The San Diego Air & Space Museum’s expert Restoration Team has long been known for its ability to refresh and recreate airplanes and artifacts to like-new condition. Recently, they were put to the test when they were asked to restore a rare Kinetic Sculpture depicting the iconic Hollywood sign.

The Restoration shop spent countless hours over the past several months bringing the sign and its innumerable moving parts back to life. The end result was a masterpiece of engineering and good old-fashioned know-how.

Here is a fascinating video taken by the video production team showing the Restoration Team’s handiwork with the Hollywood sign brought back to full working condition in the Museum’s Restoration Shop.

https://vimeo.com/sdasm/kineticsculpture?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci

The kinetic sculpture of the Hollywood sign was initially commissioned by Ripley’s in 2010 and installed originally at the Louis Tussaud Niagara Falls location in 2012. It later was displayed in Hollywood in 2020 for four years, then came back to Ripley’s warehouse before being delivered to the San Diego Air & Space Museum earlier this year for restoration.

The artist who designed and built the piece name is Andrew Smith. Andrew’s website showing his other works of kinetic art can be viewed here https://www.andrewsmithart.com/. Andrew primarily makes his kinetic sculptures out of old and abandoned items, giving new life to “junk”.

The Hollywood sign has been packed and shipped back to Ripley’s to make room for the Museum’s next fun and exciting project, restoring and revitalizing several of the unique Micro Cars like the one currently on display in the Museum’s Rotunda as part of its Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Exhibit!

Ripley's Believe It or Not! Micro Car at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.

More to come on the Micro Cars restoration project!