Sesquicentennial Exhibit Opens April 4, 2014

 

TCPL's Sesquicentennial exhibit "150 Years and Counting..." which opens at Gallery Night on Friday, April 4, 2014 has three parts:

Artists in the Archives –A Collection of Card Catalogs :
“Book Marks” by Barbara Page – One Artist; one card catalog; The “Alternet” by Carla Rae Johnson – Over 70 artists; one card catalog; and “The Call to Everyone” by JoAnne Wilcox – Everyone, even YOU; one card catalog.

Talk Tompkins by photographer Ben Altman – An audio visual installation of portraits of and interviews with, members of the Tompkins County community who talk with Altman about their lives here and the Library.

Diary of a Library: A Community Card Catalog of Pictures, Memories and Stories: This 15-drawer card catalog, an ongoing project created by Barbara Page and Sally Grubb, has been filled with cards contributed by library patrons, trustees, friends, students and community members.  The cards contain photos, stories, drawings, memories, original art work, artists’ books, our history, and represent 150 years of library service.

The opening reception for this exhibit is being held on Friday, April 4, from 5:00 – 8:00 PM, and is the first event in a weekend of Sesquicentennial Celebrations taking place at TCPL.  Check 150th Anniversary for a calendar of events.

More information about the three exhibits will follow in future blogs.

Talk Tompkins - part of the exhibit 150 Years and Counting - opens on Friday, April 4

TALK TOMPKINS, an audio visual installation by photographer Ben Altman, shows and records some of the rich variety of people and communities in Tompkins County. Large portrait photographs show the participants, who also speak in audio recordings about their lives, histories, communities and the public library.  It is part of TCPL's Sesquicentennial exhibit 150 Years and Counting ...




Carl Seamon, Highway Superintendent, Town of Danby

In the creation of TALK TOMPKINS Altman decided to explore the many diverse communities he had discovered on moving to Ithaca that exist in the town and surrounding areas and which he finds often have little contact with or even awareness of one another.  His focus has been on those who are not university or college faculty, or students from elsewhere.

Altman's inspiration for this installation was his work for Peekskill Project V, organized by the Hudson Valley for Contemporary Art, which became a solo show Say Peekskill in January 2013.

TALK TOMPKINS is funded by an Artists in the Community Grant from the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County and the installation at TCPL is made possible by a grant from the Gannett Foundation.

A special opening reception will be held during Gallery Opening Night on Friday, April 4 from 5 - 8 PM. Entry to the Library after 5 PM will be through the BorgWarner Community Room door behind the bus shelter on Green Street.

Diary of a Library, part of TCPL’s Sesquicentennial exhibit 150 Years and Counting, opens on Friday, April 4, 2014

Diary of a Library: A Community Card Catalog of Stories, Memories and Pictures is an ongoing project launched by Barbara Page and Sally Grubb to tell TCPL’s 150 year story through drawings, poems, stories and photographs.  It is part of the TCPL Sesquicentennial Art Exhibit 150 Years and Counting.

The exhibit features a 15-drawer, repurposed card catalog, filled with 3 x 5 cards submitted by community members, library staff, trustees and friends which together add up to a colorful picture of 150 years of library service to the community.

Drawer topics include Library stories, History of TCPL, History of Libraries, Favorite Books, Artists’ Books, The next 150 Years, People at the Library, Friends of the Library, Art at the Library, Library programs and events, Children at the Library.

Contributions to this community card catalog are welcome and cards will be accepted and added throughout the year. For information about adding a card go to Diary of a Library.

Come and browse.  See what you friends and neighbors think of TCPL.  Add you own comments and participate in Diary of a Library and TCPL’s Sesquicentennial Celebrations.  For information about other Sesquicentennial events go to 150 Anniversary.

A special opening reception for all the exhibits included in 150 Years and Counting is being held in conjunction with Gallery Opening Night, Friday, April 4, from 5 to 8 PM.

Entry to the Library after 5 PM is through the BorgWarner Community Room door behind the bus shelter on Green Street.

Artists in the Archives - part of 150 Years and Counting - Opens Friday, April 4 2014

 

Three artists, working separately, transform library card catalogs into an art form.  Each artist envisions the catalogs’ potential in a different way.

 

Book Marks by Barbara Page: One artist; one card catalog.
Barbara Page collects library cards representing books that have made an impression on her and marks them with drawings, rubber stamping, and collage elements that encode her recollections of the book each card designates.  The completed cards are filed in an old library case now labeled Book Marks.

www.barbarapagestudio.com

 

 

The Alternet by Carla Rae Johnson: over 70 artists; one card catalog.

 

What does an artist do with a fifty drawer card catalog?  Artist Carla Rae Johnson has filled one with over fourteen thousand works of art!  More than seventy artists participated in The Alternet, creating three hundred drawings, photos, collages, or writings on three inch by five inch cards. Browse through The Alternet card catalog and make amazing discoveries in every drawer.  It’s like Facebook for your fingers!

www.facebook.com/thealternet

 

The Call to Everyone

by JoAnne Wilcox: Everyone, even YOU: one card catalog.

 

The Call to Everyone project is an exhibition of over 600 discarded library catalog cards that have been repurposed as canvases for cell phone photos. Participants from all over the United States and from 12 countries have utilized these catalog and due date cards. Directions to participate: www.thecalltoeveryone.com

These three, repurposed card catalogs will be displayed in the Avenue of the Friends, during April, May and June 2014.  Barbara Pages card catalog Book Marks will be displayed in an exhibit case to protect the artwork.  Browsing is welcome in the other catalogs.


As it is part of the Sesquicentennial exhibit

Artists in the Archives will open with a special reception during Gallery Opening Night on Friday, April 4, 5 - 8 PM.

After 5 PM entry to the Library is through the BorgWarner Community Room door behind the bus shelter on Green Street.