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David Ascalon Sculpture |
JOINT PRESS RELEASE OF ARTIST DAVID ASCALON AND THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF GREATER HARRISBURG, DATED FEBRUARY 7, 2011 SETTLEMENT REACHED IN CASE UNDER THE VISUAL ARTISTS RIGHTS ACT OF 1990 (VARA), ASCALON v. DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION, et al. HARRISBURG, PA –In July 2010, the New Jersey artist David Ascalon filed an action in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania asserting that his rights under the federal Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 (VARA) had been violated with respect to a sculpture he created for the Jewish Federation of Greater Harrisburg: a Holocaust Memorial on the banks of the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania’s state capital, which was installed in 1994. The complaint alleged that Ascalon’s rights under VARA, which limits how an artwork may be altered or disposed of, were violated by restoration of a decaying element of the original sculpture in which a rust-colored “barbed wire” serpentine element was replaced with stainless steel. Since the filing of the lawsuit, the Jewish Federation of Greater Harrisburg, who undertook the restoration, and the artist have sought constructive solutions to resolving the dispute in a manner that would help preserve this important memorial for the generations while incurring minimal cost to the parties. After several months of amicable negotiations among the parties, the parties are pleased to announce that a mutually-agreeable settlement has been reached. The substance of the settlement provides the sculpture will be retrofitted in a manner that upholds the artist’s original intent at minimal costs to the defendants. The original artist shall be provided access to the sculpture to remake the “barbed wire” serpentine element in a highly durable rust-colored steel, and the original artist’s name shall be restored to the sculpture. The parties are pleased that future generations will be able to view the restored Memorial and remember and pay proper respect to the 12 million souls that perished at the hands of agents of intolerance, the Nazi Regime. The attorney for David Ascalon is Jason B. Schaeffer, Esq. of J.B. Schaeffer Law, LLC of Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The attorney for the Federation is Harvey Freedenberg of McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC of Harrisburg. ##### CONTACTS: Attorney for Plaintiff, David Ascalon J.B. Schaeffer Law, LLC Phone: (856) 513-9750 Email: jason@jbschaefferlaw.com Harvey Freedenberg, Esq. Attorney for Defendant, Jewish Federation of Greater Harrisburg McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC Phone: (717) 232-8000 Email: hfreedenberg@mwn.com On September 16, 2010 at 10:54 PM "eric@ascalonstudios.com" Groundbreaking Artists' Rights Case Filed in U.S. Federal Court on the 20th Anniversary of the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 (VARA) FYI, take a look at the below press release. Also, here's a link to the Wall Street Journal's recent article on this case: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703447004575449793518169052.html?KEYWORDS=ascalon FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: BUREAUCRATS MUTILATE PUBLIC SCULPTURE, ARTIST SEEKS REDRESS IN U.S. FEDERAL COURT PHILADELPHIA - When noted artist David Ascalon's towering "Holocaust Memorial for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania", just blocks from the state capitol, was dedicated in 1994, he could not have imagined that a dozen years later, his name would be grinded away from the sculpture's base. Nor could Ascalon have envisioned that his most cherished creation - one which he designed to honor the millions who perished at the hands of the Nazis - would have been mutilated through drastic modification at the whim of a bunch of bureaucrats. But that is precisely what happened. Ascalon, however, was unwilling to permit this violation of his moral rights to go unchecked. Through his legal counsel, the artist rights' attorney Jason B. Schaeffer, he has filed a groundbreaking suit under Congress' Visual Artists' Rights Act of 1990 (VARA) - a law enacted to protect against such destruction - in Federal District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Through this action, Ascalon seeks to compel restoration of this important public artwork to its original design. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: COURTHOUSE NEWS SERVICE POST: COPY OF COMPLAINT IN ASCALON v. DEPARTMENT OF PARKS AND RECREATION, et al.: IMAGES OF SUBJECT SCULPTURE "BEFORE" AND "AFTER": ##### For more information, contact Eric Ascalon by phone (U.S.) at 856-220-0522 or via email at eric@ascalonstudios.com. CONTACT: |
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