"I would ideally like to see it as part of an educational future, whether it's on a hospital campus as part of a school or a college. Or part of a larger public art program for the citizens of New York City," said art historian and urban planner Andrew Cronson, one of the people trying to find a new home for the piece.
The 40-foot-wide and 18-foot-high mural by Greek American artist Nikos Bel-Jon was the main showpiece of Pfizer's world headquarters when the building opened a few blocks from Grand Central Terminal in 1961, at a time when flashy buildings and grand corporate art projects were a symbol of business success.
Art conservationists and the late artist's daughters are now scrambling to find a patron who is able to cover the tens of thousands of dollars they estimate it will take to move and remount it, as well as an institution that can display it.
In recent years, Pfizer sold the building - and last year moved its headquarters to a shared office space in a newer property. The company said in an emailed statement that it decided the money needed to deconstruct, relocate and reinstall the mural elsewhere was not feasible.
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