What's New!

PPLD's Artist in Residence for September and October 2016 was Deb Bartos, an oil painter who loves exploring the natural world and teaching students about color. She continues to develop her knowledge about how light and color work together, and is fascinated by the process.

Visit PPLD's Maker/Artist in Residence page for more information about this program.

Comedic icon Gene Wilder, star of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Young Frankenstein, Blazing Saddles, among many others, has died of complications from Alzheimer's disease. He was 83. Mr. Wilder is probably best remembered as the sweet but subversive title character in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory where he won over countless young hearts, but it was his work with Mel Brooks in Young Frankenstein and The Producers that brought him critical acclaim, garnering two Oscar nominations. Wilder rarely worked after the death of his third wife, Gilda Radner, in 1989, but his legacy endures as the world remembers him as one of the comedic greats.

 

  "Gene Wilder-One of the truly great talents of our time. He blessed every film we did with his magic & he blessed me with his friendship." - Mel Brooks  

 

Click here to search Gene Wilder in the Catalog

The 2016 Teen Fiction Writing Contest Anthology is here! Compiled are the Honorable Mentions and Winners from the 2016 Teen Fiction Writing Contest. Click on the link to download and view!

PPLD's Artist in Residence for August/September 2016 was Brian Looney.

"I learned to draw while sitting alone at the kitchen table. Art is about self-discovery, and there truly is no rule book. The more you do a thing, the more that thing develops, and everything you do along the way is unique. Excuse the play on words... I was born in 1985, and that was a kooky year. Albuquerque, NM is my hometown, and I moved to Colorado for the nature and the art. I haven't been disappointed. Additionally, I am a published poet and a yoyo artist. That last might fall under the 'geek' category, but you may view it all at brianlooney.com. I look forward to meeting you!" ~Brian Looney

Visit PPLD's Maker/Artist in Residence page for more information about this program.

The Penrose Library Mural Project reached completion in May 2016 and involved the generous contribution of Concrete Couch and hundreds of community volunteers. The mural was 22 years in the planning and involved six hub groups, one steering committee, fundraising galore, huge donations of time and materials, and loads of fantastic volunteers. Concrete Couch and Pikes Peak Library District teamed up with Community Prep School, School District 14, Will Rogers Elementary School, Pikes Peak Community College, Colorado College, and the Manitou Art Center to complete this project.

Watch this PPLD TV video for a preview of the project:

Congratulations to the winners of the Teen Fiction Writing Contest! All the winners stories will be published in a digital anthology.

Results:
Middle School

1st place: "Mary Cinclare" by Rohit Paradkar
Tie for 2nd place: "The Battle of Feather and Claw" by Liberty
Harms and "Life Guarded" by Sophia Mayhugh
3rd place: "Loss and Change" by Madelyn Prichard
Honorable mention: "Anomaly" by Christen Mayberry

High School

1st place: “Purple Problems” by Kristen Kater
Tie for 2nd place: "Fall from (Lack of) Grace" by Nicole Eiland and
"Pictures of Love" by Ellie Ford.
3rd place: "The Truth of Memories" by Maggie Tibbitt
Honorable mention: "An Account of One Of My More Profitable
Jobs" by Victoria Hecker

Congratulations to all the winners! We will post the anthology when it is complete!

PPLD's Maker/Artist in residence for June and July of 2016 was Patricia Moore. Patricia has been making all kinds of crafts forever. She believes in the magic of arts/crafts bringing wholeness and joy into life. She has been teaching arts/crafts to children and adults since around 1985. Patricia believes in Expressive Art and has used that to help children in different programs such as CASA.. Polymer clay is the main medium that she works with finding its possibilities near endless. Patricia lives in beautiful Black Forest on five acres with her teenage sons and many delightful animals.

Visit PPLD's Maker/Artist in Residence page for more information about this program.

PPLD's Maker in Residence for May and June of 2016 was Amy Griswold, a professional seamstress with over thirty years of experience in clothing construction and industrial sewing. She is self-taught and continued her education as an apprentice in her sister’s shop, Mary Pope Custom Sewing, where she learned techniques in alterations, custom clothing design, re-upholstery, canvas work, as well as large scale production industrial sewing. Her body of work includes everything from wedding gowns and costuming to boat covers and custom reupholstery. Her motto is “show me a picture and I can make it for you.”

