An Open-Air Library and Farmer's Market Plaza for the South of South Street Neighborhood commissioned by the Fairmount Park Art Association

1998
New LandMarks Program, Philadelphia, PA.

Precedents for this kind of book display can be found in the open air book markets of Paris and New York. The intention of the project is to open a cultural institution to the public and to provide the neighborhood with a public meeting place by builing the open air unfolding library in one of the many vacant lots of the neighborhood.

The project was developed in collaboration with the South of South Street Neighborhood Association, and with the Fairmount Park Art Asociation. In the process of developing this project, the artist collaborated with the Drexel University School of Information Science; the faculty there incorporated it into their graduate curriculum so that the library would be run by the graduate students on a continuing basis, working with the South of South Street community to develop the collection, staffing, and procedures. In addition, A neighborhood advisory board for the library was established.

Public art coordinator: Charles Moleski

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