2024 A Novel Tasting Silent Auction Spotlight: 2 Paintings Donated by Trussville Artist Amy Peterson

Library Lamp Light, a 12 x 12 inch painting valued at $750, will be available for purchase at BPL's 2024 A Novel Tasting Silent Auction this Thursday, April 11, at the Central Library downtown. 

Overlooking 21st St N. View from Skywalk, a 12 x 12 inch painting valued at $750 depicting scene from the Skywalk separating BPL's East Building from the BPL Research Building, is available for purchase at the 2024 A Novel Tasting Silent Auction this Thursday, April 11, at the Central Library.

Artist Amy Peterson presents the Library Lamp Light painting to Chandler Champion, BPL's Director of Development, and BPL Library Assistant III Margaret Splane

Artist Amy Peterson presents Overlooking 21st St N. View from SkyWalk to Chandler Champion, left, BPL's Director of Development, and Margaret Splane, BPL Library Assistant II

 Birmingham, Ala. - Attendees to A Novel Tasting, the Birmingham Public Library (BPL) fundraiser taking place this Thursday, April 11, will get a chance to bid on two special items: paintings of BPL's Southern History Department, donated by Amy R. Peterson, an artist/art teacher who lives in Trussville, 

Her paintings are View From SkyWalk, a scene above Richard Arrington Boulevard on the skywalk connecting the Central Library's East Building to the BPL Research Library, and Library Lamp Light,  a view a sitting area in BPL's Southern History Department, best known for its famous Ezra Winter murals. 

Both oil paintings are 12 inch-by-12-inch, framed and with a retail value of $750 each. They will be among a variety of items available for public bidding during the 2024 A Novel Tasting's Silent Auction.

This is the third straight year Peterson has donated paintings to BPL's A Novel Tasting's silent auction. The past two years, she donated paintings of the Ezra Winter murals. 

A wife and mother of three children, Peterson has used her passion for art to paint famous buildings, landscapes and scenes in Birmingham for years. Check out some of the paintings on her website by clicking here www.AmyRPeterson.com.

While she worked other jobs pursuing her art in between, Peterson used to fantasize about where an art career might take her life. Now she smiles at where her life (particularly as a woman and a parent) takes her art! Learn more about  Amy Peterson by reading her bio box at the end of this blog.

You can also learn more about Amy by reading a Q&A she did with BPL in 2022 by clicking here.  

In a Q&A with BPL, Peterson talked about her art and what inspired her two latest works.

BPL: What inspired "Overlooking 21st St N, View from SkyWalk," a view of downtown Birmingham from the skywalk over Richard Arrington Boulevard connecting the Central Library's East Building to the Research Building?

 

Peterson: Every time I visit the BPL Research Building, I cross the sky walk and enjoy the view overlooking Richard Arrington Boulevard (formerly known as 21st Street North). I especially enjoy the view with the morning light and shadows and the bustling street activity. The day I visited the library to paint, the trees weren't full of leaves yet so the view was more open and the spring colors on the trees were particularly beautiful. I decided to stop and paint this view, very much like "plein air" painting when you paint  out of doors from life and capture the light as it is in the moment, except in this case I was painting from the sky walk enclosure.

BPL: What inspired your latest painting of Library Lamp Light, a scene from a sitting area in the  Southern History Department at Central Library Research Building?

Peterson: After painting the first scene, I headed down to the Research Library to scope out an interior scene. Rather than taking on a larger scene as I did last year, I was drawn to the warm glow of the desk lamps. This interior scene is rather like a "still life" of the lamps, capturing the surrounding bookshelves. I thought it could be fun to paint my signature on the desktop research sign. 

BPL: What is it that literally "draws" you to the BPL Research Library?

Peterson: The BPL Research Library is a treasure trove in more ways than one for Birmingham! Many people, artists included, do not know that this 1927 building houses paintings by the prominent muralist Ezra Winter, like those found in New York City's Radio City Music Hall and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The Research Building itself is an impressive neoclassical design clad in limestone from Indiana, where the finest limestone has been sourced for buildings including the Empire State Building and the Biltmore House.

Since childhood, I have been drawn to the art and to history. I vividly recall enjoying antique stores a child. I enjoyed the scents of older things and the tactile experiences of them. Even as a child, I had an appreciation for the craftsmanship of objects and architecture before I knew how to express that in words. 

As an adult, I've been able to merge my interests in art and history. I live in the 1930's historic district of Trussville which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was developed during the Great Depression along with eight other federal housing "projects" in Alabama, including four others in Jefferson County, and Gee's Bend of the famed quilting tradition.

Long before I knew Trussville's history, I was drawn  to the charm and beauty of it and painted it often. Around the time I first learned about its history, I co-hosted an Alabama Bicentennial exhibition of paintings that toured 10 Alabama cities. A few years later, I co-founded the Cahaba Homestead Heritage Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to the educational and promotional efforts in support of the historic district.

BPL: I did not know you are one of the founders of the Cahaba Homestead Heritage Foundation. Tell us about it partnership with the Trussville Public Library, which like BPL is a part of the Jefferson County Library Cooperative, and the Gee's Bend quilting workshop April 19-20 taking place as part of its annual Heritage Days Festival.

By the way: The Gee's Bend quilters hosted an art show at the Birmingham Public Library from January through March as part of BPL's Art for Everyone series sponsored by the Alabama State Council of the Arts and he National Endowment for the Arts. 

Peterson: Cahaba Homestead Heritage Foundation has partnered with the Trussville Public Library on a number of programs, including a Gee's Bend quilting workshop as part of our annual Heritage Days Festival. Many people do not know that the Trussville "Cahaba Project" neighborhood shares a Great Depression origin story with "Gee's Bend Farms." In 2023, the quilters visited Trussville for the first time and we are eager to welcome them back this April 19-20. (See the full schedule by clicking here)  

BPL: Any advice for budding young artists?

Peterson: Keep drawing. Keep painting. Keep creating. Don’t hesitate to ask questions. There is no dumb question! When you see something that grabs your attention, ask questions. 

As a student, asking “why” is often more valuable than asking “how”. Go see what art people are putting out there: local art shows, shops, galleries, museums, and online, but as often as possible in-person! Take classes, take workshops, enter competitions if you like, but mostly keep creating. 

Seek out your areas of interest (even as they change), strike up conversations, and you’ll find that fellow artists are usually very willing to share advice and show support, and this can mean more doors will open.

 Amy R. Peterson  Bio Box 

Artist: Amy R. Peterson 

Hometown: Birmingham, Ala.

Education: John Carroll Catholic High School; University of Notre Dame, (B.A.)

How many years as an artist: Lifelong as an artist; Over 20 years as a career 

Description of art style: Impressionistic oil paintings

Favorite things to paint: Almost any subject painted from life, including historic interiors, plein air landscapes and Birmingham city scenes. I’m unusually drawn to colors and shapes that I find interesting; that could be shapes of physical objects or the shapes created by the light and shadows in the scene.

Favorite items ever painted: Various Birmingham paintings; New Mexico landscapes (from when we lived there); and Our Universal Mother, a Multicultural Madonna commissioned as a gift for the retiring president of the University of Notre Dame (my senior year)

How to contact the artist: Email amyraquel@gmail.com or website www.AmyRPeterson.com

Here are images of Amy R. Peterson working on the skywalk and Southern History paintings.