"Shaman" Recommended for University Place Library

The University Place Library could soon have a new piece of artwork.

Batik assemblage art, to be exact.

On the agenda for the Pierce County Library System Board of Trustees' March 7 meeting is the proposed installation of contemporary artwork in the UP library's Karen Bellamy Reading Lounge.

The piece - titled "Shaman" - is from local renowned artist Agnes McLin. The donated piece (see picture) measures 32 inches wide, 40 inches high, and it's enclosed in a Plexiglass case.

Last week, a library system committee examined the piece and determined that it met the library's requirement of being "aesthetically pleasing and intellectually stimulating," according to Graphics Production Supervisor Carol Sheehan.

According to McLin, the work has motifs "drawn from ritual or ceremonial themes."

"My works are not meant to be anthropologically correct but are interpretations of these concepts and visual impressions of those themes," the artist wrote to the library. "I have been impressed by the hidden magical qualities of ritual or ceremonial works, and I have attempted through various combinations of color, fabric and imagery to present those same characteristics in my work."

McLin, by the way, has taught the art of batik at both the University of Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran university.

The Board of Trustees will meet from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., March 7, at the Library System’s Processing and Administrative Center, 3005 112th St. E., in Tacoma.