Check It Out! - An Arts Exhibition, Hobbit Party and A Big List of Thanks from the Ferndale Library
We've had a busy year at the library and we're proud to share some of its highlights as well as our gratitude for the community's continued support.
Thanksgiving at the Ferndale Public Library..
Blue is true and green means envy, red is the passion and yellow yields - our emotions are inescapably vibrant and require a certain chromatic, or kaleidoscopic communication.
The Ferndale Library's Arts & Exhibitions Committee kicks off December with an exploration of color's compelling powers through the history of painted canvas.
"Painting is something that takes place among the colors," said famous 19th century German poet Rainer Maria Rilke. "Their intercourse: this is the whole of painting."
“Seeing Red: The Powerof Color in Art” presented by Detroit Institute of Arts, December 4th at the Ferndale Library.
Wendy Evans, who teaches Art History at the College for Creative Studies, Wayne State and the D.I.A., will use images from the museum's art collection throughout history to illustrate the impact of color in art.
Learning the language of color is like learning a more nuanced way of seeing. The event, which is free and open to the public, will look at DIA art from different times and different places. Starting at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Room, we’ll be exploring the varied ways artists employ color – be it snaring attention or stirring deep emotions, conveying various symbolic meanings to draw your eyes around the canvas, or just for sheer delight.
“This presentation promises to offer a fascinating view into the minds of artists and the diverse ways they think about color,” said Todd Abrams of the Ferndale Library Arts and Exhibition Committee. “We are thrilled to bring the assets of a world class museum into our neighborhood.”
Born in England and educated at Oxford, Speaker Wendy Evans was recently named Volunteer of the Year by the DIA’s Speakers Bureau. She gives other art talks in institutions throughout the area, including “Reawakening Renaissance Art,”and, “Whistler and his Followers.”
Hobbit Party
Naturally, we're geeked about the forthcoming premier of Peter Jackson's return to middle-earth with his mighty three-part motion picture adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit - so we're throwing a party on Saturday, December 1, at 12:00 p.m. in the Community Room.
Guests (kids - age 9 and up) have a chance to win prizes for the "Best Middle Earth Costumes." Along with food and fun crafts, we'll also be screening the movie that rekindled this generation's hobbit-hysteria - 2001's The Fellowship of the Ring (starting at 1:30 pm). No Registration required.
Library Gives Thanks
Generous donations from our patrons included mountains of candy to cater our rockin' Halloween Spooktacular for Library trick-or-treaters, while our annual Bake Sale, with treats supplied entirely by local/DIY chefs, earned more than $800 to go towards our Summer Concert series.
Enthusiastic attendance for our various programs was steady all year long - particularly for our visit from bestselling author Miriam Girshow (for our annual Ferndale Reads campaign) and for our Day of Books and Roses event highlighting Spanish culture through food, art and drink.
We offered 166 programs for kids, including a special reading group partnership with Ferndale Middle School on The Hunger Games series that garnered coverage on WXYZ-Action News.
The Library's collection was expanded thanks to generous grants; one, particularly, from the family of Karen Fung Ping Mui, allowing the purchase of a large number of materials edifying our English as a Second Language collection.
Library won the $2,000 James C. Dance Grant from Metro Detroit Book and Author Society and has since purchased over fifty art books including business books for artists and art books featuring local artists’ work.
Peace Action of Michigan and the Ferndale Community Foundation also awarded the library with grants toward adding materials on peace issues and adaptive toys for children with special needs, respectively. And of course, we're ever thankful for the continued support of the Friends of the Ferndale Library.
Most recently, we welcomed our new Library Director Jessica Keyser (a Ferndale resident, formerly of the Hazel Park Public Library). And two months ago, in response to patron preferences, we expanded our weekend hours (while shifting weekday times opening one hour later -10 a.m.).
First Stop Friday - with DandyLyon Whine and St. Zita
FPL Head of Circulation, Kelly Bennett, presented at two conferences this year, most notably at the national Public Library Association conference in Philadelphia, on the Ferndale Library’s First Stop Friday concert series. This ongoing monthly showcase for local music is an ostensible commemoration of our ever-growing local music collection.
Next week, Dec. 7 we'll hear experimental/atmospheric folk-rock and noise-pop styled by DandyLyon Whine and St. Zita. Music starts around 7 p.m. (Free and open to the public).
