Art

Embracing, engaging and curating our local creative community.

Artist-In-Residence: 

Richland Library’s Artist-in-Residence Program aims to connect the community with local working artists and to provide creative and educational opportunities to the community in a way that supports cultural and artistic exchange. Apply

Allison's ArtAllison Cicero Moore
January - May 2019

Originally from Illinois, Moore is a jeweler and fine artist who currently lives, creates and teaches art in Columbia, South Carolina. She enjoys using familiar objects and contemporary concepts to link to the past.

Office Hours: Noon - 4 p.m., Tuesdays 


Past Artists-in-Residence include: 
Marius Valdes, October 2016 - June 2017 
Wendell Culbreath (aka THE Dubber), September - December 2017
Maria Fabrizio, January - June 2018
Miles Purvis, August - December 2018

Galleries:

Richland Library's galleries inspire, engage and enrich our customers, local artists and community partners through the visual arts. We believe that access to and interaction with art is essential to nurturing a growing, thriving, culturally and historically rich creative community. We a variety of flexibile, gallery spaces, the library is able to exhibit and promote local artists as well as welcome nationally recognized artists, illustrators and traveling exhibitions.  Request to Exhibit

 

Cecil Williams Unforgettable ExhibitUnforgettable: Celebrating a Time of Life, Hope and Bravery | Cecil Williams
Now – January 2019
First Level Gallery, Richland Library Main

This stunning collection of forty images provides a rare glimpse of events, portraits and moments of significant social change during the 1950s through the 1970s.

 

TransformationsTransformations & Translations | Una Kim and Janet Kozachek
January 7 - March 29, 2019
The Gallery at Richland Library Main

A beautiful and painful glimpse into globalization, the awareness of other cultures and other states of being, there remains deep misunderstandings across cultures, between genders, and across ethnic and social divides.
 

 

Our VoiceOur Voice: Celebrating the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Awards
February 14 - April 25
Third Level, Richland Library Main and Columbia Museum of Art

Featuring 101 award/honor-winning titles, the exhibit debuted at the The National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature (NCCIL) on February 8, 2017. Named for Mrs. Coretta Scott King, these awards recognize the works of outstanding African American authors and illustrators, and uphold the vital importance of children’s literature that celebrates African American life and culture. Read More  |  Find Events

 

 

Partnerships:

One Columbia works with Richland Library's executive leadership team, board members and community members to select proposals for art that fit with the needs of each of our library’s communities. Selected artists conduct workshops for the community related to their craft.

Public Art:

For each library, 1% of the construction budget is going toward public art. Inspired by our brand promises, we’re encouraging artists to serve the public good and nurture communities. One Columbia for Arts and History is helping us build your library by coordinating the selection of new pieces of public art for all of our renovations.

Ballentine Hyperbolic Crochet Wisteria Sculpture

Ballentine | Barbara Streeter

A stunning, kaleidoscope of color and energy, the Hyperbolic Crochet Wisteria Sculpture is a community driven project of knitted and crocheted yarn creating a sculpture that showcases the strength, individuality and diversity of the local community.

Ballentine Enid Williams

Ballentine | Ayako Abe-Miller


A textile/fiber installation of ephermal organza cubes where one side of every cube holds a "memory" provided by members of the Ballentine community.
 
Cooper Art

Cooper | Loren Schwerd


Arcadia is a fabric sculpture inspired by a graphite rubbing taken from the trunk of a large felled tree. The crinoline used creates shadows and patterns and sparks imagination.
Where the Wild Things Are Mural

Main | Michael Hagen

Spanning nearly 40 feet, this unique mural was produced by Michael Hagen, Mr. Sendak's stage and set designer. It is the first and only Sendak-authorized mural of his work.

Free standing wild things

Main | Michael Hagen

Maurice Sendak's stage and set designer, Michael Hagen, has brought the imaginations of thousands of children to life with these free-standing, three-dimensional Wild Things. 

Kimi Maeda Shadow Tunnel

Main | Kimi Maeda

Kimi Maeda is a Japanese-American theatre artist based in Columbia, South Carolina. She created a "shadow tunnel􀂵 that leads into the new children's storytime room. This interactive art piece enables children to create puppet shows and play with shadows.

Marius Valdes Mural

Main | Marius Valdes


Marius Valdes created a permanent art installation made from more than 5,000 hand-drawn bookmarks on a 50 x 9 foot entrance wall in the Teen Center. Many of the bookmarks were created by local community members of all ages.

Public Art

Main | Enid Williams

Staff fell in love with the work of SC artist Enid Williams. Our design team connected with Enid Williams and Milliken & Company and voila, custom flooring based on Williams' work was produced for the Main Library renovation.

North Main Public Art

North Main | Laurie Brownell McIntosh

Columbia-based artist Laurie Brownell captured the spirit of the participants' community in -panel installation composed of their deconstructed and reassembled creations.
 

Public Art at Richland Library

St. Andrews | Jarod Charzewski


The project titled The Band Shell comes from every community's basic need to meet, an intuitive human nature to create and perform. The structure is a performance space that will give the St. Andrews community a lasting sense of identity.

Jarod Charzewski Water Tower

Blythewood | Jarod Charzewski

"The Water Tower Pavilion was inspired by the Blythewood steam train water tower. This tower was a figure in the town's history and serviced the Blythewood railway industry. The pavilion nourishes the community and its culture while embracing its historic beginnings.