The following pieces are located at:

Glendale Public Library (8)
5959 W. Brown Street
(59th Avenue and Brown Street)
Stop #10 on the Public Art Driving Tour

For Every Drop of Blood—For Every Life Devoted Veterans Memorial
Joe Tyler
Bronze, copper, steel, sandstone and concrete
Completed: 2001

This artwork includes five welded steel trees, one for each branch of the armed services.  The intertwined limbs of each sculpted tree are symbolic of the combined efforts of the Air Force, Army, Marines, Navy and Coast Guard in the defense of the United States.  The leaves in the sculpted canopies represent the thousands of Veterans who have served, are currently serving and will serve in the Armed Forces.  In the center is an obelisk featuring a depiction of the battleship silver service pattern commissioned for the USS Arizona and actual salvaged pieces from the USS Arizona.

Joe Tyler currently lives and works in Arizona.  He has successfully completed public art projects for several Valley cities, including Tempe, Scottsdale, Mesa and Phoenix.  The City of Glendale gratefully acknowledges the Glendale Veterans Memorial Association and Bob Manzetti (donator of USS Arizona salvaged pieces) for their help in the creation of the Veterans Memorial.

Irrigators
Deb Gessner
Bronze
Completed: 1987

The Irrigators celebrates Glendale’s roots in agriculture and pays tribute to the importance of irrigation in the development of the community.  Originally sited in a water feature, the setting for the artwork was refurbished in 2004 to be waterless.  The artwork now has a sound system that plays the sound of running water.

Deb Gessner currently lives and works in Arizona.  In 1990, The Irrigators received the Valley Forward Association Art in Public Places Award.

Whirlwind
Gary Slater
Stainless steel
Completed: 1991

This highly reflective stainless steel sculpture’s basic form is cylindrical, cut and formed in an “S” shape.  It rests diagonally on a less polished stainless steel base.  The artist draws influence from the Southwest contemporary lifestyle and often experiments with various metal finishes.

A native Minnesotan, Mr. Stalter earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1970.  Moving to Arizona in 1971, he earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Arizona State University where he began working on large-scale metal sculpture.  To date he has created over 500 sculptures, with work in corporate, private and public collections throughout the United States.

Picture Books
Gary Alsum
Bronze
Completed: 1996

“The challenge of sculpture is depicting the movement and energy of a single moment” – Gary Alsum

Gary Alsum has been a member of the Colorado-based National Sculptors’ Guild since 1992.  His sculpture, Picture Books, depicts two young children reading books with their dog.

Mediation
Artists: CoLab Studios LLC/ Matt & Maria Salenger
Completed: May 2008

Mediation is an outdoor classroom for the City’s Water Conservation Program. The classroom is located near the Xeriscape’s southeast corner and can be viewed from inside the library’s main reading room. The classroom’s design blends the geometric forms of the library’s modern architecture with surrounding gardens, cactus, and desert trees. The most dominant feature of the classroom is the 36-foot wide by 10-foot high steel mesh screen. The screen features cut-outs made to replicate the shapes of nearby trees and vines. The project includes seating for 27 and pathway improvements. The surrounding area was reshaped to create a more intimate setting for people of all ages to learn about water conservation and Xeriscape landscaping. This project was a Valley Forward Crescordia Award Winner in 2008.

CoLab Studio LLC – Matt & Maria Salenger are committed to producing artwork that provokes thought and encourages understanding of people’s particular position within the city and the greater environment. Their hope is that their work will provide people with a broader perspective of their surroundings, allowing them to see their situation from a different viewpoint and feel a greater sense of responsibility for it.

INSIDE

Meeting on the Trail
Allan Houser
Bronze
Purchased: 1987

This sculpture, by internationally acclaimed artist, Allan Houser, depicts two Apache women meeting, one carrying an infant in her arms.

Allan Houser is one of the 20th Century’s most important artists.  He began his career in 1934 at the Santa Fe Indian School in New Mexico.  By 1939, he was exhibiting work in San Francisco, Washington D.C. and Chicago.  In 1947, he was commissioned by the Haskell Institute to create a memorial sculpture honoring the Native American students who died in World War II.  He later founded the sculpture department at the newly created Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe.  In 1992 he received the National Medal of the Arts from President George Bush, culminating a lifetime of achievements and awards.

A Way of Life
Howard Post
Oil on canvas
Completed: 1987

“The history of Arizona is citrus, cotton and cattle.  It is my intention to evoke the agricultural and ranch background of Glendale by conveying a feeling for that heritage in a modern day context.” – Howard Post.

A third generation Arizonan, Howard Post grew up on a ranch near Tucson, AZ. He was a champion rodeo rider at the age of 17 and continued to participate in the rodeo circuit for many years. He attended the University of Arizona where he earned his BFA and MFA. After teaching at both the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, he became a full time painter in the late 1970's.  His work has long been recognized for its unique interpretation of the West.

Icarus Triumphant: The Legend Retold
Robert McCall
Acrylic on canvas
Completed: 1988

Internationally acclaimed space artist Robert McCall painted this mural on-site, during which students of all ages were invited to watch him work.  The mural depicts the Greek legend of Icarus from a modern perspective of space flight and exploration.  Instead of wings made of eagle feathers and wax, Icarus is propelled by a backpack maneuvering unit as he hovers above Earth.

Robert McCall won acclaim in the 1960’s when Life Magazine commissioned him to create a series of paintings depicting the future of space travel.  A short time later, he became one of a select group of artists chosen by NASA to document the US space program. He also created poster art for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which has become a modern classic. In 2005, he received the Governor’s Artist of the Year Award.  That same year, the McCall Museum of Art, which is next to the Challenger Space Center, opened in Peoria, AZ.