Society for Industrial Archeology Newsletter (SIAN) Vol. 40, No. 3
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Volume 40 Summer 2011 Number 3 IA In Art The Urban Industrial Landscapes of Valeri Larko or more than two decades painter Valeri Larko the essence of a particular place and time.” has focused on the urban industrial landscape of Her subjects have included the full complement of struc- northern New Jersey and the outer boroughs of tures that are fundamental to the field of industrial archeol- New York City, especially the Bronx, Brooklyn, ogy—bridges, smoke stacks, factories, warehouses, decrepit F and Queens. The artist creates densely detailed piers and pilings, elevated railways, power plants, trans- and carefully observed canvases that capture the visual formers, cyclone separators, salvage yards, refineries, obso- poetry of decaying structures at the margins of urban life: lete oil terminals and storage tanks, and water towers—all “In these often overlooked areas I find grit and beauty in emblematic of our gritty cities. equal measures.” Drawn to the “jumble of rusting industrial Larko seeks sites with strong visual presences that also sites, aging infrastructure and funky waterways” that com- provide her with a good vantage point for her easel. She prise “the ruins of our contemporary culture,” in such ordi- makes pen-and-ink drawings, followed by oil sketches, nary places, she discovers “stories that reflect how we have before commencing the final painting. Characteristically, changed and continue to change the environment.” Larko Larko visits a site frequently over a period of two to three aims “not to copy everything exactly but instead to capture months. Because of the changing light, she works on one (continued on page 2) In This Issue: • Seattle Conference Review • IA Tours, Remote-Sensing Workshop, and more. • Minutes of the Annual Business Meeting • Richard Anderson, Jr.— General Tools Award Recipient • 2011 Industrial Heritage Grants Announced • IA Journal Seeks Book Review Editor • Cleveland Cliffs Mining Archive On-Line • Preston Glass Lab Seeks Help • Marie Nisser Remembered Valeri Larko, Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant, 2010, oil/linen, 25" ✕ 60", collection of the artist. Published by the Society for Industrial Archeology Department of Social Sciences, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan 49931-1295 IA In Art (continued from page 1) painting in the morning, and another in the afternoon. She In the winter months, she paints in her car, using the especially enjoys Sundays for painting outdoors: “The urban steering wheel as an easel. It is also a time to search out new places I frequent are much quieter on Sundays and there’s subject matter: “All the trees are bare so I can see things I tranquility to the city that is very appealing.” While the would have missed in the summer when the trees are in full majority of her paintings are completed on site, she periodi- leaf.” cally returns to her studio to study her progress and to adjust Larko’s paintings are inspired by both historic and con- values for indoor lighting. temporary structures. Bridges of all kinds intrigue her. The Painting on location is a critical part of her process, and reflective clarity of Kosciuszko Bridge (2009) presents a se- she prefers not to work from photographs. Conversations rene scene, the structure mirrored in the tranquil waters be- with those who either work or reside in these neighbor- low. The truss bridge constructed in 1939 spans Newtown hoods enhance her understanding of the site. Although no Creek, linking Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood with people appear in her paintings, human presence is implicit. Maspeth in Queens, making it a place “where urban culture Despite the challenges of working outside—“Dealing with and nature collide.” Larko’s disciplined compositions and fierce winds, bugs, intense sun some days, chilly temps on meticulous technique convey a surprisingly quiet grandeur other days, and unwanted attention by some passersby”— and dignified beauty. Curious about “the mystery of these any temporary difficulties she experiences are outweighed places and how they affect our lives without us knowing by the chance to explore new places. it,” her work is informed by a pastoral quietude; her broad panoramas set against blue skies with clouds translate the engaging optics of Vermeer’s tidy Dutch cityscape, View of Delft, Holland (c. 1660-61), into the modernist context of a The SIA Newsletter is published quarterly by the rusting machine age. Society for Industrial Archeology. It is sent to SIA Another subject from Greenpoint, Newtown Creek members, who also receive the Society’s journal, IA, Wastewater Treatment Plant (2010), represents the largest of published biannually. The SIA through its publica- the fourteen such facilities in New York. Originally built tions, conferences, tours, and projects encourages the in 1967, it underwent a large expansion in 2009, at which study, interpretation, and preservation of historically time a waterfront nature trail was developed. Its beautiful significant