Our current exhibit of selections from the collection Italy, Through the Eyes of Love is at the Riverdale Public Library in Riverdale, New Jersey (www.riverdalelibrary.org). The exhibit opened with a reception on November 17 and continues through January 16, 2009. A portion of the proceeds from sales will be donated to the Library.

The Riverdale Public Library is an open, light-filled space with several levels. They regularly hold art exhibitions and interesting programs on a variety of topics. Over the summer, Jefferson stopped by the Library and asked if they would display our marketing postcard, since I was a town resident. (Jefferson designed our postcard and it always attracts attention.) Here it is:

(click the thumbnail to view the full-size postcard.)

The staff graciously agreed and Jefferson went on his way. A few weeks later the Library contacted us through our website and asked if we would be interested in exhibiting the photographs at the Library. We were thrilled! They also asked if we would conduct an hour-long program for them on the collection (more on that later!), which of course, we agreed to do. It's scheduled for December 2 at 7:00 pm.

We had a small window of time in which to install the exhibit, as we had to wait for the previous Library exhibit to be dismantled. Just like in Westchester, we brought in the metal grids for the unframed works (thanks to Matt Locker!) and hung the framed and gallery-wrapped prints on the walls.

The Opening Reception would start in a few hours. As we were working on it, we noticed that the heat in the Library (especially on the second floor) caused the identifying tags on the metal grids to curl. This was an unanticipated complication that needed to be addressed. Jefferson sized up the problem and fixed it by attaching thick stock black paper to the back of each tag. He believed this would work at least through the Opening Reception, and after that we would have time to create a more permanent solution if needed.

Of course, reinforcing the tags was rather tedious and time consuming. We finally finished at 5:30, rushed home, got dressed and returned to the Library in time for the Opening Reception at 6:30.

People started arriving early and kept coming until the Library closed at 8:00. We had invited many of them, and quite a few were strangers to us who had heard about the exhibit and wanted to see it.

I use the word "strangers" very loosely because common interests bring people together, and soon we all talking about the enchantments of Italy!