Artist asks judge to block demolition of Iowa art project

A New York artist is seeking a temporary injunction to block the planned demolition of a 30-year-old outdoor art installation in Des Moines.

The installation at Greenwood Park — which consists of a pavilion and walkways surrounding a pond — was commissioned by the Des Moines Art Center in 1994 and was designed by New York artist Mary Miss. Greenwood Park is located just south of Grand Avenue and the art center.

In 2023, the art center announced that because the installation had fallen into disrepair, it posed a threat to public safety and would be demolished due to the high cost of repairs and ongoing maintenance. Since then, Greenwood Park neighbors and individuals within the art community have protested the decision.

On Thursday, Miss filed a lawsuit against the art center in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. In her lawsuit, Miss asserts that her 1994 contract with the center provides that the installation cannot be intentionally modified or damaged by the art center without her express approval.

The lawsuit argues that while the city is contractually obligated to protect the installation from the ravages of time and weather, those same two threats to the project are now being used to justify the demolition in violation of the Visual Arts Rights Act of 1990. That law, which is part of the federal copyright law, provides artists with certain rights in preventing the destruction of works of “recognized stature” even when ownership of the works has been transferred to others.

“The project is an original work of art and cannot be found anywhere else on planet Earth,” the lawsuit states. “Its destruction is its extinction.”

In addition to the injunction, the lawsuit also seeks the recover damages of up to $150,000 for the planned intentional destruction of Miss’ work. It also seeks unspecified damages for breach of contract.

The art center has yet to file a response to the lawsuit.

A court hearing on the temporary injunction is scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday.

The center has said it plans to begin work next week on enclosing the pond and one section of the surrounding trail with fencing, after which the city will drain the pond and redirect the water to the Raccoon River. As part of the planned project, the boulders, walkways, enclosures and bridges will be disassembled and removed over a period of three months.

This article first appeared in the Iowa Capital Dispatch.