• SCRIPPS TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS • SATURDAY, JULY 5, 2008 •

PAGE 1

 BEHIND THE SCENES

 BY PETER PRINGLE

Correspondent

VERO BEACH - They say that beauty is

in the eye of the beholder.

The thousands of annual visitors to the

Vero Beach Museum of Art see it in the

hundreds of works displayed in the crowd-

end exhibition schedule.

But conservator Jim Liccione sees beau-

ty in one object at a time. On this day, it's

Jane Manus' sculpture "The End of the

-Day" from the museum's permanent col-

lection. In the bright and airy prep area

that doubles as a shipping and receiving

bay, the 20-year employee is applying his

considerable restoration skills to the once-

rusting piece.

"After being displayed outdoors at a pri-

vate home for some years, it was gifted to

us," said Jennifer Bailey Forbes, curator of

exhibitions and collections. "It had suf-

fered significant deterioration."

Liccione, who has primary responsibility-

ty for the indoor and outdoor sculptures, at-

tributes much of the deterioration to the cli-

mate and salt air. "We expect to renovate out-

door pieces every five years," he said. "It can

be a costly and time-consuming process."

He has completed the rust removal and

the priming. All that remains is the apply-

cation of the finishing coat, a job that the

sculptor and former New York film indus-

try metalworker expects to wrap up in a

few days.

Liccione is one of a small team of

behind-the-scenes museum professionals

whose work goes largely unnoticed by vis-

itors, but whose contributions are ap-

plaudedby executive director and CEO Dr.

Lucinda Gedeon.

See MUSEUM, page E2

E2 • SCRIPPS TREASURE COAST NEWSPAPERS •

MUSEUM

FROM PAGE El

Behind the curtain

Rehabilitating art - and getting it ready for display -

is an ongoing process at Vero Beach museum

Jennifer Bailey Forbes, curator of the Vero Beach Museum of Art, inspects the sculpture PHOTO NOT INCLUDED

after Liccione, left, spray painted the piece.

"They are the glue of the

organization, the unsung

heroes," she said. "They

don't get nearly enough

praise."

Mostly, they work be-

hind closed and unmarked

doors, like chief preparator

Larry. Eishen and preparer-

tor Brent Von Ende. Their

base of operations is the

carpentry shop, where ex-

hibition preparation oc-

curs. It's here that deci-

sions on layout, lighting

and all design-related art

handling details are made,

and walls, platforms and

pedestals are designed and

built.

But not on this day. The

shop's machines are shiny

and the workbenches free

of clutter.