Some asked ‘Who the heck is writing this blog? What is this blog about?’ Well, I can answer both because I KNOW THE ANSWERS. My name is Kathy Johnson and my extreme good fortune is to be working with the great staff at the Sandwich Public Library. I am a programming assistant and part-time young adult librarian. I write the blog. I take the pictures.
Now….what is the Mural Project 2008 all about? The Mural Project 2008 is the result of a grant from our Sandwich Local Cultural Council which hands out grant monies given by the Massachusetts Cultural Council. I received the notification in December of 2007. We have been granted a 6 month extension mainly due to the tight schedules of the students who I wanted to participate in this project. We are very fortunate to have a local artist, Jackie Reeves, as the Project Mentor. Jackie is a painter and muralist with a studio, The Yellow House Studio, located in Merchant Square. The mural idea itself came about this way: The stairwell in the library leading down to our meeting rooms is a great expanse of white – or offwhite as the case may be. And Mrs. Johnson abhors a big white space. The wall was actually a canvas just waiting for visionary action. I had had some SHS Art Honor Society students in past years do some wonderful mural and furniture makeovers for us. So, I wrote the grant with the National Art Honor Society student members in mind. We lost a few because they graduated, but we began again in earnest this fall of 2008. I learned a lot from Jackie right from the get go and soon knew that we would not be done by December of 2008. I requested an extension which was received. Completion of the Mural Project should be in April with a formal unveiling.
There’s more to it, but I just wanted to clue everyone in who might be interested in following the progress who it all started. Thanks to the students, Jackie, Brett and the Cultural Council and of course the Board of Trustees who said OK. Oh, yes, the grant was entitled “The Library as Art”. Think about it.
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