Outdoor bronze sculpture

I am looking for input about whether or not it's a good idea to move
a bronze sculpture outdoors. We have a Deborah Butterfield
sculpture, "Rex", in our permanent collection. It has been indoors
since we acquired it, so it's in a perfect condition. Recently,
there have been some talks about moving it outside in order to give
it "open space to live".  My concern is that the sculpture is
painted and patinated and it will probably start loosing these
layers to the weather. In Utah we have really hot summers with a few
rains and very snowy and cold winters. Also, the Great Salt Lake
it's just a few miles away, which means the wind carries a lot of
salts in our direction.

I know there are some Deborah Butterfield's sculptures outdoors.  I
would like to know of any problems preserving the paint and patina
for these pieces, and most importantly if there is anything we can
apply on  in order to protect these layers in case the museum
decides to move it outdoors.

Silvia N Gonzales
Collections Manager
Utah Museum of Fine Arts
410 Campus Center Drive,
Salt Lake City UT 84112-0350
801-585-9769


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 20:21
                Distributed: Wednesday, October 18, 2006
                       Message Id: cdl-20-21-019
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