Threads of Knowledge 📖
William T. Young Library, University of Kentucky, Lexington
September 21, 2024, Vol. 2, Issue 40
Welcome to Infophilia, a weekly letter about the human love of information and connections. Yay, Infophilia is officially in it’s second year. I am super excited! 😊
After introducing infophilia and infophilic information styles spectrum at the Library Research Seminar 8 this week I continued visiting family and friends in the bluegrass state. Now, I share a tapestry and a poem from the William T. Young Library, Uni of Kentucky, Lexington which first opened in 1998. Enjoy the infophilic connections! 🖇️
My photo does not do justice to the stunning beauty of the tapestry. Swedish-born Helena Hernmarck’s work has won many awards in her native Sweden and the USA and been shown in museums like the National Museum of American Art (Washington D.C.), MOMA (NYC), and LACMA (LA). Over 700 colors were used for this large scale tapestry and it took three weavers and two assistants nine months. The tapestry weighs 200 pounds approximately, which is amazingly light considering its size!! In case you’re curious about her work, here’s a bibliography and her website.
“Helena’s work is viscerally sumptuous… it introduces into buildings the explanation of the quality of fabric.” - Michael McKinnell, Architect, William T. Young Library.
McKinnell invited Helena to create a work for the library and she spent many hours at Overbrook Farm. She calls her technique in this tapestry “free, rose path.”
Overbrook Farm which has bred many winners was founded in the 1980s by Lexington native William T. Young who created and manufactured Big Top peanut butter, and is a major benefactor of University of Kentucky and the library. His peanut butter company was bought by Procter & Gamble in 1955 and rebranded as JIF.
The stallion in the tapestry is Storm Cat a leading sire of 89 winners. Storm Cat was on his way to becoming a winning race horse when he was injured and missed the races for the three-year olds. Retired to stud at Overbrook Farm, he became the highest paid stallion and commanded $500,000, the highest stud fee at that time. 🤩 Well known Tony Leonard was the equine photographer of Storm Cat for the tapestry.
The poem “Seedtime in the Commonwealth” on the wall in the library’s majestic central rotunda is by Frank X. Walker, Associate Professor and Kentucky Poet Laureate.
There is no vaccination against ignorance but there is us. There is this university. And we still have heavy doors to open, unmet obligations to the land and its people. There are still leadership opportunities to advance the Commonwealth, this nation, and our world towards fulfilling its potential, towards meeting its lofty promises. Let men and women come here as seeds, let us invest in them until they form sufficient roots and leaves to obtain their own food. Let them grow from here not just trees but a fruit-bearing, deeply rooted forest.
The poem is also etched into a wall in the Gatton Student Center which is where Library Research Seminar 8 took place.
☕I was also told that “Willy T,” as the library is called, has the largest Starbucks on any college campus. It certainly was the largest Starbuck’s I’ve ever been in and it extends outdoors as well. 🌳 The indoor spaces alone total 6, 200 square feet.
Remember biophilia, rethinking it, Marsh’s Library, from technostress to eustress? Look for information health connections via the library spaces at Willy T - https://libraries.uky.edu/spaces-technology/find-dining-wellness/exploring-library-spaces Or watch Frank X Walker the poet and catch the beginning of his poem with the meaningful metaphor of trees and teaching. 🌲
I’ll be back to my usual Infophilia writing next week. Until then, have a good weekend, Anita