Ongoing Call for Local Artists

Are you a local artist who would like to show your artwork at the Library? We’re now accepting ongoing calls for original work. Mediums include photography, painting, illustration, mixed media, jewelry, small sculpture, ceramics, woodworking, glass arts and fabric arts.

Self-taught and professional artists from Chautauqua County are welcome to submit artwork. For more information click here.

Annual Darwin R. Barker Library Plant Swap June 11th, 10am-12noon!

Join us Saturday, June 11th 2022 to exchange or simply share your garden extras with others. 

Participants should drop off their plants at the tent outside of the Library at 7 Day Street in Fredonia between 9am and 10am. The swap will start at 10am and end at noon. After noon, all plants are up for grabs! Please bring plants in containers you don’t mind giving away. Include the name of the plant and any care instructions. 

Meet and Greet with Artist Madeline Keenan

The Darwin R. Barker Library will exhibit the artwork of Madeline Keenan from Thursday, May 5th through Tuesday, June 7th during the Library’s regular open hours. Patrons and visitors are invited to meet Keenan during a “Meet the Artist” reception on Saturday, May 14th from 10am-12noon.

The exhibit will display paintings from two series: Works from “You Can Only Find It Once It’s Lost” explore nature and the environment. Keenan strove to freely interpret nature and experience the rawness of life. Works from “I Am” are a collection of self-portraits fused with images significant to the artist.

New York-based painter and ceramist Madeline Keenan has been working on her craft for upwards of 10 years. She studied at the State University of New York at Fredonia, where she graduated with a dual degree in Drawing & Painting and Ceramics. Her work strongly focuses on personal reflection and growing with the environment. After experimenting with abstraction, she now incorporates the loose and free forms she gained from that exploration into work that has a clear subject matter. Her work has begun to explore the relationship memories have on the growth of individuals.

To learn more about Keenan’s work, visit the artist’s website artbymadelinek.weebly.com or Instagram @artbymadelinek.

The Darwin R. Barker Library is a member of the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus County Library System (CCLS) giving patrons access to an abundance of materials. Current open hours are MWF 10am-5pm, TTh 1pm-6pm, and Sat 10am-2pm.

Check out your next adventure!

You can rent out passes to local museums, galleries, and more with the Chautauqua-Cattaragus Library System Day Adventure Pass program.

Each patron can check out 4 passes once per year* to organizations such as:

The Buffalo Museum of Science; Roger Tory Peterson Institute; Buffalo Zoo; Erie Zoo; The Jackson Center; The Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame; Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site; and Seneca-Iroquois National Museum.

*subject to availability; participating organizations may change