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Student's artwork featured in Minneapolis' Central Library

By Anna Stevens '10
February 26, 2008

Laura Olson '08 couldn't stand to see good books go without a good home. So rather than throwing away the unused science books she came across while working in the library, she turned them into art and found a new home for them at the Minneapolis Central Public Library.

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Laura Olson '08 describes one of the books she turned into a piece of art.
Olson's work is part of a current exhibit at the new Central Library, located at 300 Nicollet Mall in Minneapolis. She is one of 21 Minnesota college students whose artwork is featured in the library's atrium. Two books she altered will be on display. The exhibit opened Jan. 12 and will remain on display through March 29. The artwork is available for viewing Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. and Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Turning books into art
As a student last year in English Professor Diane LeBlanc's Integrative Studies 214: Art & Politics of the Book, Olson was given two assignments that required her to make her own books.

"In the class we learned all about books: what they are, what they mean politically and artistically, and we also learned book making techniques," Olson says. "We could use the techniques we learned in class or delve into our own creative endeavor for book making."

For Olson's first piece of art, she used an old Science Library book titled Genes, Radiation and Man. After removing all of the book's pages, Olson created an accordion-style fold and added pages with strange and contrasting images into the mix. Olson then placed the newly organized pages back into the cover and binding to create the final product.

Olson describes her second book as containing more specific content and using a slightly different technique than the first. A book filled with "urges" is what she came up with.

"I was interested in the word 'urge' and what types of urges people have: ones they act or don't act on," Olson says. After collecting thoughts about urges from family and friends, Olson typed her work on an old typewriter, using yellow paper to express urgency. She then sewed the pages into an old, German dictionary and painted the original pages of the book yellow as well.

Beyond St. Olaf
Olson, who will graduate from St. Olaf this spring, says she's fairly certain she wants to go on to do "something, anything, related to art."

"We have an amazing art facility here at St. Olaf, and I am not looking forward to leaving it," Olson says. "I have nearly everything art related at my fingertips in the Dittmann Center, and it will be hard to find another place just as beautiful and resourceful."

Contact Kari VanDerVeen at 507-786-3970 or vanderve@stolaf.edu.