Public Art Installation Dedication at West End Library

Public Art Installation Dedication at West End Library in Alameda

Name of Public Art-"Island Creatures"

Brief Description-A carved mural in Black Walnut by Artists Debey Zito and Terry Schmitt

Dedication Date-Saturday April 16, 2011

4:00 p.m.

It is free to everyone and refreshments will be served. 

Location of event-

Alameda Free Library - West End 

788 Santa Clara Avenue

Alameda, CA 94501

Details about this event-

The West End Library of Alameda was a Public Work Administration (PWA) project built in 1936 designed by architect Carl Werner.  It is a one-room neighborhood library with both adult and children’s sections in the same room. Under Measure O passed in 2000 they received funds to restore the building and install a permanent public art installation. The library wanted something, which would bring together both young and old at the same time. 

The collaborative work of woodworking artists Debey Zito and Terry Schmitt was selected. It is a carved wooden mural a 4 x 24 foot mural carved and polychromed in black walnut to compliment the stained oak original to the library. The overall artistic concept is by Debey Zito, with carving by Terry Schmitt. “You cannot live on the island of Alameda without experiencing birds on a daily basis”, say Debey. They see Alameda as a very special place for wildlife, especially winged creatures, with the Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary, which is a protected strip of marsh and wetlands and a destination for many migrating birds in fall and winter months. From the sanctuary, you can walk miles along the shoreline of Crown Memorial Beach, where birds forage along the mud flats and the marshlands of San Francisco Bay.

With their love and concern for nature and the environment, Debey Zito and Terry Schmitt have chosen to highlight the unique natural habitat of Alameda. Alameda  has the longest beach on San Francisco Bay most of which has public access. Many of the birds chosen for the mural are protected and many are migratory, bringing attention to the need for breeding and wintering grounds.  First the artists focused on the island quality with the overall bridge framework and then turned their attention to the animals that make their home on the island habitat. Standing guard within the carved reeds are the two Great Blue Herons looking at the marsh coastline with a California Oak lending shade.  The Least Terns are winging their way across the skies, one has already swooped dinner out of the shallow water. Alameda is home to the endangered California Least Tern’s most critical nesting colony. The American Avocet wades along the shoreline while sandpipers feed in the marshes and mudflats. The California Brown Pelican sits atop a pier post drying its feathers while foxes forage for food. Leopard sharks roam about while a school of surf fish energetically swims overhead. 

For the children’s section Debey and Terry enlisted Berkeley plaster artist and restorer, Lorna Kollmeyer, to cast a plaster frieze of romping bunnies amongst Monarch Butterflies from a carved wood model they created. They then faux finished the plaster frieze. Flanking the frolicking bunnies on either end are two more serious rabbits, carved in wood, with spectacles sitting and reading their book “Island Creatures”. 

About Artists Debey Zito and Terry Schmitt-

Debey Zito has gained a national reputation for beautifully crafted furniture with roots in the aesthetics of the Arts and Crafts Movement but interpreted through her own vision. She has been working in wood for the past 39 years. Twelve years ago Terry Schmitt joined in the work with her amazing carving skills. The two have always admired the colored woodwork of Lucia Mathews and have brought the polychroming of the wood into their creations. 

This is the third representation of public art for Debey Zito and Terry Schmitt. The first was for the Swendenborgian Church in San Francisco where they built a new choir loft with a privacy wall and two benches along one of the walls. The second was a seven-foot high display for the main lobby of Disney’s Grand California Hotel with carved redwood trees and California Brown Bears striding across the front. They are in the midst of completing a room suite of furniture for the Blacker House by architects Greene and Greene.

www.debeyzito.com

debey@zitodesign.com