Art at the Library

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Call for Artists: 2026 Library Art Gallery Displays

The Redwood City Public Library Art Exhibit Selection Jury invites local artists to submit work to be considered for exhibit at the Downtown Library and Redwood Shores Branch. The jury will be choosing artwork and photography to be displayed between March 2026 and February 2027. This jury selection event will take place at the Downtown Library Community Room. Learn more about how to submit your artwork HERE.

Teen Center Mural

In 2023, local teens were invited to submit original art inspired by the Downtown Library Teen Center that would be reproduced as a mural in the Teen Center. The winning art is by local teen artist, Misha, a student at Woodside High School. Misha is one of the many talented teens that participated in the contest.

Collaborate, Construct, Create Community

The Collaborate, Construct, Create Community! Project took place April 8-15, 2023 and was a community art experience celebrating diversity of community, creativity, ideas, and the love of stories. Under the direction of Bay Area Artist Richard Art Felix, and the EverybodyCanPaint Project, all members of the community participated with paint and words on a 20 foot artwall installation in front of the Downtown Library to create an interconnected, inclusive, and growing visual representation of and with our community. Large scale photographs of the final artwall are on view on the second floor of the Downtown Library. Learn More

Free Verse by Kate Dodd

In September 2021, we installed a new permanent art installation in the Family Place at the Downtown Library called Free Verse by Kate Dodd. The Library was inspired to commission Ms. Dodd to create an artwork for this space by the Incubator installation in the Redwood City Art Kiosk on Courthouse Square in March 2019. Free Verse promotes reading as a mind expanding activity, featuring illustrated children’s books, reconfigured into colorful networks of pictures and words that ascend towards the skylight’s natural source of light, a metaphor for what early exposure to books can do for developing minds. The installation includes some of Redwood City’s favorite works of children’s literature, identified through library checkout records and by our children’s librarians:

A Bad Case of Stripes, David Shannon

Dreamers, Yuyi Morales

Freight Train, Donald Crews

Go, Dog. Go!, P. D. Eastman

Hooray for Birds!, Lucy Cousins

The Snowy Day, Ezra Jack Keats

The Ugly Vegetables, Grace Lin

Where The Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak

The Library is grateful for the financial support of the Pete & Paula Uccelli Foundation, and the vision and guidance of Fung Collaboratives, without which this installation would not be possible. Image © Erin Ashford

Redwood City Pages, Book Project

Redwood City Pages Book Project, created by photographer Brian Taylor, is a public art piece displayed at the City’s Downtown Library and created through the help of the Redwood City community. In 2017, the community participated in paper making and cyanotype workshops and celebrated Redwood City’s history and community through art. The free workshops were funded in part by a grant provided by the City of Redwood City’s Civic Cultural Commission. Paper created by the community was donated to the Redwood City Pages. Over 20 workshops were offered and close to 300 participants learned about three different types of paper art and the creation of cyanotypes. Read a news release with more details about the project, here.

View the Redwood City Pages exhibition catalog here.

Bookdrop Art Contest Winners

Did you know that our wrapped bookdrops are designed by local community members? In 2018 and 2019, we held Bookdrop Art Contests and chose winners based upon their art relating to books, reading, libraries and Redwood City.

To see the winning designs, go here.