Client: Metro Nashville Arts Commission

Overview

An exterior sculpture 16'H x 33'W x 11'D, fabricated in stainless steel with carved and fused dichroic glass panels along with type carved into black on white flashed handblown glass. A percent for art commission for the new Bellevue Public Library in Nashville, Tennessee, the sculpture is placed between the library's activity lawn and a community walking trail.

Goals

The removal of trees at the site of the new Bellevue Public Library and the resulting community concern served as the source of inspiration for a “learning tree” using glass panel leaves containing the first sentences of the library patron’s favorite books.

Process

The library circulated the artist's request for patron's favorite first sentences of any book via a form in the library and on the library's website. Many responses were received encompassing the classics, mysteries, children's and contemporary literature. The artist then carved more than half of these beginning lines into black on white flashed glass which was applied to the fused dichroic glass panels of the sculpture.