The Chestermere Public Library staffers are giving the community an opportunity to get to know them, as they are the featured Artists of the Month.
“We want outsiders to feel like they know us so that they can come in. The people who are in here all the time, they do feel like they know us,” said the Chestermere Public Library Acting Director Cathy Burness.
“It’s another way of being part of the community, we have people from the outside having their artwork displayed in here,” she added. “It’s important that people know that the ladies who work at the library put their heart and soul into their work here.”
For the month of March, photography, cross-stitch, pastel art, diamond art, pencil sketches, watercolour, and peddle art will be featured.
“There is a wide-variety. These ladies do a bunch of other things too, but we could only feature things that could be hung up on the walls,” Burness said.
Although Chestermere and area artists have been featured for over a year, this is the first time ever that a group is a featured artist.
The Organizer of the Artist of the Month program, Lin Kingdon, had approached the library staffers in featuring their children’s artwork.
“Since most of us have grown-up kids, we were a little bit stretched thinking how that would go. I just mentioned that a lot of us are artsy, and she embraced that immediately,” Burness said.
In the past, the art featured would be for sale. However, the library staffers’ artwork is not for sale.
“Most of the pieces were stolen off of our own walls,” Burness said.
She added, most of the art pieces she has made weren’t framed, they were stashed in a sketchbook before being featured in the library.
Despite some staffers being hesitant to have their artwork up on the library walls, it was extremely important for Burness to showcase the people who work at the library.
“Creativity is a valuable asset anywhere, but certainly in a library environment. It’s important, especially in any kind of public service, that people understand who is affected when hours are cut, and who is affected when hours are extended,” Burness said.
“We have people giving up their Sundays and their evenings to work those hours that we know our patrons want. It’s important for people to know that there are people who work here, not numbers,” she said.
Adding, “Our patrons are so good, they bring us coffees and doughnuts, the kids give us thank-you cards, and tell us that we’re awesome. We get a lot of love.
Burness will be adding to the art collection before the end of the month, as one artistic staffer is away.
“She’s an amazing artist. We have yet to have any of her pieces here, and I would really like to add them once she’s back,” Burness said.
