And here it is…our children’s library entryway art by Jorn Mork and Bill Bale

Bill Bale (of Sandhill Designs) measuring for the installation of the 3 panels.

Whew! The first of three panels has been successfully attached to the wall.

Here comes the second panel…craftsman Bill Bale and artist Jorn Mork do the heavy lifting!

Mrs. Shelly enjoys imagining!

The poor dear…er, deer!

Here you can begin to see some of the incredible detail.

Here it is…from 3 separate panels to 1 beautiful work of art!

There they are! Can you guess where they’re all looking?

Artist Jorn Mork and Craftsman Bill Bale make a great team!

(Click on the first photo and it’ll take you to the gallery view where you can see larger views of the photographs.)

We are very grateful to artist Jorn Mork and craftsman Bill Bale for creating and installing such a magnificent work of art for our Batterman Children’s Library entrance.   Come in and see for yourself; the detail is amazing!   And while it’s almost complete, there are still a couple more pieces coming before it’s 100% complete.  I’d like to publicly thank the members of the public art committee:  Ann Engelman (chair), Shelly Fosdal, Karen Gomez, Mary Kay Grunow, and Rachel Nelan.  (Photos courtesy of Ann Engelman)

Coming soon…an entryway to magic

When I was a child, I always felt libraries were magical.  From a working class family, I depended on my public library for my reading and research.   We could not afford many books; but we could afford library cards.  So every week, when I opened the library’s door and inhaled that smell, I felt like I was entering a magical place, a place of refuge and opportunity.   At one point I remember actually looking around for the magic carpet.

A Kindle isn’t a place.  Therefore it doesn’t kindle in me the same sense of inspiration and awe.   Don’t get me wrong,  I think electronic access is important and helpful.  I own an e-reader.  Just try to get my smart phone away from me.  But, at the end of the day, it’s still about the place.

It’s that magical, mystical, beautiful place called the public library.  Where everybody knows your name.  (Well, okay, that might be true in some libraries but not all.  I’m getting carried away.)  This coming weekend, artists Jorn Mork and Bill Bale will be installing our beautiful new youth department entry art for our Batterman Children’s Library.    It is our hope that this piece will inspire in our children and our future children a love for books and learning.  A sense of place.  A memory worth cherishing.

Stay tuned for photos very soon.

Magical entry to children’s library

As a part of our library project, we had envisioned a very distinct entrance to our Batterman Children’s Library.  We wanted it to be crystal clear where the circulation area ended and the children’s space began.  Our goal was to draw people in and convey, with art, exactly where young people would find a space created just for them.  (After all, many of them can’t read just yet so a sign isn’t necessarily the most effective tool.)Our art committee recently solicited proposals from artists and had seven extremely high quality submissions.    In the end, the committee selected local artist Jorn Mork who submitted a proposal that called for her collaboration with craftsman, Bill Bale, of Sandhill Designs.

The piece calls for some animals made from wood cutouts as well as wood panels with layered oil painting.   Working together, Jorn and Bill are creating that magical entryway we had envisioned.

Here are a couple of photos to give you a glimpse of what’s coming…very soon.

Artist Jorn Mork shows progress on her library panels for children’s entry

Ann Engelman with Bill Bale’s wood cutouts for Jorn Mork’s children’s entry