Life in the 700s is about everything from early cave drawings and fertility figures to the issues and shifting boundaries art generates and experiments with today. It reports from a world dominated by grey area, few answers and endless questions. It is also about exchanging ideas and information, and having a forum in which to respond to the Arts around us, both local and global.
In 1876, Melvil Dewey invented a system of library classification which attempted to organize all of human knowledge into ten major areas, one of which encompasses the Arts: the 700s. This category begins with the Arts in general then migrates to Landscaping/Area planning (710s), Architecture (720s), Sculpture/Ceramics/Metalwork (730s), Drawing/Decorative Arts (740s), Painting (750s), Graphic Arts (760s), Photography/Computer Art (770s), Music (780s) and wraps with Sports/Games/Entertainment (790s).
That's how one Art Appreciation student from Allen County Community College recently described the Topeka Room.
It's surprisingly common how many people don't know this place exists.
"All I want is your opinion when you write, because later on in your education, that's what you'll be researching."
That's what Laura Dalrymple, Allen County Community College art instructor tells her students before they start writing about the art they see at the Sabatini Art Gallery.
For the first time, Laura Dalrymple shares her students' responses—with their permission—to art from the Library's permanent collection.
First up: Barbara Waterman-Peters' MWS 282: The Root of All.
Once again, our visitors weigh in on the current exhibition. I look forward to reading these and posting them at the close of every exhibit.
Recent Acquisitions is now closed. We'll be down for a couple weeks installing the next show, the Topeka Competition 29, and will open again for First Fridays, November 6 at 9AM. If you missed this show, remember, you can catch them all at our Flickr page. Enjoy!
The Sabatini Art Gallery is located a short distance from the Library entrance, just to the right of the rotunda. Exhibits, programs and events are free, casual and open to the public.
Hours are the same as the Library, except when closed for change of exhibition.