Visit PPLD's Maker/Artist in Residence page for more information about this program.

The 2016 Summer Reading Photography Winners have been announced!

Robert Loughman

"All I Do is Ball"
all I do is ball

Clare Chaddon

"Lifelong Goals"
lifelong goals

Lena Ahrens

"On Point"
on point

Sean Brooks

"Pitch Perfect"
pitch perfect

Congratulations!

Susan M. Peiffer was inaugurated as the 5th Pikes Peak Poet Laureate on April 24, 2016. Susan will serve as Poet Laureate until April 2018.

Susan Peiffer is a published and nationally recognized poet who studied creative writing and theology at Augsburg College in Minneapolis. With graduate degrees from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Susan taught at a private high school in Delaware for six years. As program director of a non-profit in Philadelphia, she had the opportunity to organize a young leader’s program enabling participants to effectively speak their own stories. She coached the Delawhere? Youth Slam Team to the Brave New Voices championship in Oakland, CA. Since relocating to Colorado Springs in 2012, Susan has become deeply invested in the local poetry community. Currently the Program Director of Hear Here Poetry, she has facilitated several workshops and classes on different aspects of writing and performance, was named the RAW Colorado Springs Artist of the Year, and was the recipient of three Pikes Peak Arts Council awards for excellence in performance poetry and leadership. She is an animated and inclusive presenter who readily engages audiences and inspires the unique circumstances into which poems arrive. Susan is eager to continue connecting different facets of the community through the shared experience of crafting words.

The Pikes Peak Poet Laureate Project is a partnership of the Pikes Peak Library District, the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region, the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Radio Station KCME, Pikes Peak Hospice and Palliative Care, Pikes Peak Arts Council, Hear Here Poetry, the Fountain Valley School, the Friends of the Pikes Peak Library District, Pikes Peak Community College and Poetry West.

Pikes Peak Library District is pleased to announce the following winners of the Jean Ciavonne Poetry Contest:

  • Ella Batson, “The Form of a Mystery”
  • Sophia DeJoia, “Mountain Gem”
  • Dara S. Kurbegov, “Mysteries of Nature”
  • Brooke Steinberg, “Mystery Murder”
  • Sage Stoecklein, “Mystery?”
  • Anna Winslow, “The Mystery of Me”

You can watch the winners read their poems below:

"He was a man, take him for all in all.
I shall not look upon his like again."
Hamlet (1.2.186)

April 23, 2016 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. Widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, Shakespeare's body of work transcends time and place. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. We're sure it comes as no surprise that PPLD has a large selection of works by The Bard in our collection.

https://pikp.ent.sirsi.net/client/PPLD/search/results?qu=william+shakes…

What's your favorite? Mine's Hamlet. My husband likes Titus Andronicus because it's a bloodbath.

As a California native and self-taught baker, current PPLD Artist in Residence Christine Yocum was introduced to baking at a young age by her father and grandmother. Imagine a former left tackle in college teaching his nine-year-old daughter the finer points of cookie-making. Those sweet moments birthed in her a lifelong passion for baking—in particular cookies—and the eventual opening of Art & Style Baking, an online gourmet cookie company specializing in hand-painted cookies.

Even now, when her hands are steeped in cookie dough, she can sense his tender nod of encouragement and approval. While her dad passed away before he could enjoy "the fruits of his labor," her tender-hearted daughter assures her that he would be proud.

Christine will host classes throughout the Library District about cookie painting, as well as open studio hours at Library 21c where you can watch her work and talk to her about her art.

Visit PPLD's Maker/Artist in Residence page for more information.

The Teen Art Contest is for teens and by teens. Teens create the art, and teens determine the winners.

The theme for our 2016 Teen Art Show & Contest was Magnify It! Teens were encouraged to take a closer look at the world around them and create a piece of artwork.

All of the artwork will be displayed at either Penrose Library, East Library, or Library 21c during the month of April. Questions? Contact Becca Phillipsen at (719) 531-6333, x6336 or rphillipsen@ppld.org.

Here are the winners!

