Parma’s large space and high ceilings, large vacuum tables, and custom-built support structures accommodate artworks of extreme dimensions at the laboratory. Much of work takes place on-site and “in situ” where historic murals reside. Working from coast-to-coast, we set up mobile laboratories anywhere our services are needed.
Church Murals
Church mural conservation is offered by Parma as an on-location service. Candle soot and time can obscure the intended luminosity all church artworks. These accretions can be cleaned, often revealing beauty that hasn’t been glimpsed in decades.
Post Office Murals
Between 1934 and 1943 the Treasury Section of Fine Art was established to commission artwork in newly constructed Federal Post Offices and Courthouses. Mural contracts were awarded based on national and regional art competitions. Only the best artists were selected for these mural projects.
To date, Parma has conserved more than two hundred post office murals nationwide.
Blackstone Memorial Library
The Blackstone Memorial Library houses one of the jewels of Chicago’s artistic past; a small cupola of magnificent murals painted by the celebrated artist, Oliver Dennett Grover. In 2009, Parma brought the historic murals back to their original beauty by removing a furniture varnish that was applied in 1958. It removal revealed the true intention of the artist and details that had not been seen for decades.
The Field Museum Murals
Charles Knight is the artist known for fleshing out the bones of long-extinct species. In the 1920’s he painted 25 murals for Chicago’s Field Museum. In 2004, Parma was hired to conserve them. The cleaning reversed decades of veiling grime that had accumulated.