National Endowment for the Arts Awards Laumeier Sculpture Park

On the heels of a successful Mother’s Day weekend , has been awarded a $100,000 Art Works grant by the National Endowment for the Arts. The park is one of two recipients in Missouri.

Laumeier will use the grant to conserve one of its signature works, “Untitled, 1984,” by Donald Judd. One of the concrete “topographic objects” has suffered from natural and human-caused degradation over the past 27 years. Laumeier, the Judd Foundation and experienced colleagues have developed a treatment designed to strengthen the sculpture’s foundation. They hope to halt continued fracturing, bowing and hardware leeching and separation.

The grant will help with the new 41-foot concrete base, which will be poured underground to support all three cubes. They then will float individually on 8x8 feet pads poured on top of the base. The new foundation, according to Laumeier representatives, hopefully will maintain the artist’s intentions by allowing the ground and air to flow between each of the units while ensuring the work’s longevity. The conservation project will take about 11 months to complete.

The NEA received 1,624 eligbile applications under the Art Works category and will award $24.81 million nationwide. Average granting amount to 788 not-for-profit organizations is $31,490.