MOUNT JEWETT — The Mount Jewett Memorial Library will hold a dedication ceremony for the completion of the mural on the west side of their building at 7 East Main St. at 5 p.m. Aug. 10.
The event is just prior to the opening ceremony for the Swedish Festival at 6 p.m.
Karen Sees, a native of Mount Jewett and a resident of Hamlin Township, and Samila Sosic, an art professor from the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, have spent their summer mornings painting the mural on the library.
The 528-square-foot mural is a series of books with older designs on the covers.
The open book near the back windows is their signature piece, similar to an open art book with a painting by Sees — Cassiopeia, a take on the composite picture of photos from the Spitzer Space Telescope, red; the Hubble Space Telescope, yellow; and the Chandra X-ray Observatory, green and blue, from 2005 — and a painting by Sosic — the fields, streams, and mountains of McKean County. The mural indicates that the library can expand one’s knowledge far beyond where we live. These were the final parts painted on the mural.
Mount Jewett Borough once displayed a mural on Main Street by Kong Ho, an internationally renowned muralist. Unfortunately, the building it was painted on deteriorated over time and was demolished in 2014. The Mount Jewett Memorial Library is located across Main Street from the building where the Kong Ho mural had been and is equally visible.
“The mural will emphasize the importance of the library, which is part of the heart of Mount Jewett and the center of many community activities,” said Megan Inghram, co-president of the library’s board of directors.
The Mount Jewett Memorial Library serves the communities of Mount Jewett Borough, Hamlin Township, and Sergeant Township. Although these communities are small, the library is located on U.S. Route 6. According to the PennDOT Traffic Volume Maps, more than one million vehicles travel past the library each year.
The dedication will provide an opportunity to discuss the mural with the artists, Sees and Sosic. Local, regional, and state elected officials have been invited.
The Mount Jewett Memorial Library receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
