Avast ye mateys! The Cleveland Public Library Fine Arts Department is pleased to present the next event in our "Music at Main" series on Saturday, September 19th, 2009 at 2PM in the lower level of the Louis Stokes Wing. September 19th is "International Talk Like a Pirate Day" and to celebrate, the pirate duo The Rambling Sailors will perform traditional and modern sea shanties and ballads of the sea. There will be pirate activities for the kids and refreshments. Be sure to dress and talk like a pirate! This event is free and open to all ages. Aaarrrrrrr!

Attached to this post is an Excel file containing recent additions to the Fine Arts Department. Once you open the file you will see links to the online catalog that will facilitate item requests. Be sure to visit our blog regularly to be the first to check out these new items!

In celebration of its 20th anniversary, The Sculpture Center is honoring its founder, the Cleveland abstract artist David E. Davis, with a comprehensive exhibition of his smaller sculpture. David E. Davis (1920-2002), a Cleveland Institute of Art and Case Western Reserve University graduate and recipient of the 1980 Cleveland Arts Prize, spent nearly 40 years creating a vast body of sculpture. His later work was concentrated in outdoor commissions from around the United States. To give back to the arts community that he so loved, Davis founded The Sculpture Center in 1989, to provide support for early career Ohio sculptors and promote the preservation of outdoor sculpture, and founded the Artists Archives of the Western Reserve in 1996, to hold in perpetuity the works of certain artists of this region. See the exhibition and learn more about Davis here at the library. Visit our mini-display in our Special Collections Department:

The Sketchbooks of David E. Davis: 1946-2004.

The Cleveland Public Library Special Collections Department will display items from the David E. Davis Sketchbook Collection that belonged to the Cleveland sculptor and painter who founded the Sculpture Center in Cleveland in 1990. The collection was donated by Bernice Davis in 2005. Items will be on view from August 18, 2009 to October 24, 2009 in the Special Collections Department on the 3rd Floor of Main Library Building."

The Literature Department and Special Collections of the Cleveland Public Library  hosted a reception for the 103rd International Dickens Fellowship Conference in the Treasure Room of the Special Collections Department on August 3, 2009 . The 65-plus attendees traveled by RTA's Healthline from their conference home base at Case Western Reserve. Welcomed by Holly Carroll, Jean Collins and Amy Dawson, the group feasted on a desert-and-snack buffet in the Treasure Room, then divided into two groups: one to follow the brochure's guide through the three-floor display, and the second to hear Ms. Dawson's talk on the Special Collections Dickens material, to view the Special Collections, and to socialize in the Treasure Room.

After 45 minutes, the two groups switched places. At 4 pm, all attendees met again for the cake-cutting and good-byes in the Treasure Room. The Dickens fans were very impressed with the display, the Library's vast collection of Dickens material, and the welcoming staff. Steve Capuozzo, Doug Westerbeke (from Literature Department) and Rhonda Green (Special Collections) assisted Dawson and Collins with directing, catering, and entertaining the 65-plus attendees, and, as one Dickensian stated: "We were charmed!"

Many attendees also talked about how taken they were with the city itself.  People attended from all over the world, and all first-time visitors Collins spoke to, praised the beauty and friendliness of the city, and planned to come back and spend more time here. A display of items that highlight the life and works of Charles Dickens will remain on view in the Main Library Building through February, 2010.  Call the Literature Department (216) 623-2881 or the Special Collection Department (216) 623-2818, for details.