Mural conservation is the specialized practice of preserving and restoring large-scale artworks that are integral to architectural spaces, often reflecting cultural, historical, or social significance. This process involves assessing and addressing both the visual and structural integrity of murals, ensuring that the artwork remains vibrant and stable for future generations. Conservation efforts include cleaning, repairing, and sometimes reconstructing sections of the mural, all while adhering to principles of reversibility and minimal intervention to respect the original artist’s intent. Through careful conservation, murals continue to enrich public and private spaces, serving as lasting legacies of our collective heritage.
Evaluating and treating historic murals by formally trained conservators is essential to preventing irreversible damage. Our expert team brings extensive experience from conserving and restoring many of the most iconic and significant murals in America. This expertise informs our deep understanding of how murals interact within architectural spaces and public contexts.
EverGreene’s conservators have been entrusted with the preservation of murals in numerous landmark civic, institutional, and sacred spaces across the nation. Our work includes masterpieces by artists such as Edwin Blashfield, Kenyon Cox, Gonippo Raggi, renowned WPA artists, and more contemporary figures.
In our conservation process, we don’t just focus on the painted surface; we also address issues with mural substrates, such as canvas and plaster. A critical aspect of our approach is ensuring that any new painting, whether filling areas of paint loss or restoring the artwork to its original appearance, is applied in a reversible manner. This allows for the complete removal of previous treatments that may have aged poorly, without harming the original work. By approaching each project with a conservation mindset, even murals in a deteriorated state can be preserved for future generations.
Revelation & Conservation Of Hidden Murals
On two occasions, EverGreene was able to reveal overpainted murals that were hidden for decades, and thought to be lost.
St. Aloysius Church, Bowling Green, OH
Testing determined overpainted Felix Lieftucher murals (Keim paint on textured plaster) was sufficiently resilient to retrieve using gentle water-based liquid solvents. Microscopy identified historic colors, an isolating varnish was applied, and areas of loss in-painted with reversible conservation paints.
Sherry-Netherland Hotel, New York, NY
The stunning original mural from the 1920s had been hidden for decades underneath layers of white paint and other non-historic finishes until it was brought back to its original appearance by our conservators.
