Tony Rajer died of a heart attack on November 18 while he was working on the restoration of a large WPA mural at a school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He studied languages, art history and conservation in Paris, Rome, Milwaukee, Mexico and Harvard and was a professor at the University of Panama and taught conservation studies and Latin American history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
An expert in art restoration and conservation, he worked all over the globe on projects from opera houses in South America to sculptures from India. It was his involvement and support of Nek Chand and the Rock Garden of Chandigarh that became an ongoing and vital part of his life over the past decade and more. He was a great friend to Nek Chand and organised many volunteer and visitor trips, spent hours canvassing support from the Indian authorities and became a popular and well known figure in Chandigarh because of the humanity he showed on his many visits.
A multi-linguist, he was able to give speeches in Hindi with warmth and humour to large crowds at events at the Rock Garden. He also single-handedly re-discovered Nek Chand's second Rock Garden in Kerala and persuaded the state government to completely restore it under his direction.
As Project Director of the Wisconsin SOS! (Save Outdoor Sculpture) he co-authored Public Sculpture in Wisconsin in 1999. His involvement in many aspects of folk and outsider art included the rescue of 9000 works by Rudy Rotter, a Wisconsin self-taught artist who he supported.
While he was working on a restoration project at the American Folk Art Museum in September 2001 the World Trade Center was attacked. It was typical of his character that he immediately volunteered to help and took part in the harrowing rescue of survivors. His large-hearted presence, his jollity, and his total integrity will be sorely missed by his many friends and colleagues from around the world. Our sympathies and condolences go to his wife Chris and family.
