Project Overview
Memphis Muse | Cossitt Library At S. Front St.
The historic Cossitt Branch Library located in downtown Memphis was established in 1893. Not only does Cossitt represent the birth of the Memphis Public Libraries system, it is also the first southern library to be desegregated. In recent years, staff has faced the challenge of trying to merge programming that meets the needs of the diverse customer bases served, including a large homeless population, empty-nesters, affluent couples and young professionals living and working downtown.
More recently the library has embarked upon a multi-phase, community-driven planning process to redesign the public space and incorporate innovative programming to better reflect the needs of the surrounding community. One of these new programs, A Community Dinner Conversation, partners with local shelters and resource providers to facilitate dialogue between homeless patrons and workers/residents from the surrounding area. This dialogue has resulted in increased empathy, feelings of community and a shared vision for the library’s future.
UAC partnered with the City of Memphis to produce a large sculpture that attracts and engages both Memphians and visitors alike to the newly renovated Cossitt library. Rhiza a+d’s sculpture does exactly that by invoking the library’s history of being a key gathering and learning space. Their design, based upon pop-up books and childhood fantasies of words brought to life, is meant to invoke feelings of discovery and imagination. The text on each “page” features words offered by the community in and around Downtown Memphis, gathered through polling and surveys during the fabrication process, as well as lyrical excerpts from iconic blues artist W.C. Handy.
His music was heavily influenced by the church hyms he sang and played as a youth as well as music he said came straight from the natural world such as “the music of every songbird and all the symphonies of their unpremeditated art.” As if to personify this exact quote - the pages come to life in the shape of a large-scale mockingbird, Tennessee’s official state bird, acting as the town crier carrying its words and sounds with them as they take flight.
“Memphis Muse includes pages with excerpts of words, thoughts and feelings from the present about the Library and Memphis- generously offered by children and adults of the community, then paired with excerpts of timeless lyrics from the region.”
photo courtesy of Mike Kerr Photography
about the artist
rhiza A+D
rhiza A+D is a Portland-based design studio founded in 2005 by partners Ean Eldred, Richard Garfield, John Kashiwabara, and Peter Nylen. They’ve worked together since the mid 90's to design architecture and build public art, curate interior and exterior furnishings, lighting, gallery art installations and theater sets. Rhiza stems from the word rhizome- a root system that is collaborative, diverse, and adaptable. The team at rhiza A+D believe that the bringing together of unique and diverse perspectives leads to the root of creating durable, long lasting and adaptable design solutions.
Whether designing or building, rhiza A+D’s practice is rooted in a respect for craft and a dedication to site sensitive place-making through the creation of cultural and climate sensitive objects and spaces.
Cossitt Library information courtesy of Urbanlibraries.org
