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Squirrely Q Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 2004
Artists Selected For Six New Branch Library Projects
JACKSONVILLE, FL – Six new Jacksonville Branch Libraries are slated to receive artistic enhancements as part of the city’s Art in Public Places program. The branches, constructed under the city’s Better Jacksonville Plan, are Argyle, Pablo Creek/East Regional, Maxville, South Mandarin, University Park and West Regional. Projects vary widely in scope, from a hanging glass panel installation to paintings and wall sculptures. Three of the artists selected are from Jacksonville.
“The Art in Public Places Program is focused on bringing high quality to art to places where people interact. These Branch Library projects are perfect examples of how the program seeks to match the nature of the community with appropriate art for optimum exposure, interaction and community dialogue,” said Jeff Dunn, chair of the Art in Public Places Commission. “Jacksonville is home to a great many high quality artists. We are especially pleased to feature three of them in these projects.”
The Art in Public Places Ordinance, passed by the City Council in 1997, allows for the dedication of three-quarters of one percent of construction and design costs of new or renovated public facilities for the inclusion of public art.
The projects are:
Argyle Branch Library, 7973 Old Middleburg Road. Liz Mapelli of Portland, Ore. will create 31 glass panels which will be hung on a suspended in front of a large window. Each panel of brightly-colored fused glass will measure 18 inches square. Lighting will be installed so that the artwork will be visible both day and night from the inside and the outside of the building. Mapelli has specialized in large public and corporate commissions for the past 25 years and is best known for the luminous quality of her fused glass pieces which feature bright colors and a variety of textures.
Pablo Creek/East Regional Branch Library, 13295 Beach Blvd. New York-based artist Tony Robbin will create a wall sculpture for the vestibule of the new library. The sculpture, comprised of brightly colored acrylic panels framed and separated by thin aluminum rods in a three-dimensional geometric pattern, will be hung above the interior entrance doors. For three decades, Robbins’ work has been prominently exhibited and collected around the world. He has also completed commissions for major international corporations.
Maxville Branch Library, 8375 Maxville Blvd. Artist Allison Watson of Jacksonville is creating a landscape painting for the library’s entrance lobby. The painting will measure 60 inches by 36 inches and will depict a wooded scene reflective of the environment adjacent to the library. Watson is a lifelong resident of North Florida and has exhibited extensively in Florida. Her works are widely collected and are represented in important regional collections as well as collections in Peru and Nigeria. As an environmentalist, her landscape works manifest her interest in nature.
South Mandarin Branch, 12125 San Jose Blvd. Jacksonville artist Nofa Dixon will create a tile installation for the new library. The floor design will begin in the vestibule and extend into the building through the circulation area of the library. The artist will hand paint 134 15-inch square floor tiles with designs resembling clusters of rocks, arranged throughout the entrance area. Dixon is an instructor of design and drawing at the University of North Florida. Her works are in major corporate collections in the United States and Japan. She has exhibited widely throughout her career.
University Park Branch Library, 3435 University Blvd. Phillip Estlund of Lake Worth, Fla., has been selected to create a wall relief sculpture which will be installed in a niche in the entrance corridor of the new library. Estlund, a Jacksonville native and graduate of Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, will work with large-scale acrylic panels which overlap and conform to fit into the concave contour of the niche. The art work will be entitled “Aquacycle.” Estlund is the Director of Exhibitions at Palm Beach County’s Institute of Contemporary Art. His work has been exhibited in Baltimore, San Francisco and Miami.
West Regional Branch Library, 1425 Chaffee Rd. Dana Chapman of Jacksonville will build three-dimensional sculptures out of clay that are enlarged renderings of objects found in nature. They will be installed above the library’s entrance doors and grouped to form distinct compositions on each of the three walls. The overall effect will be that of a continuous design flow over the entire entrance area. Chapman is a ceramics instructor at Jacksonville University and has exhibited in group and solo exhibits in New Orleans, Texas and Jacksonville.
The Art in Public Places Program is directed by the City’s appointed Public Art Commission, with technical assistance provided by the Cultural Council of Greater Jacksonville. For more information on Jacksonville’s public art program, contact the Art in Public Places Office at 358-3600, or visit the Web site at www.culturalcouncil.org.