First of 3 sculptures by Arts!Longview Cultural District installed at public library

LONGVIEW, Texas (KLTV) - The first of three public sculptures has been installed at the Longview Public Library Wednesday.

The statue is part of the Arts!Longview Cultural District’s public art initiative, which is designed to help make art more accessible to the public.

“We wanted to make art more readily available to the public, we wanted to support artists locally and throughout the state and we wanted to make Longview a destination for people who are interested in art and cultural tourism,” said Toni Erskine, President of the Arts!Longview Cultural District Board.

Sculptor Pat Childress said the statue is called “Books Make Dreams.” The statue is of an African-American girl holding up two books. with black American authors.

Childress said it took approximately five months to complete the sculpture.

“This is just good for Longview, its good for our art community, its good for the cultural district,” Erskine said.

The sculpture was underwritten by a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts with a matching donation from the Rosa May Griffin Foundation.

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