High School

“My Converse Crush” by Ashley D. - Best in Show
“Rain Forest Creature” by Taya E. - 1st Place
“A Little Package of Joy” by Shauna P - 2nd Place
“Lou” by Arely A. - Coordinator’s Choice

Middle School

“The Story in an Eye” by Stephanie L. - 1st Place
“Hidden in the Flowers” by Tiya G. - 2nd Place
“Butterfly Glory” by Asia X. - Coordinator’s Choice

You can view the winning works here:

Teen Art Contest Winners - 2016

With over 400 votes, the winner of the 2016 Book Madness is....

I Am Malala
by Malala Yousafzai

Thank you so much for voting and come back next year!

PPLD's newest Artist in Residence is Diane Crawford, a contemporary artist with twenty years experience. Originally from the upper Midwest, she left careers in corrections, law enforcement and social work to pursue the arts. While primarily self-taught, she has attended watercolor workshops by nationally and internationally acclaimed artists. Diane has recently lived in Hawaii and Las Vegas, and her works reflect the influences of her life and experiences.

Her mediums of choice are watercolor and alcohol inks. Her painting style is unique. She paints free-hand without drawing her designs first and rarely uses paint brushes. She uses old credit cards and drinking straws on her alcohol inks, and a palette knife on her watercolors.

Diane will host classes throughout the Library District about alcohol inks, as well as open studio hours at Library 21c during which time you can watch her work and talk to her about her art.

Visit PPLD's Maker/Artist in Residence page for more information.

PPLD's newest Artist in Residence is Erin Gillespie, a multimedia artist currently residing in Colorado Springs. Her paintings are primarily figurative or portraits, full of bold, bright colors and expressionistic qualities. After receiving her Bachelors degree in Fine Arts and Painting from Colorado State University, Erin lived for many years in Portland, Oregon and Tucson, Arizona before returning to Colorado. She held positions at Pinon Fine Art Gallery and Terra Firma Fine Art in Denver, Colorado and was a member of the Arts Student League of Denver for many years. Erin is currently an art instructor teaching numerous classes at both Bemis School of Art at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and Cottonwood Center for the Arts. Her work has been displayed in numerous galleries and venues, in both group and solo shows.

Erin hosted classes throughout the Library District about acrylic painting.

Visit PPLD's Maker/Artist in Residence page for more information.

Daria Wilber
PPLD's Maker in Residence for August and September 2015 is Daria Wilber. She was born in Washington, D.C. and spent the first two decades of her life in and out of the amazing array of galleries and museums in the D.C. area on a weekly basis. She studied painting and printmaking at the Maryland School of Art and Design and worked in the scene shop for a regional theater company. In the mid-2000s, Daria began to study the paper arts in earnest. In 2012 she plunged into studio papermaking after a sculptural papermaking intensive at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts with Jo Stealey. Daria currently works with papermaking and artist Helen Hiebert as a studio and teaching assistant.

During her time as Maker in Residence, Daria conducted flat paper making classes and a paper sculpture class.

Visit PPLD's Maker/Artist in Residence page for more information.

Sarah Withee
PPLD's Maker in Residence for June and July 2015 was Sarah Withee. She began folding paper as a child, and was introduced to modular origami by Makoto Yamaguchi’s book Kusudama (Origami Ornaments). Thus began a lifelong interest in Japanese paper arts. Sarah has lived in Japan and taken classes in advanced paperfolding and doll making at Tokyo’s Origami Kaikan, and has an extensive library of origami books.

Sarah is an experienced origami instructor who has worked with students from children to senior citizens. She has taught origami at the Japan America Society of Southern Colorado’s Children’s Day for over 10 years, as well as classes for Pikes Peak Library District and private classes. If you have tried learning origami from a book and failed, Sarah knows just how to help you get unstuck!

Visit PPLD's Maker/Artist in Residence page for more information.

PPLD's Maker in Residence for October and November 2015 was Kristina Winnett, a self-taught mixed-media artist who has spent most of her life in Colorado Springs. Choosing to pursue studies in the Sciences in college, she longed to participate in artistic processes, yet felt that required a natural ability to draw. Having always been crafty, she found Art Journaling (the combination of Art and Words) in 2005. It was love at first site, because the first rule of Art Journaling is that there are no rules. This medium is such an easy and non-intimidating way to jump into the playfulness of creativity, that even a trained scientist could do it. She longs to share this passion with all who wish to create something personal and meaningful, yet have felt intimidated to begin.

