|
Related Items
|
|
|
|
Quick Links
|
|
|
Online Services
|
|
|
|
 |
|
The Exchange
by Deb DeWit Marchant
Permanent Display
Location: On rust wall behind check-out counter
This oil on wood triptych depicts the cycles of nature and human knowledge with three panels showing books, readers and words amid lush vegetation. Each panel is topped by a quotation about knowledge or reading. DeWit Marchant, is a local Tigard artist who has used reading and books as subject matter for many of her works. All the vegetation in "The Exchange" are native plants, many of which exist on or near the library property.
A painter and photographer, DeWit Marchant has been showing her work since 1976. As a painter she has worked both in pastels and oils. Her pastels focused on reading and writing themes, while her oils have largely focused on the inextricable relationship between the human experience and nature. In "The Exchange" she has combined these two themes.
As photographer DeWit Marchant is fascinated by everyday scenes and how the light transforms them. After twenty years of traveling to photograph, DeWit Marchant wrote a book about her experiences called "Traveling Light Photographer's Journey."
|
|
Books for All Seasons
by Judith Poxson Fawkes
Permanent Display
Location: On south wall near Bestsellers and Audio-Visual Materials
"Books for All Seasons" conveys reading for all reasons on a four-foot by nine-foot ten inch linen weaving that illustrates a variety of locations and seasons. In the artist's words, the piece welcomes "library users by illustrating fictional and non-fictional subjects as reminders of seasons and places that are capable of transporting the reader into other realms. Utilizing both recognizable and abstract imagery, beginning on the left the tapestry is divided into five intermingling sections, each containing images of books. A Spring domestic interior with blowing curtain, a Summer city at dusk and the sear, with moon path at night, Autumn turning to winter on a mountain, and a winter landscape."
In the colorful tapestry the sky is divided symmetrically by two hemispheres of the world with the moon in the middle. Poxson Fawkes says, "With the eastern and western hemispheres in the sky, the viewer quite possibly is not on earth, transported into other realms via books."
A graduate of Michigan State University and Cranbrook Academy of Art, Poxson Fawkes has created numerous pieces of commissioned art, including those that hang in the Mark O. Hatfield Federal Courthouse, the Public Employees Retirement System and Chapman School in Portland. She has also woven pieces for the Splendour of the Seas Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship, the Department of Forestry in Salem, OR and Florida State University in Tallahassee. Poxson Fawkes has taught at Lewis and Clark College, Mount Hood Community College, Wisconsin State University in Oshkosh and Southern Oregon State University in Ashland.
|
"Systems, 2004"
Fused Glass Art Installation by Rae Mahaffey
Permanent Display
Location: Library Lobby
Northwest Portland artist Rae Mahaffey and her husband Mark created the beautiful
fused glass panels hanging from the ceiling in the Library's lobby.
"The fused-glass process is done in Portland more than in any other place," reports
Mahaffey. The panels are fired at Bathos Studios in large kilns.
Rae Mahaffey was born and raised in Denver and then moved to Bellingham, Washington to
attend college. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in art and then spent
some time in Los Angeles where she met her husband, Mark. The couple moved to
Portland in 1992 where they own and operate Mahaffey Fine Art, a printmaking
business which also offers classes.
The fused panels will be lit by the natural light from the windows, changing
colors as the light changes through the course of the day. Mahaffey's mother
was a librarian so she is delighted to have her work installed in the new library.
The process is a long one, creating the design, cutting the glass and scheduling
the kiln. Mahaffey uses geometry and number systems to ensure that all of the
pieces will work together.
"It's nice to be a part of something that is a focal point of the community."
|
|
Mary Josephson - "Quest for Knowledge Columns"
Permanent Display
Location: Children's Room
Paintings in colorful lush oils surround the four main columns in the children's room.
The imagery on each column depicts what an exciting adventure learning can be. As you explore
each column your Imagination will take you into the forest on one column, up into the sky on
another, into the desert on a third and under the sea on the fourth column in the search for
knowledge.
The images of children reading alone and with others, exploring, searching amidst animals and
flowers will truly inspire readers of all ages. Experience the rich fun filled mystery and
wonders to be found within books in the library.
|
|
BIOGRAPHY FOR MARY JOSEPHSON
As part of military family, which made frequent moves, constant change
of scenery was very much a part of growing up. I learned to read people below the surface and
make friends quickly. My childhood was spent in the desert communities of the American
southwest at a time when Western movies and television shows were at the peak of popularity so
the bridge between what is real and imaginary was built for me at an early age. Exploration
of the desert terrain revealed an adventure land teeming with life rather than the vast
emptiness apparent upon first glance. The revelation that people and things may not be how
they seem has been a life-long metaphor for me.
Living in the fertile San Joaquin Valley taught me an appreciation for the cycle of planting
and harvesting. The United Farm workers boycotts of the 1960's and 70's taught an appreciation
for honest labor and brought a rich mix of culture into my life.
Living close to the border between the United States and Mexico in Southern California taught me
to appreciate and respect other cultures and different modes of expression. It also taught me
that basic human needs and desires transcend cultures.
My experience as a woman artist led me to focus on what it means to be a human, who happens
to be a woman now, especially in a society where lasting physical beauty is paramount.
The love of color and form has permeated every aspect of my life from earliest memory.
It is a very powerful weapon and tool.
Painting has allowed me to express how I feel about the world more clearly than any other
mode of communication. Through it I am able to express what is constant about the cycle of
life and what continuously rings true although metamorphosing and changing.
|
The Tigard Public Library welcomes exhibits and displays. Exhibits and
displays in the Library offer a means for public expression by individuals and groups in the
community as well as enrich the Library by allowing it to serve in a community forum role. Persons
interested in using a display space at the Tigard Public Library first need to read the
Tigard Public Library Exhibit and Display Policy
and then complete the
Exhibit Area Reservation Application.
For additional information or questions e-mail annmarie@tigard-or.gov or call
503-684-6537 ext. 2650.
|
|
|
|
