The Wheeler Taft Abbett Sr. Library is named in honor of Wheeler Taft Abbett, Sr. (1923-2010), who supported many organizations including the Marana Food Bank, the Marana Health Center, the Pima Community College Nursing Program, and the Pima County Public Library. Mr. Abbett explained his support for the library as another way to effect positive change for the community, especially the young people.
The Library opened in 2008 and is 20,000 sq. ft.
Outside the Library is a sculpture called Wondrous. This artpiece consists of a long, folded panel of galvanized steel and an intense light source that is active at night. The panel includes roughly 1000 words laid out in a way that encourages your eye to wander through it, creating new meanings from existing sources. We chose phrases from a wide range of literature, as well as oral histories of the settlement of the Marana area. The words are roughly 74% English, 24% Spanish, and 2% O'odham.
During the night, three of the world's most powerful LEDs (PhlatLightTM CBT 120 LEDs by Luminus Devices ) project intense color through the words, casting overlapping shadows in six colors on the landscape around the sculpture, the library wall, and visitors that pass by.
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