Before the wrecking ball starts to swing at the Pershing Center later this year, a group of public arts advocates is trying to raise $3 million by the end of April to remove and relocate the iconic mural.
“We found a contractor that could take down the mural, clean each one of the more than 700,000 tiles, restore the areas that are missing and transport the mural to a new location in Lincoln, says Liz Shea-McCoy, who is spearheading the fundraising effort.
At the time of construction in the mid 1950’s, the mural was the largest work of its kind in the United States. She says they need to raise the $3 million by May 1 in order to initiate the two month process to remove the mural from the front of Pershing.
Shea-McCoy says an outdoor area at the Lancaster Event Center is one possibility for the mural. “We want to build a plaza in front of it with maybe some chairs, benches and picnic tables for families so they can look up at the mural, which will be brought down closer to eye level, so they can talk about what they see.”
She also wants educators to bring their students and have the mural be a springboard to artistic creativity. Donations to save, restore and install Pershing’s mural can be made online here