Birmingham Public Library Blog

  Avondale Regional Library is hosting an art exhibit by Stephen W. Evans this week as part of the Birmingham Folk Festival, which is happening this Saturday, May 4, 11 a.m. - 7 p.m. in Avondale Park. This week through this Saturday,  May 4, the art of Stephen W. Evans will be on display in the auditorium of the Avondale Regional Library, 509 40th Street South . If you are attending the Birmingham Folk Festival in Avondale Park between 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. this Saturday, stop by and check out Evan's amazing art. Avondale Regional Library is the festival venue for art, community writing, poetry and dance.   About Artist Stephen W. Evans  Evans is the preparator and art handler for the Birmingham Museum of Art. He describes himself as an artist simultaneously preoccupied with the absurd and the existential. Evans’ paintings are amalgamations of sources gathered from art history, literature, cinema, and invented imagery, all favoring the atmospheric, as well as a benign sense o

  The Birmingham Folk Festival is in Avondale Park this Saturday, May 4, 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m., and features free activities at the Avondale Regional Library and the Avondale United Methodist Church .  Birmingham, Ala. -  The Birmingham Folk Festiva l returns to Avondale Park this Saturday, May 4, at Avondale Park. This free family-friendly event will take place from 11:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. and feature a full day of music, art, and poetry. For the first time, the festival is partnering with the Avondale Regional Library and Avondale United Methodist Church, both a short walk from Avondale Park.  The Birmingham Folk Festival will present live performances featuring bluegrass, gospel, blues, Americana, West African drumming and dance, mariachi, hip-hop, brass band, and more. Food, arts and crafts, vendors, dance, and other activities for the whole family will be ongoing throughout the day.  Join us as Avondale Park comes alive with art and sound from around our city! Arts and cra

  Rack , Virginia Elliott, handwoven fabric cast in iron, 2022 An exhibition featuring works by artists of the Sloss Metal Arts  program is currently on display at the Birmingham Public Library (BPL). The show features pieces by Virginia Elliott, Hugh Patton, Kara Theart, Alexandra Rose Weaver, and Ajene Williams.  The exhibition will be on view through Friday, May 31, at the Central Library , where it is installed in the glass cases on the first floor. Media include cast iron, steel, fabric, a large-scale drawing, pales from the Iron River in Michigan, a lightbulb, and more!  The public is invited to a reception honoring the artists on Saturday, May 4. It will take place from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. in BPL’s Fourth Floor Gallery. Both the exhibition and reception are free and open to the public.  Sloss Metal Arts is a cast iron art program operating out of Sloss Furnaces’ historic No. 2 Casting Shed. The programming is dedicated to teaching and expanding metal casting as an art form that ho

  The Birmingham Public Library's "Loud at the Library" series is hosting saxophonist Fred Jones Jr. this upcoming Tuesday, April 30, 2024, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. for a free jazz show in the courtyard across the street from the downtown Central Library .  The courtyard is located between the BPL Research Library and the Jefferson County Courthouse. Bring your chair or blanket and make it a picnic with our featured food truck: King Vee Hotdogs!  International Jazz Day is observed annually on April 30, as the culmination of Jazz Appreciation Month in April, celebrating the diplomatic history and impact of jazz across the globe with events taking place in more than 180 countries.  The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) first officially designated April 30 as International Jazz Day in November 2011 to honor the genre’s history of expression and advocacy for equality. This day brings together communities, artists, historians, academics,

Will Jacks, an assistant professor of art-photography at Troy University, is the visionary behind the r abbit, rabbit  exhibit opening May 3 at the Central Library's Fourth Floor Gallery downtown.       Photo credit: K. Weatherford Birmingham, Ala. -   The Birmingham Public Library is hosting a new art exhibit, rabbit, rabbit , opening to the public on Friday, May 3, in the Fourth Floor Gallery of the Central Library downtown, 2100 Park Place. The  rabbit, rabbit exhibit was created by artist Will Jacks , an artist and assistant professor of art/photography at Troy University. (Please note the exhibition title is NOT capitalized as the artist intended).  The exhibition is the latest in the Birmingham Public Library's visual arts series, Art For Everyone, which debuted in January and is happening throughout 2024 at the Central Library downtown. The series is made possible by a grant that the  Alabama State Council on the Arts  awarded to the  Friends Foundation of the Birmin

Rainbow Houses , Ken O’Loughlin, acrylic on canvas, 24” x 36”  Birmingham, Ala. -  This April, the Birmingham Public Library celebrates Autism Acceptance Month with an art exhibition titled A World in a Grain of Sand . The exhibition features works in various media by artists from Studio By The Tracks (SBTT). Studio By The Tracks is a nonprofit community arts studio that has been serving artists with autism for 35 years.  A World in a Grain of Sand is the latest installment in BPL’s visual arts series, Art for Everyone , which débuted in January. The exhibition is on display in the First Floor Gallery at the Central Library  through Friday, May 31.  In conjunction with A World in a Grain of Sand , SBTT’s artist in residence Tara Stallworth Lee  will offer two workshops on the art of hand papermaking on Tuesday, May 7. A youth workshop will take place from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m., followed by a similar for adults from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Please stay tuned to the BPL website  for additional in

Celebrate Earth Day with free seedlings while supplies last this week at Southside Branch Library.  Today, Monday, April 22, is Earth Day 2024 . For over 50 years, Earth Day has been celebrated across the country, and the globe, through the mobilization for environmental causes. While it is not a federally recognized holiday, many celebrate Earth Day through environmental education, awareness, and action.  In preparation for spring and in celebration of Earth Day, Southside Branch Library will be giving away free seedlings in pots from today, April 22, through Friday, April 26. Pick up a seedling and nurture and observe your plant as it changes through the season.  Our quantities are VERY LIMITED, so hurry in for the best selection. Can’t find a seedling that you want? No problem! You can browse our Seeds @ Southside Seed Library and find the perfect seeds to start in your home or garden.  For more information, call Southside Branch at 205-933-7776 or drop by our library at 1814 11t