George Zongolopoulos Foundation

From reactive care to lasting legacy George Zongolopoulos (1903-2004) spent a lifetime shaping Greece's public landscape. His Umbrellas represented Greece at the Venice Biennale. His Monument of Zalongo  - 13 meters of limestone rising above Epirus - is an officially designated Monument of Modern Cultural Heritage. His Poseidon  stands at George Washington University in Washington D.C. - a gift of the Foundation to the institution. The Umbrellas  at El Alamein, Egypt. The 13-meter Olympic Circles at Athens International Airport. His work belongs to no single museum. It belongs to the world. That's precisely what makes conservation so urgent - and so complex. Outdoor sculpture weathers. It cracks, corrodes, and fades. The materials Zongolopoulos worked with - concrete, stainless steel, plexiglass, limestone - require specialist expertise and ongoing care. When a painting sits in a climate-controlled room, time slows. When a sculpture stands in the Epirus wind, the Athens heat, or the Brussels humidity, time does not wait. Among the most vulnerable are his hydro-kinetic works - sculptures designed to move with water, and among the most technically demanding to maintain. The Umbrellas  at MOMus, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Thessaloniki, were recently conserved through a significant effort largely funded by the Foundation itself. The Three Circles , a hydro-kinetic sculpture at the Sculpture Garden on the Thessaloniki waterfront, remains only partially operational due to lack of funding. The Hydro-kinetic Umbrellas  at the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels - in the heart of the European institutions - stand stationary for the same reason. The Pentacyclo  at Omonia Square in Athens tells a similar story. These are not works in storage. They are in public view, every day - and their condition is visible to all. The George Zongolopoulos Foundation, established by the artist himself in 2004, is the guardian of this legacy. We hold his entire collection, we organise exhibitions, maintain a vibrant educational program, and lead conservation efforts for works across Greece and beyond. We operate We operate under the supervision of the Greek Ministry of Finance, and our work is recognized and supported by the Greek Ministry of Culture, alongside the Municipality of Filothei Psychiko, where our headquarters and the Zongolopoulos Open-Air Sculpture Garden are located. For two decades, the Foundation has directed its resources toward keeping the artist's legacy alive and accessible. Like many cultural institutions in Greece, we have navigated a prolonged period of economic difficulty that constrained what was possible. Conservation work has been carried out as resources allowed, and several significant interventions have already been completed. What has not yet been possible is the establishment of a dedicated, sustainable conservation fund - one that would allow us to move from reactive care to long-term, planned conservation. That is what we are building now. We are reaching out to our community in the United States - Greek Americans, friends of Greece, and lovers of public art - to establish a dedicated conservation fund for the sculptures of George Zongolopoulos. Your support will ensure that the assessment, maintenance, and conservation of his works can happen systematically and proactively on an ongoing basis, safeguarding this legacy for generations to come. Your donation is fully tax-deductible in the United States. Conservation of public sculpture is costly, and the responsibility often falls between institutions - municipalities, public bodies, and hosting organisations that lack the budget or the will to act. The Foundation has repeatedly stepped in to cover these costs, drawing on its own limited resources, because the alternative is watching irreplaceable works deteriorate in plain sight. The charts below show exactly where we stand - and why your support matters. This is not a distant cause. These sculptures stand in places where people live, celebrate, and pass through every day. To care for them is to care for something irreplaceable - an artist's life work and Greece's modern memory. Join us in our effort. The art is already there. It just needs to last. Suggested giving levels   ·       $50 - Supports one day of conservation materials  ·       $250 - Funds a specialist consultation for one sculpture  ·       $1,000 - Contributes to a structural assessment  ·       $5,000 - Co-sponsors targeted treatment of a named work