$20,000 approved for text artist’s creation.
By: Jennifer Potash
The Princeton Public Library plans to incorporate art inside and outside the new $18 million downtown building.
On Tuesday, the trustees discussed and approved a new proposal for an outdoor conceptual piece for the building’s northwest wall.
An array of art from sculptures, paintings, textiles and mosaics will inhabit the library space.
Jeff Nathanson, a member of the Art Committee and president of the International Sculpture Center at the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton Township, said the committee sought to offer patrons varied and new art experiences.
The Art Committee recommended the trustees approve a commission to artist Robert Barry, an internationally known text artist and New Jersey resident.
The idea is to take words out of the normal context of appearing on a page of a book, newspaper or magazine, Mr. Nathanson said. The words may appear backwards, upside down or at a slant.
"It is unobtrusive and in a subtle way it is very powerful," Mr. Nathanson said.
Mr. Barry had suggested some words including "believe," "need," "doubt," "imagine," "possible" and "change" for the project.
Several trustees didn’t like the list. Mr. Nathanson said the list was a starting point and the artist would visit Princeton and meet with the board and other library officials.
The trustees unanimously approved the $20,000 commission. The artist will also create a drawing of the work, which the trustees may use for a fund-raising campaign for major donors, Mr. Nathanson said.
Mr. Nathanson also gave an update on some of the other artists working on projects for the new library.
A painting by Faith Ringgold, an Englewood-based painter and author whose work is exhibited worldwide, will be transformed into a mosaic for the children’s library on the third floor. The painting originated from a story she wrote called "Tar Beach" about a young girl growing up in New York City who spends her summers on her apartment building’s roof dreaming she can fly. The mosaic, created with colored, hand-blown Italian glass, will be paired with quotes from the book on the wall, hand-drawn by the artist, said Mr. Nathanson.
Princeton Borough Mayor Joseph O’Neill, who is a library trustee, quipped the amazing art work would make it very difficult to tear down the library in 50 years.
Mr. Nathanson said the mosaic will not be embedded into the wall and could be moved.
Tom Nussbaum of Montclair will create several whimsical sculptures for the children’s floor. One depicts a boy riding on the back of a polar bear. Two other sculptures a young girl cradling a stork egg and one of a little boy standing next to a big fish will be placed outside the children’s restroom on the third floor.
Margaret Johnson, a Princeton-based artist, is creating a subtle, multilayered textile piece for the wall of the library’s Quiet Room, a no-talking space on the second floor.
Other library works include New York artist Ik-Joong Kang’s "Happy World," comprising thousands of 3-inch-square pieces created from items donated by residents and using the word "library" in 55 languages, and a weaving by Guatemalan-born artist Armando Sosa.