Dedicated to Preserving the Art and Legacy of Conceptual Artist Fernando Garcia

This blog is dedicated to preserving the life and art legacy of conceptual artist Fernando Garcia who died in 1988. There were so many artists lost during this terrible time from the AIDS virus. As a result of his untimely death, many of his artworks are held in private collections with very few pieces every coming to market and Fernando seems to have become forgotten. We can't let this happen as Fernando is the most influential Cuban- American conceptual artist of the 70s and 80s. He paved the way for other artists with large displays of conceptual art in public places, not to mention his performance art work with the " NADA" group (conceptual performance artists) which created original impromptu conceptual and performance art in public places like train stations, fronts of restaurants etc.
Since 2006, the project has been collecting photographs of Fernando's artwork held in private collections and documenting his two decade career as an artist and want to document every work of art produced in his lifetime. Please help us and send stories and photographs of Fernando's work for the Project so we can preserve the his memory and his art legacy.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Here is the first official word from Miami Dade Art In Public Places that the Fernando Garcia Hialeah Metro Rail Station "Making Purple" Would be restored!

( Reprinted from the Original Blog Archive)

“Making Purple”  to be restored by Miami-Dade Art in Public Places!
Here is the official word from Miami-Dade Art In Public Places on the restoration of ” Making Purple” public art piece. We need to monitor this process and make sure that the restoration becomes reality. I’ve copied and pasted the emails that I received from public official, Ivan Rodriquez including Bill Iverson’s assessment report.
On Mar 9, 2006, at 2:32 PM, Rodriguez, Ivan (APP) wrote:
Gary, please, check the brief statement below that Bill Iverson from my staff prepared at my request in order to respond to your recent e-mail. We concur with your assessment and enthusiasm over the significance of “Making Purple” and of Mr. Garcia’s contributions prior to his untimely passing. For quite some time we have been working on a plan to restore the piece and as you can see down below, we’re getting close. We can keep you posted as to our progress. Feel free to contact us at any time if you have questions or concerns or desire further information. Thanks for your interest in the work of this important artist.
Ivan
—–Original Message—–
From: Iverson, Bill (APP)
Sent: Wednesday, March 08, 2006 4:42 PM
To: Rodriguez, Ivan (APP)
Subject: Making Purple
Ivan:
Assessment Report on “Making Purple” by Fernando Garcia:
The artwork is in complete disrepair. I do not think the damage is storm related, it was not working prior to hurricane season. The neon had not been turned on in years, as early as 1990 it had not been working for a full year. As a test I had it turned on recently so we could get estimates and assess the viability of the electric circuits.
I also believe that some of the art will need to be redesigned; the timer mechanism was faulty and was probably the cause of many of the problems associated with this piece. I have had preliminary discussions regarding this with Nancy Clark who is the closest I’ve found to an executor for the artist’s estate.
We are still working on funds for this project. The money left over after the John Henry piece is relocated may be sufficient. It will be approximately $20,000 to repair, half of that cost being for scaffolding.
I have several nice images of this piece, we can make these available.
Thank you,
Bill
Bill Iverson
Miami-Dade Art in Public Places
111 NW 1st Street, Suite 610
Miami, FL 33128-1982
(305) 375-5362

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