DES MOINES, Iowa – A nationally renowned piece of outdoor art will be removed from a pond in a Des Moines park under a settlement announced Tuesday, ending a legal battle between the New York artist who created the work decades ago, and a local arts center that argued it might not be able to afford the necessary renovations to the site.
Under the settlement, the Des Moines Art Center will pay $900,000 to artist Mary Mees, who will end efforts to block the removal of her work Greenwood Pond: Double Site. The art center will remove the work as soon as possible, although the effort may be delayed due to Iowa’s cold winter weather.
Miss and the art center agreed as part of the agreement not to disparage each other, but the leader of the organization that sought to preserve the artwork expressed frustration at the wait for it to be removed.
Charles A. Birnbaum, president and CEO of The Cultural Landscape Foundation, said in a statement that what happened to the work could and should have been prevented.
However, he said, “the institution that commissioned the environmental sculpture for its permanent collection appears to have failed to properly custodian and steward this widely known and influential work of art, which is its primary function and responsibility.”
Greenwood Pond: Double Site was completed in 1996 on the banks of a pond in a historic city park west of downtown Des Moines. Located down the hill from the art center, the artwork consists of wooden walkways, shelters and viewing platforms that encourage people to see and interact with nature.
Although known locally as a spot for picnics and family photos, the piece was celebrated nationally and seen as the pinnacle of Mies’ career, a rare female artist in the male-dominated field of landscape architecture.
Since its creation, this mostly wooden work of art has needed periodic repairs due to Iowa’s cold winters and hot, humid summers. However, Mies was surprised when the art center blocked access to some pieces of the work in early 2024, then told her they would be removed due to multimillion-dollar renovation and maintenance costs.
Mees expressed optimism that the work could be saved, and she eventually filed a lawsuit to block its removal, noting that her contract with the art center required her consent to tear down the structures.
“I would be shocked if it was just ripped out,” Miss said in February 2024. – He does not deserve it. People don’t deserve this to happen.”
In a statement following the settlement, Mies said she hoped the dispute would foster closer ties between artists, communities and cultural institutions. Mees will be the first donor to the new Community Art Support Fund, created by The Cultural Landscape Foundation to highlight and preserve landscape art.
The art center released a statement confirming the settlement, but did not respond to a request for details on the timing of the artwork’s removal. The center previously announced plans for a roughly three-month process of bringing heavy equipment to the site, draining the reservoir to provide infrastructure access and building new tracks.
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