Arts and Culture

Reading Power (detail)
Jeff Whipple
2002 - Acrylic on canvas - 146' long x 2'4'' wide - Interior
Commission St. Petersburg Art in Public Places Percent for Art

Reading Power

READING POWER
Mural - Johnson Library

Reading Power conveys the range of emotional experiences and feelings experienced through reading. A series of 24 figures, painted realistically, are shown in the act of reading, flung across the field of color as if flying and floating. Each figure is a modeled on an actual user or staff person at the library. The artist visited the library with his camera and took pictures to use as models in his studio. Painted into the background color pattern are 15 quotations and titles of books that were selected by the library staff. They are mostly discernible when standing under each one, except for the line from Lift Every Voice and Sing, written by James Weldon Johnson, for whom the library is named. The Johnson quote stands out strongly and can be read from across the room.

Location 26