DES MOINES, Iowa — An artist says she is "shocked" that the Des Moines Art Center had decided to tear down the boardwalk and pavilion at Greenwood Park that she helped design.
The Des Moines Art Center said in a letter to artist Mary Miss on Wednesday that her piece at the park, Greenwood Pond: Double Site, would be "deinstalled and removed from its current location" this year.
Greenwood Pond was installed at the park in 1996. In the years since its installation, however, the Des Moines Art Center says the structure has become "severely compromised" and now poses a threat to public safety, according to a structural review of the site.
"The best course of action, therefore, is to deinstall Greenwood Pond before even more of it falls into disrepair, endangering the safety of visitors to a popular public park that is frequented by children, adults and pets and that is in close proximity to a school, a public swimming pool, and a major bike trailhead," the Art Center said in a letter to Miss.
Miss said she first heard of the Art Center's concerns in late October 2023, and spoke with the director about said concerns in November.
At the time, Miss believed it was just the beginning of a discussion on how they would move forward. But by December, Miss said the Art Center informed her the work would be removed.
"The statement that they're making that they've given me ample opportunity for feedback and that they've been in touch with me about this is just really misleading, very misleading," Miss said. "This was a six-week non-discussion when this all transpired. I'm really shocked, I'm sad."
The Des Moines Art Center said in its letter to Miss that while it has been maintaining the structures for decades, the level of work needed to restore Greenwood Pond goes beyond "reasonable maintenance". In addition, the Art Center said remaking the work would be "prohibitively expensive".
Miss, however, expressed confusion over these claims. Both Miss and the Art Center confirmed the structure underwent a partial repair project in 2015. Miss says at that point, the Des Moines Art Center and Miss worked to raise money for the maintenance - an option that was never provided to her this time around.
"If it was restored nine years ago, why is it now considered irreparable?" Miss said, also adding, "Just as you have to maintain your house or your car or your boat or your clothing or your body, this work needed to be maintained regularly."
Over the years, Miss said she has seen the ways in which female artists have been uplifted after decades of underappreciation. To her, the removal of Greenwood Pond is a step backward.
"I have male colleagues who are considered masters at this point," she said. "Would their work be removed, taken out? I somehow really doubt it."
Miss hopes that voicing her concerns over the removal of Greenwood Pond will lead to further conversations between her and the Des Moines Art Center.
"I understand as an institution the museum feels like it has to take this position. I would like them to reconsider that position," Miss said. "I would really like to be able to work with them to find a path forward."
The Cultural Landscape Foundation, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit, issued a statement on the removal of the structure, saying the decision to tear down Greenwood Pond "raises numerous legal and ethical issues".
The Des Moines Art Center also issued a statement to Local 5, saying in part:
"The Art Center has devoted considerable resources to Greenwood Pond: Double Site over many years, from the original commission to the present day, and it regrets very much that this outdoor environment has deteriorated to the point where multiple elements are unsafe to remain open to the public and are no longer salvageable. We appreciate that this is very difficult for Mary Miss, and we are committed to doing all that we can to honor both her legacy and the legacy of the remarkable Greenwood Pond: Double Site."
The Des Moines Art Center declined to speak further with Local 5 about the removal of Greenwood Pond, writing, "At this time, we are issuing the statement only and declining interviews."
You can read the full statement from the Des Moines Art Center here.