‘History of Vandalism’ is subject of premiere virtual lecture

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In the first of their popular First Friday Lecture Series to be offered online, the Jefferson County Historical Society will begin a series of offerings focusing on women’s voices, experiences and innovations. 

Programs will be livestreamed via Zoom on the first Friday of each month at 7 p.m. from August through November. 

The first topic on tap: “A Brief History of Vandalism (and what conservators can do to help promote equity in public art)” with Rosa Lowinger, Chief Conservator and CEO of RLA Conservation of Art + Architecture on Friday,
Aug. 7.

The New Oxford American dictionary defines vandalism as both “an action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property,” and as “a deliberate, unauthorized act that is intentional and done in order to alter, make a mark in or purposely damage art, architecture or public places.”

Using the basic research Lowinger began at the American Academy in Rome in 2009, she will look at the different ways in which vandalism impacts works of art and how it impacts the role of conservators in preserving art and historic buildings.

This examination, society officials said, is particularly relevant today amidst conversations around Confederate monuments, street art, and public iconography.

Lowinger is a Fellow of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, and the 2008-2009 Rome Prize Fellow in Conservation at the American Academy in Rome, where she conducted a pilot project researching the history of vandalism to public art and public space. 

Her career in public art conservation began in 1988 with the treatment of works at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, and continued with the first survey of public art for the city of Los Angeles in 1995. 

She presently serves as a consultant to more than two dozen public art agencies and the Getty Conservation Institute’s Outdoor Painted Sculpture Initiative, a forum that aims to codify the aesthetics and conservation protocols for care of painted sculpture, and is the author of “Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub.” 

There is a suggested donation of $10 to view the presentation. Visit www.jchsmuseum.simpletix.com/e/55902 to learn more and register. 

The remainder of the series will include such diverse topics and speakers as: “Washington’s Undiscovered Feminists” with Mayumi Tsutakawa (Sept. 4); “Food Resilience; Feeding Community” with Crystie Kisler
(Oct. 2); and a life performance by Grace Love (Nov. 6). 

Visit www.jchsmuseum.org to learn more.