Ghostbuster, Restored
Story and photos by community contributor Josh Steadman.
Cary, NC – Less than a week after it was vandalized with spray paint, Ghostbuster, the sculpture of a horse at the corner of Davis and High House, has been restored.
Mostly Elbow Grease
“Most of it’s elbow grease,” Matthew Gay states simply, as he scrubs the metal strips comprising Ghostbuster. He uses a steel brush, slowly erasing signs of vandalism. He adds, “Just a little bit of mechanical method,” referring to the can of Lift Off spray in his left hand, and the can of acetone on the ground nearby.
Michael Stutz, the artist who created Ghostbuster, hired Matthew to come out and clean the work. This is the second time it’s gotten vandalized since its placement in 2009.
After a long day of cleaning the work, Matthew will return to his day job as Museum Technician at the Gregg Museum of Art & Design at NC State. How long will the restoration would take? “Close to 5 hours,” he said smiling, and returned to the task.
CaryCitizen spotted Matthew out there cleaning a couple of times last week. As of Sunday afternoon, we’re happy to report the sculpture has been fully restored.
Matt Gay is such a sweet spirit — I know Matt and his wife from church. The perfect person to be brightening things up around Cary!
As far as the vandalism goes, CVA is so sad to see this behavior continue. It’s inhibiting us from placing wonderful artwork in our community because of the fear people have of having to maintain the work — cleaning the artwork is expensive!
AS ALWAYS, Thanks for the coverage for the Arts, CaryCitizen!!