All ages are invited to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Patten Free Library Children’s Room mural painted in 1978 by the internationally known artist from Georgetown, Maine, Dahlov Ipcar. On Wednesday, November 7, 4-5:00pm, we’ll emulate her mural by painting our version. Refreshments will be served.
The original 43’ wide x 4’ high wall of mural was originally painted in the former Children’s Room which is now the Adult Information Services area, and amazingly transferred in 1998 to an additional building, in the current Children’s Room.
Dahlov was an American painter, illustrator and author. She was best known for her colorful, kaleidoscopic-styled paintings featuring animals – primarily in either farm or wild settings. The Patten Free Library mural was her first of many murals painted throughout America. Regarding the library’s mural, she said it consists of “typical Ipcar jungle animals, simple but exotic, coming mostly from Africa but extending into India.” According to Dahlov, “The murals feature a Composite Crane, Cheetah, Antelope-Greater Kudoo, African Zebra, Thompson’s Gazelle, Wildebeast, the old Children’s Room cat named Squiggles, Lion, Civit Cat, Composite Bird, Hoo Poos, Tiger, Asian Deer, Spotted Salamader, Asian Hare and Wild Peccary.”
“I find it hard to explain my art, but then it doesn’t really need explanation. It may seem mysterious or challenging, but all you need to do is to open your heart to the joy and excitement of a new visual experience, to accept a new vision of a world full of the unusual, a world of the creative imagination.” Daholv Ipcar (November 12, 1917 – February 10, 2017)
Find out more about dear Dahlov on this site http://exitfive.com/dahlov/biography.html