Things are looking brighter for works of art in Barnegat Lighthouse State Park.

Monument Conservation Partners, a firm that has worked on pieces in the nation’s capital, has been hired by the Friends of Barnegat Lighthouse to freshen up the two bronzes inside Barnegat Lighthouse State Park, most notably the bust of Lt. Gen. George G. Meade, hero of the Battle of Gettysburg and builder of the lighthouse.

The Meade work of art was done by sculptor Boris Blai, an understudy of French sculptor Auguste Rodin. Ukraine-born Blai had close family ties to LBI and was instrumental in creating the now Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences.

The Meade sculpture, mounted on a white brick pedestal a few feet from the lighthouse entrance, has spent its years fully exposed to the elements.