industrial sites, structures, artifacts, and and distinctive digester “eggs” clad in low reflective stain- technology. By providing a forum for the discussion less steel, are 145 ft. high and 80 ft. wide, and daily process and exchange of information, the Society advances an up to 1.5 million gallons of sludge. awareness and appreciation of the value of preserving Larko has also completed several public art pieces, in- our industrial heritage. Annual membership: individual cluding one at the Frank R. Lautenberg Secaucus Junction $50; couple $55; full-time student $20; institutional Station, which, crossed by all of the rail lines in northern $50; contributing $100; sustaining $150; corporate New Jersey, is the largest in the state. Completed in 2003, $500. For members outside of North America, add her four large panoramic murals of railroad bridges suggest $10 surface-mailing fee. Send check or money order “the four corners of the north half of the state: Jersey City, payable in U.S. funds to the Society for Industrial Brielle, Delaware Water Gap, and West Trenton.” Archeology to SIA-HQ, Dept. of Social Sciences, Valeri Larko’s remarkable paintings convey a distinctive Michigan Technological University, 1400 Townsend sense of time and place within the post-industrial land- Drive, Houghton, MI 49931-1295; (906) 487-1889; scape. Informed by inexorable evolution of the structures e-mail: [email protected]; Website: www.sia-web.org. of American industry, she captures the transitory nature of these quotidian modern ruins. Info: www.valerilarko.com. Mailing date for Vol. 40, No. 3 (Summer 2011), Sept. 2011. ISSN 0160-1067. If you have not received an issue, Betsy Fahlman apply to SIA-HQ (address above) for a replacement copy. The SIA Newsletter welcomes material and correspon- dence from members, especially in the form of copy already digested and written! The usefulness and time- liness of the newsletter depends on you, the reader, as an important source of information and opinion. TO CONTACT THE EDITOR: Patrick Harshbarger, Editor, SIA Newsletter, 305 Rodman Road, Wilmington, DE 19809; (302) 764-7464; e-mail: [email protected]. Valeri Larko, Kosciuszko Bridge, 2009, oil/linen, 25" ✕ 60", Private Collection. 2 Society for Industrial Archeology Newsletter, Vol. 40, No. 3, 2011 IA in the Pacific NW 2011 Annual Conference Review IA’s 40th Annual Conference was held in Seattle, completed about forty 787s at the time of our visit, but it is June 2 to 5. It was the first time that the SIA has held awaiting certification for use. The visit ended with a tour of a national event in the Pacific Northwest, and there the Future of Flight Aviation Center Gallery, which shows was much anticipation of exploring the region’s the history of Boeing’s widebody commercial aircraft and SIA. Approximately 160 members attended the conference, specifications of various components. which owed its overall success to an able and enthusiastic Bainbridge Island Tour. Thursday’s ferry to Bainbridge group of local volunteers who had spent the past year iden- Island began with a brisk downtown walk to the Evergreen tifying IA sites to tour. Many of the volunteers had no prior State ferry at Colman Dock. Our leader, Todd Scott, Pres- experience with SIA conferences, so the conference was an ervation Architect for King County, provided great overall important way to introduce Seattle’s historic preservation context for Seattle and Puget Sound once we boarded the community to the SIA. Thanks go out to Sharon McCauley comfortable and roomy ship. We had great views of the Se- who organized the following tour reports with contributions attle skyline and Harbor Island, “world’s largest man-made from Susan Appel, Rachael Greenlee, Jay McCauley, Steve island” and working port for the city, largely a container port Muller, John Reap, Justin Spivey, and Ingrid Wuebber. A today. Todd pointed out historic sites like the Smith Tower special thanks goes to the factories and venues that were so (1914, and tallest building west of the Mississippi for years) generous with their time and information. and more recent features like the Safeco and Qwest stadiums (the latter with a retractable roof that slides off the field and Thursday Early Bird Tours above a rail yard). Other waterfront features include several Boeing Future of Flight Museum and Tour. All of Boe- original wooden piers dating from about 1900. ing’s widebody jets are assembled in a massive building, the Colman Dock is a century-old ferry terminal. Ferries largest in the world by volume, in Everett, Wash. The tour were common on Puget Sound from about 1850, severing began with a video on the history of Boeing followed by a as the principal transportation among the many small towns tour of the four assembly lines. The 747 line is the most around its shores. Small steam ferries were so busy they were traditional: automatic riveting machines put together sig- called the “mosquito fleet.” Plans for bridges to span the nificant parts of the aircraft from aluminum shapes, and the Sound never materialized, and larger ferries ousted smaller assemblies are lifted from station to station.