Arizona State University Regents' Professor Alberto Rios will read "Baseline Blooms," a collective poem about South Phoenix and Laveen. The poem was compiled and edited by Rios from words, lines, phrases, short memories and observations submitted by community members. More than 30 separate entries were received.
The poem has been recorded for the artistic acoustic chairs in the plaza adjacent to the library. Part of a multi-faceted public artwork by Mags Harries & Lajos Héder entitled "Passage," the chairs feature a selection of poetry curated by Rios that reflects South Phoenix and the local landscape. The artwork includes the chairs and steel letters embedded in concrete in the plaza in front of the library and continues to a shaded pathway that connects the library to the Western Canal Bridge, providing a pedestrian link to the Legacy Village Shopping Center.
A performance by the SMCC Jazz Ensemble and other activities for children and their families will continue through noon at the library.
The 50,000-square-foot facility was funded through the 2006 Citizens Bond Program and the 2004 Maricopa County Community College District Bond Program. Both the library and artwork are finalists for 2012 Valley Forward Environmental Excellence Awards.
South Mountain Community College is one of the 10 Maricopa Community Colleges.
For more information, call 602-262-4636 or visit smclibrary.org. Phoenix Public Library is a system of 16 branch libraries and the Burton Barr Central Library. Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/phxlibrary and "like" us on Facebook at facebook.com/phoenixpubliclibrary.
