Denny Park Fine Arts workers clean the "Fiesta Tower" glass sculpture, created by artist Dale Chihuly, at Central Library. The publice art piece, which was installed at the downtown library branch in 2003, contains more than 900 individual glass pieces that need to be cleaned by hand.
Sam Owens/San Antonio Express-News
San Antonio Express-News
Deborah Martin, Staff writer
The recent renovations at the Central Library downtown left dust in the intricate nooks and crannies of “Fiesta Tower,” the library’s beloved Dale Chihuly glass sculpture.
When library staffers noticed, they alerted the San Antonio Public Library Foundation. The foundation, which commissioned “Fiesta Tower” to mark the library’s 2003 centennial, takes care of its maintenance. That includes raising the money for cleaning. This time around, it cost $12,000.
“We reach out to donors that we know are very interested in art,” said Amy Hone, executive director of the foundation.
The foundation also makes the arrangements for the cleaning.
“It doesn’t happen very often,” said Scott Williams, marketing manager for the library. “The last time it was cleaned was in 2017. It requires people that are certified by Chihuly’s studio to come here and clean.”
A two-man crew from Seattle-based Denny Park Fine Arts spent all day Monday and Tuesday morning on the project. Caring for works by Chihuly, whose distinctive glass pieces can be found around the world, is one of the company’s specialties.
They used Swiffer-like wands, pieces of cloth and a mild glass cleaner to get the job done.
“What they’re doing is going around each individual piece of glass and also reaching into the sculpture which, as you can imagine, is very precarious, and just cleaning all the way around each individual piece of glass,” Williams said. “There are 917 of those on the sculpture, and so they have to do every single one, one at a time, by hand until the whole thing is cleaned.”
The task requires tremendous care and specific techniques to make sure that none of those precious, swooping pieces of glass are damaged.
“It’s specialized,” Williams said. “I could shove a Swiffer in there, but I would definitely destroy this $1 million piece.”
The crew worked mostly while the library was open, so they had an audience.
“Especially for people who use the Central Library regularly, you’re used to seeing this sculpture. You are not used to seeing people touch it,” Williams said. “So it’s quite attention-getting.”
"Fiesta Tower" was deconstructed for a 2010 construction project at the library. This time around, renovations took place on the first and third floors, so the tower was left intact on its second-floor perch. The library was closed while some of that work was being done, but that didn’t stop visitors from stopping by to see “Fiesta Tower.” Whenever possible, library staffers would escort them inside, Williams said.
They’re big fans of the piece, too.
“We really cherish it,” he said. “It is the beating heart of this building.”