The first four artists have been selected to propose artwork to be integrated into the new Central Library in downtown Seattle. They are: installation and public artist Ann Hamilton of Ohio; Seattle-based media artist Gary Hill; conceptual artist Gabriel Orozco of Mexico; and video artist Tony Oursler of New York.
The Seattle Public Library board of trustees approved asking the artists to submit proposals at its December meeting, but it wasn’t until last week that all the artists confirmed they would do so. A panel made up of public art experts, and library and architect representatives reviewed the work of 28 artists before recommending the four to the Library Board.
Barbara Goldstein, public art program manager at the Seattle Arts Commission, which is managing the Library’s public art program, said the panel was impressed with the artists’ diverse artistic visions and their enthusiasm for integrating art into a public gathering space.
"Each understands that libraries are unique spaces in a community, spaces devoted to learning and inspiration and renewal of spirit," Goldstein said. "All the artists are looking forward to sharing their visions with the public."
Hamilton represented the United States in the 1999 Venice Biennale and her work has been displayed in museums in the United States, Holland, and France. She created a permanent public art installation involving library cards at the San Francisco Central Library.
Hill is a recipient of a MacArthur “genius” grant. Hill, who is currently a fellow at the American Academy in Rome, has had solo exhibitions in museums worldwide, including Japan, Germany, Canada, Portugal, Spain and the United States. Orozco, whose work also has been exhibited worldwide, often uses photography as a medium to infuse ordinary objects with mysterious and humorous properties. His solo exhibition is touring the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the Museo Internacional Rufino Tamayo in Mexico City and the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo in Monterrey, Mexico.
Tony Oursler’s solo exhibitions have toured throughout the United States and Europe. He has developed an interactive CD-ROM video program and his temporary public project, The Influence Machine, was recently displayed at Madison Square Park in New York and in Soho Square in London.
If the Library Board approves the proposals, the artists will work with Jessica Cusick and Rick Lowe, who were selected in September 2000 to be the arts planners for the new central library.
Cusick and Lowe are creating a comprehensive, integrated public artwork plan, which will include a series of works developed by artists whose approaches focus on people and systems; multi-media commissions involving sound, new media and literary arts; and a series of round-table discussions with groups of invited speakers.
There is about $900,000 available for implementation of the central library art program, which includes artists’ fees, fabrication costs, travel and other expenses. The new $159 million library, which is being designed by award-winning architect Rem Koolhaas and LMN Architects, is part of the “Libraries for All” building program that Seattle voters approved in 1998.
The existing Central Library will close in June while the collection of books and materials moves to its temporary location and then will be demolished. The Temporary Central Library will open in July in the expanded Washington State Convention and Trade Center, at 800 Pike St., with the same hours and staff.
The new central library is scheduled to open in 2003 on the existing site at 1000 Fourth Ave.
(For more information, call Barbara Goldstein, Seattle Arts Commission manager of the civic and community arts programs, 206-684-7311, or Caroline Young Ullmann, Library assistant communications officer, 206-615-1627.)
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Content modified: 18 January 2001
12/30/2005
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