50th Anniversary of Exeter’s Class of 1945 Library

The word library evokes images of burnt-out students cramming for tests in a deafening silence. When organizing the 50th Anniversary of Exeter’s library, I wanted to activate the space by transforming the building into a museum showcasing student artwork, and subvert the silence associated with libraries through live music. Surrounded by a crowd as I painted Exeter's principal with my friend Kiesse playing a Bach fugue in the background, I felt the energy of an enlivened community reverberating throughout the building. The celebration drew 400 people, and students messaged me afterwards, sharing they were inspired to create art for the first time. My most rewarding contribution was designing and writing a 340-page book commemorating the event and history of Louis Kahn’s library. Knowing the celebration was not only inspirational but historical made the hours of work worthwhile.

We used the English prefix “syn-” as our beacon and theme, from the Greek σύν meaning along with or together. Under this prefix, we hoped to fortify intersectionality as a bonding force. The event’s theme was also inspired by my favorite quote from Hernan Diaz’s In the Distance. “Looking at any particle with sufficient care,” Diaz wrote, “and following the chain that links all things together, we can arrive at the universe. The correspondences are there, if the eye is skillful enough to detect them.” By centering diverse forms of experiential learning, we hoped to unlock new gifts of knowledge.