed in partnership with Tim Crowley.

Recent Press

New York Times: "T" magazine design issue, April 19, 2009
"Don't Knock It", Pilar Viladas

http://www.nytimes.com/indexes/2009/04/19/style/t/index.html#pageName

Artinfo.com, May 08, 2009
"Judd Foundation Wins Support..."

http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/31372

ArtDaily.org, May 08, 2009
"Judd Foundation Receives Unanimous Support..."

http://www.artdaily.com/portadas/09-05-08.jpg

Art Forum.com, May 08, 2009
"Judd Foundation to Restore 101 Spring St."

Financial Times, May 9, 2009
"Gaze and Graze", Mark Ellwood

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/e4189e54-3a9b-11de-8a2d-00144feabdc0.html

Artnet.com. May 29, 2009
"Artnet Design", Brook S. Mason

http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/reviews/reviews.asp

New York Times, June 7, 2009
"Artists in Designers' Clothing", Alice Rawsthorn

www.nytimes.com/2009/06/08/fashion/08iht-design8.html?scp=1&sq=artists%20in%20designers%20clothing&st=cse

Endless Vacation Magazine, July/August 2009
"Artful Lodgings", Tony Perottet

A Magazine #9, Summer 2009
Curated by Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough
"8 Untitled Works, Marfa, Texas"

Recent Talks

February 13, 2009:
Board President Rainer Judd participated in the Glass House’s first 2009 conversation, The Power of Place, which reflected on destinations that warrant global pilgrimages. Participants included Craig Barton, Department of Architecture and Landscape, University of Virginia; James Carpenter, James Carpenter Design Associate Inc.; Eames Demetrios, Eames Foundation; Dorothy Dunn, Director of Visitor Experience + Fellowships Philip Johnson Glass House; Christy MacLear, Executive Director Philip Johnson Glass House; Richard D. Story, Editor, Departures magazine American Express; Calvin Tsao, Tsao & McKown; Lynda Waggoner, Fallingwater. The discussion was moderated by Laurie Beckelman of Beckelman+Capalino, LLC.

http://www.philipjohnsonglasshouse.org/programs/conversations/

February 2, 2009:
The Whitney Museum of American Art Director’s Council hosted The Art Of Responsibility: A Panel Discussion on Artists Estates. Judd Foundation Executive Director Barbara Hunt McLanahan joined Alexander S.C. Rower, Chairman and Director of the Calder Foundation; Magda Salvensen, Curator of the Jon Schueler Estate; Peter Stevens, Executive Director of The Estate of David Smith; Michael Stout, President, The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation; and Joel Wachs, President of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, in discussing the topic. Barbara Haskell, Whitney Curator, moderated.

October 19, 2008:
To celebrate an exhibition of furniture by both Donald Judd and Josef Hoffmann in Hoffmann's house in the Czech Republic, Flavin Judd delivered a lecture called "1, 2, ∞". The house is the childhood home of Hoffmann and the event was part of a new exhibition series launched by MAK in Vienna, Austria. After the lecture there was a roundtable discussion with Judd, Peter Noever, Director MAK Vienna; and Marek Pokorný, Director of the Moravska galerie in Brno, Czech Republic. Jana Tichá, Chief Editor of Zlatý rez, the Czech architecture magazine, moderated. The Hoffmann house in Brtnice is open to the public and contains original fixtures and furniture of Josef Hoffmann. The birthplace of Josef Hoffmann is the property of the town of Brtnice, and since January 1st, 2006 it has been under the administration of the Moravian Gallery in Brno.

The Josef Hoffmann Museum is a joint branch of the Moravská Galerie in Brno and the MAK, Vienna.

Related Links:

http://www.mak.at/e/jetzt/f_jetzt.htm

http://www.zlatyrez.cz