June 30, 2006

Art sculptures installed as part of the New Evergreen Library

Click on photos for slide show

On June 19, a huge crane lifted three marble sculptures totaling 14 tons into a rock garden behind the newly constructed, but unfinished Evergreen Branch Library. The three pieces began their existence as 22 tons of rough-cut stone from the cliffs of Carrara, Italy where Michelangelo selected his marble. They were then carved into a mouth, an eye, and an ear.

When asked why he chose to create this particular piece of art for the Evergreen Library, public artist Larry Kirkland elaborated, “The essence of who we are is our ability to communicate… and that’s what these pieces are about.”

Kirkland said he wanted to draw out the feeling of a historic past to remind people that we are only the most recent chapter of cultures that have struggled to integrate in millennium gone by. “This library will serve 45 language groups,” he said. “Twenty-five years ago it served one. When a new immigrant family moves anywhere the first thing they seek out is the library. It’s the civic institution that is representative of this community most immediately.”

The Branch Library Bond Measure, which was passed in 2000, allotted $212 million to build six new and 14 expanded branch libraries. The Evergreen Branch Library on Aborn was completely leveled to make way for a new design that is currently taking shape. Art was commissioned at the same time construction began three years ago. Working with San Jose Pubic Art, the library art was given a budget of $188,897.

—Photos by Jeff Frazee