More art advocating for libraries! Mixed media artist, Mindy Nierenberg, is one of five artists featured in “5 x 5,” the Tufts University Art Gallery Summer 2008 Exhibition. Her site-specific art installation, “Bibliotheca Publicus: An Endangered Species,” calls attention to the current and very serious issue of public library budget cuts, while also highlighting the public library’s importance to the community it serves.
[Mindy Nierenberg's] Bibliotheca Publica: An Endangered Species pays homage to the public library as the artist’s refuge and laments the demise of the library as a cultural and funding priority. The installation has four components: quotations printed on recycled card catalog cards; altered hardcover books with handwritten notes by Medford residents about what they have discovered at the library; an oak card catalog case containing information about libraries and pieces of ephemera; and a library desk, chair, and lamp. -from the Tufts University Art Gallery website.
Also, as part of the installation, a slide show reveals local community members’ thoughts about their libraries and a space is set up where viewers may write postcards to local officials about the importance of funding their library. These postcards will be mailed at the close of the exhibition.
“5×5,” the Fifth Annual Juried Summer Exhibition at the Tufts University Art Gallery, will be held from June 5 –August 10, 2008. The gallery hours are Wednesdays to Sundays, noon to 5p.m. The Tufts University Art Gallery is located in the Aidekman Arts Center on Talbot Avenue on the Tufts University Campus in Medford, MA. For more gallery information, see: http://ase.tufts.edu/gallery/info/directions.html.
Tags: Advocacy, art, community support, exhibitions, funding, MA, public libraries, Tufts
