700 what? Who knew the Dewey Decimal System had so many art categories? There’s a copy by my computer now—hooray!

sabatini gallery news: We will be closed for installation from September 8–27, reopening the 28th with The Journey of Tea. While we pack and patch walls, you can kill time between shows learning more about tea history. Check out The Eccentric Teapot, The Tea Companion or this tea recipe book. This one is good, too: Tea and Sympathy: The Life of an English Teashop in New York. Friday is your last chance to see Brian Collier’s Master Collection of Very Small Objects and your final opportunity to submit something for our Community Archive project. Congratulations to Brian on his new teaching position at the Kansas City Art Institute and upcoming group exhibit at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Weather Report: Art and Climate Change, curated by Lucy Lippard.

local: High-fives and jazz hands to Topeka’s Collective Art Gallery, which celebrates its 20th anniversary on September 7. If you can’t make this retrospective, check for pictures on TSCPL’s Flickr account soon. It’s also the first Friday of the month which means you can participate in Topeka’s city-wide gallery crawl (Sabatini Gallery included). Check here for details.

If TSCPL departments were family members, Special Collections is like your great aunt and uncle who’ve lived in Topeka as long as you can remember and they seem to know everyone. They were friends with Langston Hughes, Karl Menninger and Grandma Layton. They’ve had dinner with Robert Sudlow and Anna Bloch.  They’re world travelers with a cool collection of art and artifacts and are as fond of their Chokwe Pwo mask from Angola as they are of Nikol Miller’s knitted burlesquewear seen this past summer at The Harveyville Project’s open house party.

Some say they’re master storytellers as recollections are often enhanced with odd trivia, amusing details, maps, yearbook photos or an architectural blueprint from the early 20^th century. They preserve tradition while encouraging innovation, and are permanently invested in maintaining our “family” history. Auntie Special and Uncle Collection are like your favorite relatives who want to see you more often and get to know you better.

Because most people don’t expect to find an art gallery, archivists, art historians and a 4500-piece (and counting) permanent collection of art and artifacts in a public library setting, we encourage you to explore our services.

“Is there a difference between cheap and expensive oil paint?”

“Does contemporary indicate a timeframe or a style?”

“How can I enter the Topeka Riverfront Design Competition?”

“Is it true Valerie Solanis claimed she was making a performance piece when she shot Andy Warhol?”

In terms of reference, FAQ could also read: frequent art questions because staff in the Sabatini Gallery answers the bulk of the Library’s art-related inquiries. We also maintain and contribute to on-going art dialogue through our exhibits, educational partnerships, programs, daily interactions and our new Special Collections Papercuts column, Art & Antiquarian. Ask us anything. We’re an excellent resource for students, teachers, artists, gallery owners, museum professionals, collectors and art patrons. If we can’t immediately provide you with an answer, we’ll offer professional direction and research leads to other resources in the Library. Here’s a starter list of questions we’ve been asked (and these really only scratch the surface):