Wildlife Takes Up Residence in East Roswell Library

Raccoons on the bookcases, a wasp nest in the doorway, a buck in the foyer these are all the creations of sculptor Chris Condon of Atlanta.

Condon was commissioned by Fulton County Arts to create a series of sculptures for the new East Roswell Library the county is building in Roswell Ga. The piece is called “New Growth Forrest" and it is up for a national award from Americans for the Arts and Kris Wines.

Condon’s concept behind the piece is that all the flora and fauna in the area that were disturbed and displaced by the construction have returned an taken up residency in the library. Going about their daily routines among the shelves of books. Consisting of nine different sites throughout out the library the carved wooden sculptures are made of about 75% reclaimed wood. The wood came from trees taken down on the site, primarily an extremely old and large oak tree, as well as construction waste, i.e. pallet wood.

Condon has developed a process of laminating smaller wood pieces together and carving them to create his forms. Visitors to the library will notice most sculptures right away like the large Buck in the entrance foyer but some smaller ones tucked into the bookcases, will surprise you. He hopes that visitors will see something new each time they come to the library and stumble upon the pieces as if you would encountered and animal in the woods.

The piece is one of a hundred selected by Americans for the Arts as part of the Art of Giving campaign, sponsored by Kris Wines. The online campaign that will runs through October 31, 2016 supports artists who have made a positive impact on their communities through public art.

The website http://www.kriswine.com/giving/ allows visitors to vote for their favorite public art projects that are particularly meaningful for them. The artist whose work receives the highest number of votes will receive a grant to help further their creation of public art.

Voting is easy but does require a few steps. Click here to begin.After registering you can view the nominated projects and filter by state to see more info on Chris Condon’s “New Growth Forest”.