Video: Conserving murals in the Centre Block

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Music starts

(Text on screen: Public Services and Procurement Canada)

[Text fades away to reveal The Spirit of the Printed Word mural in detail.]

[Wide shot of The Spirit of the Printed Word mural.]

My favourite of the Crisp murals is the Spirit of the Printed Word. It's gorgeous. It's very much of its time. It's very Beaux-Arts in its style and its colour, and its symbolism.

(Shot of Crisp murals mounted on the walls in the Reading Room in Centre Block.]

The Spirit of the Printed Word is one of several murals that have adorned the walls of Centre Block for decades.

[Shot of Crisp mural on the wall featuring a number of people and animals.]

[Wide shot of five Crisp murals on the wall in the Reading Room in Centre Block.]

Artist Arthur Crisp painted the murals on canvas and glued them directly to the wall – a technique known as marouflage.

[Various shots of the Crisp murals on an animated gold background. They highlight certain aspects of Canadian life.]

[Shots of The Spirit of the Printed Word and The Printed Word murals on an animated gold background.]

These pieces reflect various aspects of Canadian life in the early 20th century and celebrate the printed word and printing press.

[Exterior shot of the Centre Block with two construction cranes in the background and hoarding in front of the building showcasing images of the Centre Block.]

[Shot of scaffolding, as well as caution tape and pylons inside the Reading Room.]

[Shot of workers in Personal Protective Equipment working on the scaffolding inside the Reading Room.]

Now as the Centre Block undergoes major rehabilitation, the murals have been carefully removed in order to protect them from construction activities and preserve them for future generations.

[Shot of Pilar Bryson speaking on camera inside a conservation studio.]

(Text on screen Pilar Bryson, Project Manager, Centre Block Rehabilitation Project.)

[Close up shot of The Spirit of the Printed Word mural in detail.]

[Shot of mural on a table as a conservator carefully works removes the protective paper facing using a cotton swab.]

[Shot of a team of conservators rolling out a mural on a large table.]

There hasn't been a lot of work done to the fine art murals over the past several decades, partly because they’re in rooms where there’s a lot of activities going on. So this gives us a really good opportunity to look at them, fully document them and give them a good cleaning and repair session. Over the years, there's been some soiling build up, and the adhesive has broken down in certain areas. So this is a perfect opportunity to give them some TLC.

[Shot of a conservator working on a mural while it is still attached to the wall inside the Reading Room.]

[Shot of a conservator attaching protective paper facing to the mural to protect it during transportation.]

[Shot of conservators carefully removing the mural from the wall.]

[Shot of conservators rolling the mural off the wall.]

[Shot of conservators rolling the mural and carefully detaching it from the wall.]

The murals are fragile and nearly a hundred years old, so a team of fine art conservators based out of Ottawa were brought in to remove the murals without damaging the canvas or paint layers.

[Shot of David Legris speaking on camera inside a conservation studio.]

(Text on screen: David Legris, Lead Painting Conservator, Legris Conservation.)

[Shot of conservators rolling the mural and carefully detaching it from the wall.]

[Close up shot of conservators carefully using tools to help detach the mural from the wall.]

[Shot of conservator removing plaster from the back of the mural.]

[Close up shot of a conservator removing plaster from the back of the mural.]

[Shot of conservators carefully using tools to help detach the mural from the wall.]

[Close up shot of a conservator removing plaster from the back of the mural.]

[Shot of conservators carrying a mural that was detached from the wall.]

So the hardest part of removing these murals really was the actual physical separation. These are paintings that are on canvas that have been glued to a plaster wall. So the actual separation from the wall proved to be quite difficult. They required quite a bit of physical labour and tools. We used spatulas and chisels to actually separate the canvas.

[Aerial shot of conservators rolling a mural onto a large sonotube.]

[Shot of conservators wrapping the mural on the sonotube.]

Despite the challenges, the team was successful in taking down each mural. Once off the wall, they rolled them onto large sonotubes and wrapped them to safeguard from temperature and humidity fluctuations.

[Shot of murals on large sonotubes.]

[Shot of paint containers on a shelf.]

[Close up shot of paint brushes.]

The murals were transported to an offsite studio for conservation treatment to begin on each piece.

[Shot of conservators’ hands rolling a mural onto a large work surface.]

[Shot of conservators rolling a mural onto a large work surface in a studio.]

First, the team carefully unrolled each panel onto a large work surface.

[Close up shot of a cotton swab being dipped into a solution in a mason jar.]

[Close up shot of a conservator using a cotton swab to remove the protective paper facing off the mural.]

[Shot of The Spirit of the Printed Word mural laid out on a large work surface.]

[Close up shot of the words The Spirit of the Printed Word on the mural.]

[Close up of details on The Spirit of the Printed Word mural.]

Then the team removed the protective paper facing they had applied to help protect them during transportation. The next step was to reattach or stabilize any paint that was in imminent danger of falling off.

[Shot of a conservator using a small tool to remove debris off the back of the mural.]

[Wide shot of a conservator removing debris off the back of a mural.]

[Shot of murals wrapped and rolled on sonotubes.]

As part of the conservation treatment, the murals were then carefully turned over and the team removed any remaining debris from the back of the murals prior to rolling them back onto the sonotube.

[Shot of two workers rolling the sonotube down a long hallway.]

[Shot of two workers lifting a sonotube onto a rack in a storage facility.]

The murals will remain in storage until they are ready to return to Centre Block.

[Shot of Pilar Bryson speaking on camera inside a conservation studio.]

[Shot of murals on the wall inside the Reading Room before construction.]

[Shot of murals on the wall inside the Reading Room surrounded by scaffolding.]

[Shot of murals on the wall inside the Reading Room where there are crates on the floor.]

[Shot of conservators removing the mural from the wall.]

[Shot of conservators removing a mural from the wall, while The Spirit of the Printed Word mural is in the forefront.]

[Close up shot of The Spirit of the Printed Word mural.]

Once the work is complete on their cleaning and repair, next steps will be to determine how to best reinstate them in the spaces in Centre Block. So we'll have to look at various aspects, like the acoustics of the space, if there's a different mounting system that we want to use so that they're easier to remove for maintenance or for cleaning or for in case there's an emergency, we can take them out safely.

[Shot of murals on the wall inside the Reading Room surrounded by scaffolding.]

[Shot of the exterior of Centre Block before construction.]

This important work on the murals and other heritage assets within Centre Block will ensure visitors to Parliament can continue to enjoy these pieces for many years to come.

[Shot of Pilar Bryson speaking on camera inside a conservation studio.]

[Shot of conservator using a tool on a mural.]

[Shot of conservators rolling a mural onto a large sonotube inside the Senate Chamber.]

[Shot inside a room in Centre Block prior to construction. Crates fill the space.]

[Shot of a conservator laughing and smiling inside the conservation studio.]

[Shot of a conservator smiling inside the conservation studio.]

[Shot of three conservators wearing face masks posing for a photo.]

[Shot of the Centre Block with the Rideau Canal in the forefront.]

Oh, the Centre Block project is it's just such a perfect opportunity to see what goes on behind the scenes in the building. It’s such a beautiful space. It’s been a real privilege to work on the project with terrific colleagues and the team and to help bring it into the 21st century for the Parliament and for Canadians.

(Text on screen: Check us out: facebook.com/PSPC.SPAC, instagram.com/pspc_spac, twitter.com/pspc_spac, youtube.com/PWGSCanada)

(Public Services and Procurement Canada signature)

[Music stops]

(Canada Wordmark)

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