ICYMI – Senator Alsobrooks Helps Locate Magic Calder Paint

October 1, 2026 WASHINGTON, DC – In case you missed it, the New York Times covered the unique story of how, after more than a decade, Alexander Calder’s monumental “Mountains and Clouds,” located in the Hart Senate Office Building, has finally been restored. The restoration hit many snags until donors and legislators from both parties stepped in. Senator Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), during her time as Prince George’s County Executive, helped to locate the Calder Black paint. The Calder Black paint is now only being produced in Prince George’s County, Md. “Then came the dilemma over the sculpture’s signature Calder Black paint, a light-absorbing matte black hue no longer in distribution. Before she was elected to the Senate in 2024, Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, then a county executive, learned of the problem and connected the Calder Foundation to the U.S. Army Research Laboratory based in Prince George’s County, Md. Leaders there said they could recreate the shade. “It was a persnickety detail, but vital to the project. Mr. Rower said his grandfather had a vision, and he wanted to honor it.” Read more in The New York Times here . ###