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Artwork in Cedar Rapids takes a hit, inside and out

By Loren Keller

The theme of this year's CSPS/Legion Arts 2x2xU outdoor art display in the New Bohemia neighborhood of Cedar Rapids was sadly prescient: "The River."

Many of the 90 pieces of art created on two-foot by two-foot pieces of plywood and hung mostly along Third Street and Tenth Avenue SE have been washed away or otherwise damaged by the Cedar River floodwaters, which surged to 10 and a half feet in the CSPS building at 1103 Third St. last Thursday. Some pieces were salvaged and a few others remain hanging.

"We're asking artists not to take them down, because anything you have up is a positive reminder that something survived," says Mel Andringa, who along with John Herbert founded the CSPS arts organization 18 years ago. "If it's missing, it's another loss that we have."

'Like a bomb was dropped'

The 2x2xU boards are just a fraction of the damage sustained by the Cedar Rapids arts community when flooding struck this month. The National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library (NCSML), which sits adjacent the Cedar River at 30 16th Ave. SW, suffered perhaps the most severe and heartbreaking flood damage. Aerial photos taken when floodwaters were highest showed the building's distinctive red roof poking out not far above the waterline.

"It's like a bomb was dropped," says Gail Naughton, President/CEO of the NCSML.

The Czech Republic's consul general, Marek Skolil, toured the devastated building yesterday along with a U.S. correspondent for the Czech News Agency CTK.

"Prague had a terrible flood in 2002 -- a very unprecedented and unexpected flood, kind of like this one," Naughton says. "They remember what it was like to muck out, and have to throw everything away, and not have power, and all the things that go with this level of a disaster. So they really in their hearts know what we're dealing with. There was a outpouring of support from the United States for Prague and the Czech Republic at the time. They remember that also."

Prior to being evacuated, museum workers and volunteers loaded two semitrucks full of artifacts and moved others to the attics in the museum and its collections facility. In addition to the two large exhibitions installed, the NCSML houses 9,000 artifacts in its museum and about 15,000 library items along with another 10,000 items in museum store.

Most of those items were saved; left behind were exhibition cases and materials, as well as some of the library's books.

"If we had two weeks notice, we probably couldn't have gotten everything out," Naughton says. "Structurally the building is sound but the damage to the building is in the millions of dollars, though I don't have the estimates yet. To replace the exhibitions and the cases you put artifacts in is millions of dollars alone."

Of the museum's collection of glass, china and crystal, "I think we had one broken item, a piece of china," Naughton says. "That was one thing about floodwater, it actually kind of cushioned those items. They're dirty and they need disinfected and cleaned, but they will be OK." About a quarter of the museum's textile collection was damaged; a team from the Chicago Conservation Center has completed initial treatment work and left yesterday.

Damaged library books were washed on site, packed into boxes and loaded onto a freezer truck. "They will be transported to Chicago to be freeze-dried. The process literally sucks all the moisture out of them, so they'll be coming back to us dry. Some might be in good enough condition that we won't have to do anything more."

'A museum is more than a building'

Across the river is the African American Museum of Cultural History, where, as in front of the Czech Museum, the huge piles of debris outside have only been getting higher.

"The museum took every precaution to safeguard its collection, and a number of historic treasures have been saved," director Thomas Moore posted on the museum's web site. The museum at 55 12th Ave. SE has lost telephone service and electricity and has canceled most of its June and July events, including the Legacy Golf Classic and Carver Camp.

Moore also reminds web site visitors that "a museum is more than a building. The Museum has built an incredible community of friends throughout Iowa, and we will continue to work to preserve and promote the African American heritage of our state."

'It blew the toilet out'

Floodwaters didn't reach the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, located four blocks from the Cedar River at 410 Third Ave. SE, but sewer drains backed up despite the museum's efforts to plug them and forced evacuation of the museum's 7,000-square-foot basement, which the museum used for art storage and exhibit preparations.

"It was such a powerful thing," says Terry Pitts, the museum's executive director. "It blew the toilet out, pipes just burst. It was an amazing backlash."

Conservators are now looking at about 200 pieces that have some minor water damage, Pitts said. Crew finished the initial cleaning of the museum's basement Saturday.

"The basement now is totally clean, pumped out and sanitized but it's also completely empty. We lost everything in the basement, all of our work benches and tools and supplies and wooden cases and plexiglass... and everything that exhibits go in," Pitts says. "We've thrown out I don't know how many dumpsters full."

Around 5,000 pieces of artwork were hastily moved from the basement to the museum's second floor -- and now museum workers face the huge task of taking inventory and moving it back. In the meantime, a temporary system is creating cool and dehumidified air that's being pumped into the museum's galleries.

