JESUS MOROLES’ LIGHTHOUSE FOUNTAIN TO BE DISMANTLED

(ROCKPORT, TX.) In the fall of 2018 structural engineers retained by Rockport Center for the Arts’ fine arts insurance company identified problems with the internal armature that supports the 21 foot monument made of red granite. The Art Center hired Moroles Art Co. earlier in 2018 to provide a condition report on the monument.  Lighthouse Fountain was commissioned in 2002. A condition report had never been procured since its installation.  In late August 2017, staff performed a condition report of every piece of art in the Sculpture Garden collection.  This was repeated in early September of 2017 with an insurance adjuster.  Staff and Moroles Art Co. were aware of the detailed installation plan conducted by Jesús Moroles in 2002. 

One of the immediate concerns for staff and insurance adjusters was assessing the condition of the sculpture’s interior.  “Because Jesús, the author of this important work, was deceased and because we had no access to his installation annotations we immediately turned to Moroles Art Co. and we asked them to conduct a thorough inspection,” states Luis Purón, Executive Director.  Both principals of Moroles Art Co. were engaged in the installation of Lighthouse Fountain in 2002; and since the hurricane, had handled a variety of conservation efforts for the Art Center, most notably the restoration of one of the three columns in another Moroles monument – Spirit Columns, which resides on the banks of Little Bay. 

A more thorough inspection would require that someone enter the inner vessel of the sculpture to inform, with photographs, the condition report. What was discovered was a steel armature that had suffered significant deterioration due to age, and extreme weather conditions; including the hurricane event of 2017.  Moroles Art Co.’s recommendation was that the structure should be taken down in order to preserve the work. The other finding was that the steel armature will continue to degrade over time and is not longer effective in providing the support the sculpture requires.  The insurance company and the structural engineers that performed a similar assessment rendered the same finding.  Once the monument is dismantled, the steel armature will be assessed so that a new one can be built.

The team at Moroles Art Co. is comprised of Suzanna Moroles and Kurt Kangas who worked with Jesús Moroles in all of his major monument installations.  Suzanna Moroles states, “Lighthouse Fountain, dedicated in 2002, is a very important work in Moroles’ career and we are honored to be able to work with Rockport Center for the Arts to preserve the work.  This is what Jesús would have wanted.” She adds, “The staff and board at Rockport Center for the Arts have worked diligently to make certain this work is preserved.  Without these efforts, we feel the sculpture may have been lost at some point.”

After being dismantled, the sculpture will go into temporary storage, until it is ready to be moved to its new location - the Art Center’s downtown campus.  A larger Sculpture Garden that will house works in the collection has been conceptualized for the new facility. 

About Jesús Bautista Moroles’ Lighthouse Fountain

In Lighthouse Fountain Moroles has immortalized the spirit of comforting strength, powerful gentleness, and graceful beauty which make the Live Oak Peninsula distinctive.  The representative work of Moroles' signature red granite from Fredericksburg stands twenty one fee tall and symbolizes a lighthouse as water quietly slips down its grooved sides.  The commission of this Moroles piece was made possible by a major contribution from Frances Brockett of Louisiana and a grant from The Brown Foundation of Houston.  Members of the Rockport community made valuable contributions to make this sculpture a reality for Rockport Center for the Arts’ permanent collection.  Rockport Center for the Arts has three additional Moroles works in its collection: Interlocking (1991); Spirit Columns (1998); and Texas Stele Fountain.  The latter was a gift from the Rockport Country Club and is out for conservation due to damages suffered during the hurricane of 2017.