Call for Public Art on Library Lawn Gets 202 Submissions

The entries are in and counted.

More than 200 well-crafted public art designs are stacked neatly in boxes, locked and filed in an administrative office at . 

The postmarks on the packages of the submissions — from the coasts of California to Maine — tell only a part of the story.

One of those designs will permanently change the face of the library campus.

Last year, the Lakewood Public Library Foundation called on the national-artist community for its input on an “iconic” sculpture that library officials hope to have erected by this fall.

The library’s board of trustees spent quite a bit of time working with the architect, Robert A. M. Stern, to choose the perfect spot for the art. They settled on the northwest corner of the property facing Detroit Avenue.

Submissions from 36 states — 32 of them from Ohio — came pouring in. By the time the deadline rolled around at the end of January, 202 artists had submitted their designs.

Now, the judges will spend much of the spring sifting through the mountain of entries, whittling the list down to three finalists. Then, the committee will present its winner.

Meant to be a welcoming feather in the cap of the newly renovated and expanded main building, the judges are impressed with what they’ve seen so far.

“As a committee, we have been thoroughly impressed by the number and quality of applications to the foundation’s call for art,” said Nancy Seibert, president of the Library Board of Trustees, who is also one of the judges — who pointed out that the project is being funded with private donations.

The other members of the art selection committee are Tiffany Graham; Marcia Hall; Dan Cuffaro; Lucy Sinagra; Mary Anne Crampton; and Ruth Weible.

Seibert said the committee was also pleased with the number of designs submitted — and the national attention received — for the project.

 “Most of the entrants wrote about their love of libraries and their professional, beautiful and thoughtful submissions support their claim,” she said. “We hope that the sculpture will welcome people to the library and maybe encourage them to explore the resources of the library.”