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SBPL Unveils New Art in the Library Brochure

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2 people look at large artwork

Tympanum is not a word one hears often, but if you’ve ever visited the Central Library there’s a good chance you’ve admired one! The tympanum over the Old Main Entrance on Anapamu Street is the Central Library’s oldest art piece. It was designed by Carleton M. Winslow and executed by Marshall Laird in 1924, seven years after the library opened in 1917. Both the tympanum and Sunburst Over California Poppies (1930) were restored during the Michael Towbes Plaza Renovation in 2024.

tympanum and poppies mural side by side

Inspired by the Plaza and Faulkner Memorial Art Gallery renovations, library staff have re-imagined the Art in the Library brochure. The original, dating back to the 1970s/80s, was once an often-used reference resource for patrons interested in learning about the art hanging in the library. The librarians handed them out to anyone who wanted one. The last copy of the original permanent Art in the Library brochure has been living in the Library’s Locked Case for the last few decades.

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Old Art Brochure
OLD Art Brochure Herter Section
Old Art Brochure Tympanum
Old Art Brochure Murals

Printed on glossy paper with beautiful color reproductions, the updated Art in the Library brochure provides an overview of each piece, updated research, a stunning hand-colored reproduction of a 1930s postcard of the Faulkner Gallery, and a map of the building indicating the location of each work of art. A quote by Nancy Gifford, the artist who created Lament (2014), captures the interplay between art and libraries: "The visual arts and the literary arts are reinventing their relationship to one another, and libraries are redefining their future."

NEW Art in the Library Brochure Front
New Art in the Library Brochure Back

Library staff also added tombstone labels in English/Spanish for each of the art pieces in the library, identifying the artist and providing historical context for each piece. Research gathered for the tombstones was also collected and added to the Library’s Art in the Library webpage. During one recent library tour, a patron commented on the Art in the Library brochure: “I’ve been coming here for years and wondered about the art on the walls. This brochure is beautiful and makes me appreciate the story behind each piece.”

Nancy Gifford in front of Lament
“The visual arts and the literary arts are reinventing their relationship to one another, and libraries are redefining their future.”
Nancy Gifford, Artist

Interested in viewing the art for yourself or picking up your very own Art in the Library brochure? Visit the Central Library and ask for one at the service desk!

Central Library artworks included in the Art in the Library brochure:

  1. Carleton Winslow and Marshall Laird Tympanum (1924)
  2. John Gamble Sunburst Over California Poppies (1930)
  3. Albert Herter Egyptian Hieroglyphs (1937)
  4. Albert Herter The Printing of the Gutenberg Bible (1944)
  5. Channing Peake and Howard Warshaw Don Quixote (1959)
  6. Michael Gonzales Summer Solstice Celebration (1981)
  7. Nancy Gifford Lament (2014)