The Seattle Public Library board of trustees has named four artists to complete residencies at The Seattle Public Library and present proposals for permanent artworks at the new Central Library as part of the “Library Unbound” project. The Library Board made its unanimous decision at its June 18 meeting.
The artists are: Renée Green of New York City and Spain; Mandy Greer of Seattle, George Legrady of Santa Barbara, Calif.; and Lynne Yamamoto of Brooklyn, N.Y.
Green is a mixed-media artist who frequently combines audio work with text to create an entire artistic space. She assembles and organizes complex sets of data and material in a quasi-archival manner to build a set of artworks about her chosen topics. At the library, she is most interested in looking at collections.
Greer is an emerging textile artist who creates whimsical soft sculptures based on imagery from children’s books. She has proposed working with schoolchildren to create work for the new library’s children’s area.
Legrady addresses organizational systems through his new media work. His work blends a high degree of interactivity with a sophisticated, analytical approach to create rich yet elegantly engaging works of art.
Mixed-media artist Yamamoto uses delicate, symbolic imagery and historical and political material to examine cultural and social issues through her subtle installation work.
The artists will be invited to complete a one- or two-week residency at the Temporary Central Library in September to learn about Library operations, collections and the new building, which will inform their design proposals. The Library will select up to three proposals that deal with social structures, people and systems to install in the new building.
The new 362,987-square-foot Central Library is currently under construction at 1000 Fourth Ave. Designed by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in a joint venture with Seattle-based LMN Architects, the building is expected to open in spring 2004.
A panel of arts professionals and Library staff reviewed the works of 268 artists before selecting the four artists to recommend to the Library Board.
Library Unbound is part of an overall art plan developed by art planners Jessica Cusick and Rick Lowe for the new Central Library, which also includes site-integrated artwork by Ann Hamilton, Tony Oursler and Gary Hill.
In addition, the Library and the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs (formerly the Seattle Arts Commission) also are sponsoring The Peephole Series, temporary public art projects that provide the public with insights into the development of the new Central Library and to promote discussion about the place a 21st century library holds in a democratic society.
The Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, the city agency that promotes the value of arts and culture in and of communities throughout Seattle, is supported by the 15-member Seattle Arts Commission, citizen volunteers appointed by the mayor and City Council. Arts & Cultural Affairs manages the Library’s public art program.
Voters approved the new Central Library in 1998 as part of the $196.4 million “Libraries for All” bond measure. The bond money, which can be used only for construction of libraries, will fund improvements to all 22 branches, build five new branches and build the new Central Library.
For more information about “Libraries for All,” visit the Library’s Web site at www.spl.org.
(For more information, call Caroline Young Ullmann, Library communications assistant, at 206-615-1627, or Karen L. Bystrom, communications director, Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, at 206-684-7306.)
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Content modified: 26 June 2003
12/30/2005
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