The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Foundation has destroyed "Standing Red," a sculpture that stood outside the museum in Little Rock's MacArthur Park for more than 50 years.
The removal and disposal of the sculpture, dedicated to former Arkansas first lady Jeannette Rockefeller, was done in February according to Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Executive Director Victoria Ramirez. The disappearance of "Standing Red" prompted questions from the public as the museum did not initially disclose what happened to the sculpture.
Ramirez, who also serves as secretary on the museum's foundation board of directors, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Monday the board decided to have the sculpture disposed of because it was in bad shape and would have been too costly to repair. The sculpture material was recycled, Ramirez said.
The board made the decision to dispose of the sculpture instead of selling it, figuring there would be no market for it. Fine arts broker Sotheby's appraised the sculpture at $1,500 in 1991, Ramirez said.
"That's where it was determined that the cost to conserve it, move it, light it was not in keeping with our collection's policy, given the value of the work itself," Ramirez said.
The value when the museum foundation acquired it was $10,000. Ramirez said the museum foundation does not know how that value was obtained, speculating it was a declared value made by the artist.
"Standing Red" was a more than 25-foot sculpture by artist Tal Streeter. The sculpture had a minimalist design and was made of red steel beams that formed a T-shape at the base and a 25- to 30-foot beam that extended upward where the base beams intersected.
People began to notice that "Standing Red" was gone from MacArthur Park in the weeks after its removal, prompting questions from the public about its fate. The museum did not respond to inquires about sculpture from the public as many wondered what happened to it.
Earlier this month, Ramirez told the Democrat-Gazette the museum's foundation had decided to "deaccession" the sculpture, meaning it was removed from the museum's collection. Since March 2019, Ramirez said, the museum foundation has deaccessioned 276 works of art -- a number she said was higher than usual -- reflecting a need to do so before moving into the museum's new building, which is under construction. She said the foundation has acquired 726 works since 2019.
From 2019-2021, the Foundation looked into the cost to conserve and repaint the sculpture.
The foundation was hesitant to sell or donate the sculpture, as buyers weren't likely to be available, and the cost to restore and move "Standing Red" would have been too high, she said. Ramirez said the sculpture was in need of repairs that would have cost $37,147 and $33,858, according to two different estimates.
To permanently install "Standing Red" would have incurred expenses for relocating, concrete bases, armatures and lighting.
"In our experience, knowing the cost it was going to take to move it, knowing the cost it would take to conserve it, paint it, relocate it -- there were no options that came to mind to us," Ramirez said.
Throughout the process, the foundation board said it followed its policy on deaccession.
Ramirez is one of nine on the foundation's board of directors. The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Foundation is a nonprofit that owns the 14,000 works of art found in the museum. The foundation has say over what items make it into the collection and manages the endowment's investments.
Little Rock investment banker Warren Stephens, who chairs the foundation's board of directors, and Robena "Ben" Hussman, the foundation board's vice chair, could not be reached for comment Monday. Robena "Ben" Hussman is the wife of Walter E. Hussman Jr., publisher of the Democrat-Gazette.
For weeks, many wondered what happened to the beloved statue as people started to notice it was gone. Jim Pfeifer, an architect who runs the History of the Heights Facebook page, posted on April 13 about the sculpture's mysterious disappearance.
Pfeifer asked the museum about the fate of "Standing Red," but was repeatedly rebuffed, he said.
"Perhaps if there was a convincing reason they would have accepted that. Instead the museum stonewalled [and] refused to answer for weeks and weeks," Pfeifer said.
Leon Kaplan, former assistant to the director of the Arkansas Arts Center from 1971 to 1980, wrote an opinion piece published in the Democrat-Gazette Monday criticizing the museum's foundation for lack of transparency about the move, writing: "It behooves said leadership to be more transparent, to explain itself, and to do better."
"It is imperative that the museum take steps to regain its credibility and the public trust," Kaplan wrote.
Accredited museums typically follow a set of procedures and ethics polices when deciding to deaccession an item from its collection, considering a number of factors including its quality and whether it fits into the museum's mission.
Sometimes deaccessioned items are sold and in rare cases they may be destroyed, said Michael Warrick, a professor of sculpture at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
"It's very unusual, but it's not unheard of," Warrick said.
Warrick said the reputation of the artist and the quality of the work are the two main factors museums consider when deciding whether to deaccession a piece.
Currently, the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts is undergoing a $142 million expansion and renovation project with plans to open in the fall of 2022. Until recently, it seemed that the sculpture had been in the museum's plans for the future, according to the museum's website.
Earlier this month, the museum's website included a reference to the sculpture in a post about what visitors may see when they tour the museum when it opens in the fall of 2022, saying "American sculptor Tal Streeter's monumental, minimalist steel composition, Standing Red, sparks curiosity and enlivens the landscape" in MacArthur Park. The following day, reference to "Standing Red" had been removed from the post.
For some Little Rock residents, "Standing Red" was a piece of public art that served as a conversation piece for those strolling around MacArthur Park and something to climb on for kids.
The sculpture was a landmark in MacArthur Park for more than five decades and was dedicated to Jeannette Rockefeller, long-time promoter of the arts in Arkansas.
In the 1950s Rockefeller was instrumental in expanding the fine arts museum -- then known as the Arkansas Arts Center -- helping to add to its collection. In 1960, Rockefeller became president of the Arkansas Arts Center board of trustees, where she served for eight years.
The foundation moved to dismantle and dispose of "Standing Red," in consultation with and agreement by a member of the Rockefeller family, and the museum has plans to honor Jeannette Rockefeller in the future, Ramirez said.
In 1970, Little Rock and museum officials dedicated the sculpture to Rockefeller, choosing it in part because, as a piece of minimalist art, it had no specific meaning behind it.
"It is," the Little Rock Mayor Haco Boyd said in describing the sculpture.
"Standing Red" is not the only sculpture with a home in Little Rock to have been moved. "Large Standing Figure: Knife Edge" by renowned British artist Henry Moore has been moved for cleaning and repairs, Ramirez said.
The sculpture, which used to be located at the corner of Capitol Avenue and Louisiana Street in downtown Little Rock, will be moved to MacArthur Park to a spot close to the new museum building when it opens, Ramirez said.