Repair and conservation of Chain Reaction sculpture by Paul Conrad

Chain Reaction, the landmark sculpture depicting a nuclear mushroom cloud assembled from chain links, is in need of repair. The City of Santa Monica, which owns the sculpture, has challenged the community to raise the $400,000 it estimates is needed to preserve the sculpture, with a “last chance” deadline of February 1, 2014. The City of Santa Monica has pledged $50,000 toward the repair of Chain Reaction, and an additional $30,000 has been raised to date from small contributions. Several fundraising events and an online crowd-funding campaign are currently in the works. Seven former mayors have written a letter of support asking for funding to save this landmark. Philanthropic funding will be necessary to save this important peace monument. A community-based committee is working to raise the needed funds from foundations and individuals with the support of artists including Ed Ruscha, Llyn Foulkes, and Mr. Fish, all of whom have actively endorsed our effort.

Funds are received by the Santa Monica Arts Foundation, a 501(c)(3) entity, and will be dedicated exclusively to the repair and maintenance of Paul Conrad’s Chain Reaction.

Background: From 1964 to 1993, daily readers of the Los Angeles Times woke up to the political cartoons of Paul Conrad, who commented on issues ranging from the presidency to gun violence and Vietnam to Blackwater. He won three Pulitzer Prizes (among many other journalism awards), and was included on Richard Nixon’s Enemies List, which Conrad considered his greatest honor.

Conrad was also a sculptor who depicted political figures in bronzes, many of them following the caricature style of his incisive commentary on political events. The political sculptures have gained wide exposure in exhibitions across the country, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Los Angeles Times Bureau in Washington, D.C., and the Huntington Library in Pasadena, which also houses the complete archive of Conrad's originals.

How Grant Money Will Be Used: Chain Reaction was installed in 1991 with funding from an anonymous donor. Since that time, the City of Santa Monica has not devoted adequate funding for the maintenance of the sculpture, and it is now in need of repair and conservation. The City's Landmarks Commission has designated Chain Reaction as a cultural landmark, and the sculpture is listed with many directories of peace monuments and public art. The City wants to remove Chain Reaction unless sufficient funding is raised for repair and conservation of the structure, which consists of a non-visible steel frame substructure encased in a fiberglass mold that gives the sculpture a bomb-blast shape. The hundreds of continuous copper chain links are welded together and affixed to the fiberglass with tack screws and copper wire. While the city’s building inspector has declared the sculpture to be a safety hazard, recent testing by a structural engineer revealed that it is not an imminent hazard nor should it be considered dangerous. Chain Reaction is in compliance with current building code standards. However, deferred maintenance has resulted in some needs for repair, and the city’s Cultural Trust Fund does not have sufficient cash on hand to pay for the repairs required by the inspector. All funds raised will be spent for repair and conservation of Chain Reaction.

For more information, contact Dave Conrad at davepconrad@earthlink.net. (310) 991-1889. http://conradprojects.com/