Marianne Weinberg-Benson

For the Dr. Robert E. Fulton Regional Library at Ocee, the Fulton County Arts Council selected Marianne Weinberg-Benson as one of two artists to embellish the building
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A graduate of the University of Georgia, Weinberg-Benson has taught ceramics at Chastain Art Center and Kennesaw State University.She has worked in many media, including stoneware, porcelain pottery, paint and sculptured brick.

If you've ever ridden MARTA to or from the Medical Center station, you've seen her tile installation gracing the walls.Her sculptures adorn parks and recreation centers around town.Her works have been shown in one-person and juried shows throughout the country.And her small sculptural pieces are on display and available for sale at the Signature Shop and Gallery in Buckhead.

When Weinberg-Benson was presented with the opportunity to design the entrance to the new library in Alpharetta, she knew she wanted to use a bas relief sculpture to announce the building's purpose, not only to invite people inside, but also to encourage them, give them hints and images of what they would find inside.

"To me, public art should be specific for a building.The library is such an exciting place of discovery, of learning, uncovering and delving into new worlds," she said."That's what I wanted my images to show."

The brick sculptures she created do just that.Titled "From Reading to Writing, Under the Tree of Knowledge, 2005," the two pieces are meant to tell visitors of the library's mission of knowledge, entertainment and education.The sculptures are carved out of bricks identical to those used in the building and wrap around two corners on either side of the building's front doors.

A larger-than-life girl reads a book on one side of the entrance, while a boy on the other side writes, two activities a library should inspire."It's important that, as a young child, if you read, read, read, you might be the writer," Weinberg-Benson said."It's that leap of faith that art may subliminally instill in people."

Weinberg-Benson encourages viewers to examine her sculptures closely to find hidden treasures.

Weinberg-Benson included symbolism in the works as well.A puffed-up, beautiful bird on the boy's side represents the library's namesake, who died while she was creating the work."The bird is symbolic of his soul, here one moment but gone the next, and symbolic of him - proud, beautiful, larger than life."

About the sculpture of the girl, Weinberg-Benson said: "During this time my 42-year-old niece died of ovarian cancer.On this side of the sculpture is a bird with a long flowing tail, symbolic of her.I'd carve all morning, then go and sit with her in the afternoon as she went through the stages of her disease.She imbued the work with her bravery, the way she faced this terrible disease.Artists in their art can say and leave little memorials important to the building and also symbolic of themselves."

Weinberg-Benson also produced four 2-by-2-foot porcelain tiles for the building's entrance hall through a cloisonné sandblasting process she developed.

Weinberg-Benson said the MARTA project was a good learning experience, even though few people notice who created the art in the stations.

She worked through an abstract idea in that first public piece."My concept was the healing line of light," she said.