The new La Crescenta Library, serving the unincorporated La Crescenta
community north of Glendale and east of La Canada Flintridge, will replace
an existing County Library on the same site. Light-flooded reading areas
for children and adults will feature high ceilings and comfortable furniture.
A meeting room accommodating approximately 100 people will be used by
various community groups. The formal entrance features native stone
and an adjacent plaza that will soften the busy intersection.
About the Artists: Evan LaGrande Wilson, a painter and graduate
of UCLA, has executed public and private commissions nationally, including
murals for the City of San Gabriel's Auditorium and SBC/Pacific Bell
in Newport Beach. Wilson is known for his versatile decorative painting
styles, including gilding, trompe d'oeil and scrollwork. He has also
restored historic murals at the City of Los Angeles' City Hall and the
St. Andrews Baptistry in Pasadena, among many others. In May 2006, his
sample painting for the dome at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church
in North Hollywood, Ascension Scene for the Main Dome, was selected
for exhibit at the M. C. Escher Museum in the Hague, Netherlands.
R. D. Gibbs and Company of Glendale was founded in 1979 by R. Douglas
Gibbs, a native of Great Britain who began his career in stained glass
at the Canterbury Cathedral. The company, now co-directed with son Timothy
Gibbs, specializes in original, custom stained, leaded and faceted glass.
Their commissions include both new work and restorations at churches
through California, including St. James the Less Catholic Church in
La Crescenta and a chapel window at Loyola Marymount College. Their
leaded glass windows are featured at the Agoura Hills Library in Agoura
Hills.
Rendering by Carde-Ten Architects