By: Edir Coronado
With the landscape of education and research changing rapidly and the format in which society consumes needed information becoming almost exclusively digital, the public library has maintained its relevance, as Carolann DeMatos stated, as a “community cornerstone.” DeMatos is the Director of Marketing and Public Relations at the Somerset County Library System; holds a Master in Science in Digital Imaging and Design; and is the visionary behind this year’s traveling mural created by the community.
The mural was created with the purpose of reminding the community of the library’s message and educational forum; connect, explore, share, and discover, through art. The art project was developed at this year’s Somerset County 4-H County Fair held on August 10th. 4-H is a nationwide youth development organization. According to the Somerset County 4-H association, the yearly county fair is a showcase for visitors to see a wide variety of 4-H projects in action.
DeMatos announced before the 4-H fair that a blank canvas with four boards would be made available for all to stop by, fill their hands with paint, and leave their handprints or thumbprint. The event took about two hours and over 200 participants of all ages were involved. DeMatos was pleasantly surprised with the number of people that wanted to be involved in the venture and the different types of folks that wanted to participate. One of the important aspects of the project, which was stressed during the design, was the expression of everyone’s artistic self.
The County Agricultural Department presented the same idea for a mural, which inspired DeMatos, except a professional artist was brought in for the task. This, DeMatos felt, might discourage people from participating, so she decided to simplify it by making the artwork about handprints. At one point a child had placed a blob across the boards causing the mother to apologize for what she believed was her child ruining the art. Dematos assured the woman, that nothing was ruined, but instead her son had only enhanced the artwork. “Let him explore,” expressed DeMatos. The Somerset County Library Mural Project, was meant to be easy going, in order to foster an environment where the community could be more involved with their library.
Partly because the Somerset County Library system wants to exert itself as, not just a place where you can read books; which is still an important part, but, a place where you can sit and enjoy a cup of coffee and feel safe. “We are the next best Starbucks, except we are free,” stated DeMatos.
The Mural will be on tour to all of the Somerset County libraries, where it will be hung up for all community members to see. Its final destination is yet to be determined. A new mural project is in the works and because of the great turnout, a bigger canvas will be made available, so more people can be involved. DeMatos hopes that this project can serve as inspiration for local branches to create their own murals.
(above) Children participating in the creation of the Somerset County Community Mural which will be on tour to all of the Somerset County libraries
