Biography/History

Anton "Tony" Rajer was born in 1952 in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. While still in high school, he began working at the Kohler Arts Center, where he first gained experience preparing exhibits. After finishing high school in 1971, he enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he studied art history and archaeology. He had the opportunity to study in Paris at the Sorbonne, so in 1973 he continued his studies there; it marked his first experience studying art internationally and learning and working in a second language. He went on to study in Puebla, Mexico, and develop skill with the Spanish language, as well as an interest in Central and South American art.

Rajer worked as associate conservator at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, then as art conservator at the Texas Conservation Center in West Texas. It was during this time he began Fine Arts Conservation Services, a private conservation business. During his lifetime he performed technical examinations and treatments on numerous privately-held works; he also developed expertise at restoring USPS (United States Postal Service) post office murals created during the Works Progress Administration (WPA) program.

In 1988, he became project conservator for the Wisconsin State Capitol. This project involved the treatment of works of art, wall stencils, and statuary throughout the Capitol building, including Daniel Chester French's statue Wisconsin, and Jean Miner's statue Forward.

Tony Rajer's approach to treating public art included creating projects for the local community to assist him. This probably kept the cost of conservation projects low, but it also created greater community involvement and interest in the work of art conservation.

Rajer was interested in folk and outsider art, and much of his career was spent treating and advocating for the works of local, non-professional artists in Wisconsin. In 1994 he became project director for the Wisconsin chapter of Save Outdoor Sculpture! (SOS!), a project developed by the Smithsonian Institution to treat and publicize American works of public sculpture. This led to Rajer gathering extensive notes on works throughout the state, from which he created the book Public Sculpture in Wisconsin.

Rajer was conserving a mural for the American Folk Art Museum in New York City when the World Trade Center Towers were attacked on September 11, 2001. He immediately went to the Red Cross to volunteer aiding survivors and responders where his command of five languages was useful.

Rajer's interest in folk art also led him to travel globally, advising curators and administrators in many countries on the value of their local art and how best to care for it. He was known for lecturing and writing conservation guides for a range of audiences.

Anton "Tony" Rajer died on November 18, 2011 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, while restoring a WPA mural.

Timeline

1952	Born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin
1969-1975	Exhibition preparer, Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan
1971	Graduated from Sheboygan South High School
1971-1973	Studied art history and archeology at UW-Milwaukee
1973-1974	Studied art history and literature studies at University of Paris-Sorbonne
1974	Received certificate in French studies from University of Paris-Sorbonne
1975-1976	Studied art history and archaeology studies at University of the Americas, Puebla, Mexico; worked as Slide Librarian for the art history department
1976-1978	Apprentice conservator, Milwaukee Conservators of Art
1977	Completed BA in chemistry and art history at UW-Milwaukee
1979	Received Certificate in Art Conservation from Churubusco Regional Conservation Center in Mexico City
1979-1983	Associate conservator, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri
1982	Began Fine Arts Conservation Services, a private conservation business
1983-1986	Art conservator, Texas Conservation Center, West Texas
1986-1987?	Conservator, Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University
1987	Received Certificate in Conservation from Harvard University Art Museums
1988-1994	Project conservator, restoration project on Wisconsin State Capitol building
1992 -	Received Certificate in Mural Conservation from ICCROM in Rome, Italy
1994-1999	Project director, SOS! (Save Outdoor Sculpture!), Wisconsin chapter
1998	Wrote Rudy Rotter's Spirit-Driven Art: The Odyssey and Evolution of an Artistic Vision
1999	Wrote Public Sculpture in Wisconsin: An Atlas of Outdoor Monuments, Memorials, and Masterpieces in the Badger State
2001	Volunteers with Red Cross aiding survivors and responders following the 9/11 attacks in New York City
2002-2004	Fulbright Professor of Art Conservation at the University of Panama
2005	Wrote Paris in Panama; received U.S. State Department grant for teaching in Malaysia
2006	Wrote Museums, Zoos and Botanical Gardens of Wisconsin
2011	Died in Cedar Rapids, Iowa