James P. Adams Library: Art in the Library: The Adams Library Mural

Art in the Library

The James P. Adams Library has several original works of art on permanent exhibit. This guide is intended to showcase the library's art collection and the artists whose works are on display.

Subjects: Art, Library Exhibits and Events

Tags: adams_library, art, artists, mural

Heemong Kim's Library Mural

The Library Mural
by Heemong Kim was unveiled in the library lobby on October 3, 1980.

The information below is taken from the program for the unveiling.

THE MURAL

The artist has chosen to portray a selection of people who have contributed, in different ways, to the richness of the human experience, the challenge of bold ideas, and the excitement of aesthetic and intellectual discovery. His work demands some concentration from the viewer, plus a small measure of levity born of the surprise of recognition. To see this mural, to look at it truly and allow one's eyes and mind to roam with the movement generated by the interplay of images and relationships, is to begin to understand the meaning of this piece.

THE ARTIST

Heemong Kim, class of 1980, native of Korea, member of a talented family. His father, a protege of Le Corbusier, is an architect of international repute and his mother is an energetic painter. In 1977, after his freshman year at Yonse University in Seoul, Heemong enrolled at Rhode Island College. He brought with him rich cultural traditions and perceptions plus a warm gentility that touches those around him. Heemong synthesized his visual expression through courses in print technology, graphic design, art history and photography, choosing to "use photography as a tool to design with". The Adams Library Mural dramatically attests to his philosophy. Heemong continues his studies of Communications Design in the graduate program of Pratt Institute.