"They'll be here until we get control of this back, which is at least three weeks before the steam system is on and we dehumidify," Pitts says. "We would like to reopen the first floor galleries, with our changing shows, by Labor Day. The Grant Wood Studio will open July 12, weekends only.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the second floor is closed for six to 12 months," he says. "We're guessing we have a $150,000 to $200,000 problem, which is nothing compared to the Czech Museum, but we don't have a bank reserve so it's a big issue for us. When we solve that problem, then we have to move all 5,000-plus pieces of art have to go back into the basement. They were brought upstairs from five locations in random fashion. that's a two-month process in itself."

The museum will put "The ESPY Collection" and “All-Stars: American Sporting Prints" collection (read the Buzz review here) back on display from Labor Day through late fall. "We will probably not be showing any of the permanent collection for the forseeable future," Pitts says.

'This is only a test'

At the CSPS building, the floodwaters reached all but five of the 23 steps that lead up to its second-floor gallery. A former fire station next door, which was in the process of being renovated and temporarily housed Andringa's art studio, was also flooded out. A second-floor apartment under the CSPS stage took on about an inch and a half of water.

"My new motto is: this is a test, only a test. We could be functioning here as an organization in two weeks if we had power and approval for occupancy," Andringa says. "We don't own the building so there's only so much we can do with volunteer labor because it's up to the landlord to decide how he's going to tackle building infrastructure -- the wiring, the plumbing, things like that."

But CSPS's ground-floor neighbors -- including Bob Jacoby's Third Street Resale, Network Computer Solutions and the Modern Gallery and Frame Shop, which was in the process of rehabilitating the space before moving in -- aren't likely to be back in business so quickly.

"Network Computer Solutions just moved in here," Andringa says. "The secretary spent weeks painting all of this a perfect shade of yellow, and then of course the water got up into the rafters of the ceiling."

As for the frame shop, "fortunately ninety percent of what he did was in the ceiling's electrical work, so he's in pretty good shape."

Hardest hit on the block was Jacoby's secondhand shop, which he expects to rebuild from almost scratch after eight-and-a-half years in business at the location.

"First of all they told me I was going to have 18 inches of floodwater in my shop so I started bringing things up 18 inches," Jacoby says. "Then they came by and said you're going to have two or three feet, so up higher it went. And then they came back and said well, you might have four or five feet, so I started bringing tables from home and put things on top of those tables. Evidently we missed that by about seven feet."

But Jacoby says he is determined to rebuild in the same spot.

"The landlord (Robert Prucha) is a fabulous man. I'm not going to leave him through a tragedy like this. I'm going to stay right here. I built this business with nothing and I'm just going to have to do it again," he says.

Future of New Bohemia District uncertain

Andringa worries about the long-term future of the neighborhood, known as the New Bohemia District.

"If all the frame structures in this neighborhood disappear-- there are all these little wooden houses, many of then 100 years old-- then you're going to have these big gaps. It's going to be like a smile with only the molars left... It's not attractive to new investment. It almost brings you back to the days when these were farms.

"This whole block across the street was going to be torn down anyway, and we were worried about that. we were worried about having the whole block empty and finding a developer."

Andringa's partner John Herbert visited New Orleans last weekend and talked with arts organizations there about how they dealt (and are still dealing) with the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

"It doesn't wash things clean, not at all," Andringa says of the floodwaters. "There's no cleanliness about it. But it does clean the slate as far as your priorities are concerned. And you can get a fresh look at things. The survivors in this are going to be the people who can look at their new situation and make a plan based on that, and not make their plan based on what they did before."

CSPS plans to stay put and make a go of it, Andringa says, noting that a recent $50,000 grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation of New York should help. "We feel a lot of support, especially outside of Eastern Iowa. Not every organization around has that same kind of national and international sense of support."

Grounds for Art sculptures accounted for

If there's is a bright spot on the downtown Cedar Rapids art scene, it may be that the Grounds for Art sculptures, installed at various locations in downtown Cedar Rapids this spring, sustained minimal damage. (Read the Buzz review here.)

"We have retrieved the majority of them," including the four-ton sculpture "War Horse," located about a block and a half away from where it was placed, says Quinn Pettifer, director of marketing for the Cedar Rapids Downtown District.

"They've all been accounted for, which is the important part."

Naughton, the President/CEO of the Czech Museum, says her organization wants to be part of the recovery of Cedar Rapids.

"There is never a time that you need your arts and culture more than at a time like this," Naughton says. "It takes you back to what's most important. It's our people, our heritage, and our culture. We can replace the other things, but we need to hang on to those."