Tony Novelozo/AxiomJennifer Kim, left, of the San Francisco-based Tracy Power Objects Conservation, joins colleagues Tracy Power and Wayne Sutton in touching-up and waxing Bookhead, last Thursday at the Shields Library Plaza. Bookhead was the first Egghead to be completed by series creator Robert Arneson and is the only one of the bronze works that the late professor emeritus coated with car paint. All the eggheads – including Yin & Yang, in the fine arts complex courtyard; Eye on Mrak (Fatal Laff), just north of Mrak Hall; See No Evil/Hear No Evil, east of King Hall; and Stargazer, between North and South halls – are refurbished about twice a year, with soap-and-water washings between. Bookhead takes about six hours of work, whereas the other sculptures take about one-third that amount of time, says Karen Vanhercke, assistant museum scientist for Nelson Gallery. It’s the most susceptible to skateboard ramping, she explains. "Hopefully when people see us cleaning with Q-tips, they’ll realize that they are actually pieces of art," she says. Not that Arneson didn’t want people interacting with the works, she says. Before he died in 1992, Arneson left a statement asking the campus to never take any steps that would prevent that close interaction, Vanhercke says. "He wanted people to touch them and lean against them. Although I’m not sure he expected people to skateboard on them."