They’re hard to notice but once people see them they may do a double take. At first glance they look like tiny blobs protruding from the lights in the University’s Knight Library staircase. But looking closer one will realize they are actually the heads of famous fictional and non-fictional historical characters.
Take a closer look. There’s Aristotle, Elvis Presley and even the Cat in the Hat.
These characters and others are found in the three-dimensional lights called “Luminated Manuscripts” that line the library’s circular Solari staircase. Portland sculptor Linda Ethier designed the 15 square-shaped lights, all made out of transparent glass. Created during the 1992 library expansion project, they are placed low near the stairs and are so subtle that many people may not know they exist.
Andrew Bonamici, associate University librarian for administrative services, said each light corresponds to the genres of books on each of the four library floors.
“People don’t notice the lights unless they pay a lot of attention,” he said. “It’s one of those secrets you discover after you’ve been using the building a long time.”
Bonamici said each light has a theme and is positioned near different collections or areas of interest in the library. He said the cartoon-themed light is located near the third floor where the McKnight Juvenile Collection is located. This light includes sculptures of Babar, Winnie the Pooh and Mr. Toad. There is also another light near the third floor with sculptures of J.S. Bach and Peter Tchaikovsky for the Douglass Listening Room.
“It’s fun,” Bonamici said. “When my children were younger they loved to come in at look at the lights.”
He said 1 percent of the library’s expansion plan construction budget was allotted for building art. A community-wide art selection committee then came together to choose an artist for the staircase, he said.
The committee chose Ethier because of her expertise in glass art.
“I try to create art that people will think about,” she said.
She talked with library representatives to get a feel for the layout of the building and came up with the idea to give each light a specific theme and location.
“I wanted to create something hidden that you kind of had to look for, kind of how libraries are,” she said.
Ethier said building the lights took her about six months. She created them by first making molds of each character out of plastic and wax., and then filling the molds with glass to create the figures.
“It was a long process, but each set of characters is totally unique to each light,” she said.
She said the project was time-consuming because each light consists of several characters and she made 10 sculptures for the Oregon collection alone.
Morgan Siler, a junior humanities major, said she noticed the lights the first time she went to the library.
“It doesn’t ask to be looked at, but when you notice it you can appreciate the efforts,” she said.
Siler enjoys the designs, she said, because it shows the unique value of art.
“It’s not necessarily necessary, but it’s subtle and there’s great attention to detail in the designs,” she said.