Visit PPLD's Maker/Artist in Residence page for more information.

PPLD's Maker in Residence for May and June 2015 was Michelle Lim, a self-taught designer, animator, and maker of various things at the intersection of art and technology. She lives in Denver and is originally from Queens, NY. Education and community are essential to her work, which includes teaching creative technology in Denver public schools and designing digital programs at the Denver Art Museum. Inspired by her favorite short story — The Garden of Forking Paths by Jorge Luis Borges — she explored the many lives of infinitely complex patterns through video, sculpture, and interactive media during her residency and community workshops.

You can view the finished project at forking-paths.tumblr.com.

Visit PPLD's Maker/Artist in Residence page for more information.

Deb Ross
Deb Ross was PPLD’s first Artist in Residence. She has enjoyed painting and drawing since she was a little girl. She still loves crayons! Deb has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Art Education from Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. Her artistic career has included both teaching and commercial art. A resident of Colorado Springs for over 30 years, Deb has taught at The Colorado Springs Senior Center, The Bemis School of Art at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, and Colorado Technical University.

Deb likes introducing beginners to creating art and inspiring more experienced artists to try new ideas. Creating art is the most fun you can have with a pencil or a paint brush!

Deb conducted Drawing for the Total Beginner and Letters into Art workshops for the public during her residency. She also painted acrylics and watercolors during her studio hours.

Visit PPLD's Maker/Artist in Residence page for more information.

Kim Hetherington
Kim Hetherington was PPLD's Maker in Residence for January and February 2015 .

Her introduction to bookbinding was in the nonfiction section of the East Library. Kim was perusing the shelves and was more than thrilled to find a book on making books. Unfortunately, she was also a bit intimidated as the book explained historical bookbinding methods and listed costly pieces of equipment and tools. For a few years, she allowed this intimidation to keep me from trying my hand at it. Kim thought bookbinding required talent and equipment she did not possess. How wrong she was.

Books can be made simply with a few inexpensive materials, or they can be time-intensive pieces made with traditional bookbinding tools and equipment. A private class showed Kim how to create her first book with a handful of common tools and a few pieces of simple materials. She was hooked. Kim had the fortune of attending further bookbinding classes at Pikes Peak Community College, American Academy of Bookbinding, and with bookbinder Jim Croft. She also attend local classes and created books with and designed by Kylin Lee, Jill K. Berry, Carol Sloan, Marsh Sterling, and Pam Leutz.

While in residence, Kim taught classes about Japanese Bookbinding and Leather Journals.

Visit PPLD's Maker/Artist in Residence page for more information.

Patti Smithsonian
Patti Smithsonian was PPLD's Maker in Residence for February and March 2015. Her puppet shows portray ancient folktales using contemporary language and humor.

Her one-woman puppet theater has been featured at international festivals and venues including The Detroit Institute of Art, The Seattle Puppet Festival, New York International Busker Fest, Institut International de la Marionnette (France), The Santa Fe Sculpture Ranch, The
Telluride World Theater Festival, The San Francisco Puppetry Festival, and The Shilong Moon Festival (Taiwan).

Ms. Smithsonian has studied shadow puppetry in Turkey, Taiwan, and France. She uses laser cutters, acrylic plastics, alcohol inks, and high-powered projectors to create her shadow theater. She uses electronically projected light and shadow in creating light shows for theater, rock bands, and performance art — as well as narrative puppet plays.

While in residence, Ms. Smithsonian taught classes about Chinese Dragon Shadow Puppets and Modern Shadow Puppets: Animals.

Visit PPLD's Maker/Artist in Residence page for more information.

RoxAnne Krute
RoxAnne Krute began her creative journey at an early age. An affinity for playing with color, texture and composition has been an underlying influence in her continued exploration of various mediums throughout her life. In addition to collecting a variety of materials and tools needed for each creative venture, she has a fondness for aged and unusual objects, which she attributes to her grandmother’s influence.

This background, together with a formal education in fine art and graphic design, provides a “perfect storm” for art expressions using mixed media. She admits that even though this evolution in her art making is still in its infancy, the joy she experiences in the “play” of art-making is something she is passionate about sharing.

While in residence, RoxAnne taught Beginning Mixed Media Collage on Canvas classes.

Visit PPLD's Maker/Artist in Residence page for more information.