AIC's 45th Annual Meeting

ARG Conservation Services (ARG/CS) was contracted by the 500 Capp Street Foundation to perform exterior and interior conservation work of a vacant residence constructed circa 1880 at 500 Capp Street, San Francisco, CA, while it underwent seismic retrofitting, elevator access, and building additions to be converted into a mansion-museum and gallery space. What sets this residence apart from the other Victorian residences in the rapidly gentrifying Latino neighborhood of the Mission District, is that it was once inhabited by famous contemporary artist David Ireland during the 1970-80s. Ireland had filled the house with his artwork and had finished all the walls and floors using commercial products of his time that have since then been discontinued. This presentation will discuss how ARG/CS approached the de-installation, packaging, storage, and re-installation of contemporary artwork, and the conservation treatments performed on Ireland's contemporary interior finishes with a focus on the lustrous ocher-colored varnished walls, which are unique and characteristic to 500 Capp Street. Conservation work of interior finishes was done room-by-room and coordinated with contractors on site doing seismic retrofitting, electrical, and building additions. Each room was sectioned off with protection and contained to prevent the transmission of dust and workers on site from accidently touching conservation work. Prior to conservation work, all contemporary artwork that could be removed was carefully assessed, recorded, dismantled, and stored. Artwork that could not be removed was assessed, recorded, and provided protection in-situ. Conservation work consisted of carefully dry cleaning all the walls of general soiling that had built up over the years. Selective wet cleaning was performed on areas with heavier staining and soiling. Areas with holes were re-plastered and in-painted to match the surrounding walls. Cracks were stabilized by injection grouting. Lastly, walls were re-varnished using an oil-based varnish similar to what Ireland may have used. The selected varnish had to be manipulated in application to mimic the high VOC (no longer legal in California) and slow setting time of the oil-based varnish used by Ireland. Varnish was applied quickly using rollers that left behind a mirror-like finish that did not detract from Ireland's brush strokes and marks. Floors were also finished in a high-gloss oil-based varnish as they had been historically. Once the conservation work of the interior finishes had been completed, stored artwork was re-installed. Re-installation depended on careful documentation of the artwork's conditions, locations, and positioning prior to de-installation. Re-installation was coordinated with the 500 Capp St. Foundation and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA). Interior spaces were acclimatized to receive artwork on loan from the SFMOMA.