ABOVE: The historic murals on the third floor of the Martin County Courthouse in Fairmont. As they're in a state of deterioration, the county is working on securing funds to restore them.

FAIRMONT– In an effort to preserve historic artwork in the Martin County Courthouse, the county has secured funding through the Minnesota Historical Society for a conservation assessment by the Midwest Art Conservation Center of murals on the third floor of the courthouse.

Joshua Schuetz of the Martin County Economic Development Authority said that the current state of the murals has been a discussion of the county’s for a while and that he learned quite a bit about them while doing rant writing for the project.

The painter of the murals, Franz Rohrbeck, did a lot of work throughout the midwest, in both Minnesota and Wisconsin and in the Wisconsin State Capitol.

“These murals were painted in the first decade of the 20th century, in 1906 or 1907,” Schuetz said of the murals in the Martin County Courthouse.

“They’re more than a century old and as a consequence, there is some deterioration. Our goal is to preserve these murals and we have a phased approach to that,” Schuetz said.

First off, the county applied for a legacy small grant through the Minnesota Historical Society in the amount of $2,475. The grant money will be used for a conservation assessment.

“Paintings like this, there is an awful lot that can go wrong by virtue of them being old and different materials being used, along with the size– they’re quite large,” Schuetz said.

The conservation assessment will help the county determine what needs to be done to help it preserve the murals. Schuetz said the county will receive a report which will help guide it in applying for other grants to actually go through the restoration of the murals.

“Granting organizations often like to see conservation assessments done. It typically helps restoration projects go smoother because there is high quality data to work from. We’re grateful for the Minnesota Historical Society for this funding opportunity. It will have a good impact,” Schuetz said.

He said that the process of grant writing took some time as the county looked at what kind of grant would be best to go for and what kind of organization could do the work.

“There aren’t a ton of people who do this work and not many who do it at this scale,” Schuetz said.

The murals on the third floor of the courthouse are located in a dome and they’re placed over an opening in the floor, which will make setting up for work when the time comes tricky. Likely a good amount of scaffolding and safety measures will need to be in place before work can begin.

“Luckily, we’ve been in contact with Midwest Art Conservation Center, which is based in Minneapolis, and are working to find a date for them to come down here and work with us on this project,” Schuetz said.

After the assessment is done, the county will work on putting together a plan with the report and will then go for additional funding for the actual restoration. He said whether Midwest Art Conservation Center will do the restoration itself depends on how much funding the county can secure.

When people think of murals they may think of community artwork such as what’s on some of the buildings in Downtown Plaza in Fairmont. However, in the case of the

courthouse murals, Schuetz pointed out that they’re very old and fragile paintings.

“There are very technical, special stuff that has to happen. If it were possible to work hyper-local with this, I’m sure we would. But the age and fragility of the murals and the technical work involved requires us to look for specialized, conservation staff to get it done” Schuetz said.

Speaking as to why preserving the murals is important, Schuetz said, “The courthouse is on the National Register of Historic Places and we obviously want to preserve the historic character of this building and the art within it. These murals are unique. There aren’t many courthouses with murals like this and we do want to preserve them.”

He added that he believes it’s important to preserve what’s already here for future generations and that taking care of the murals ensures that current or future residents of Martin County can come in and enjoy the art and think about what it means to the community.