The Oconee County Library Board of Trustees has selected artwork for the library in Wire Park consisting of three large sets of photographic panels for the inside walls of the main room and nine paneled murals for the children’s library space.
The Board chose the artwork after presentations by three individual artists and a collaborating pair of artists at it meeting last week.
Selected artist Glenn Galau presented an example of his photographic work printed on metal showing black trees on pure white enamel background.
Bess Carter and Sarah Glass, in their successful presentation, showed examples of murals organized around a “Little Cloud” theme highlighting well-known areas within Oconee County, such as Elder Mill Bridge south of Watkinsville and Rocket Field in Watkinsville.
The two proposals will cost just more than the $20,000 given to the Board by the City of Watkinsville for art at the library. The Board agreed to make up the difference by drawing on its reserve.
The Board had a Fund Balance of $577,572, according to a financial report it reviewed at the meeting last week, with $378,983 of that unreserved.
The Board also reviewed a proposed $0.8 million budget for Fiscal Year 2027.
Art Committee Report
Dapne Norton, chair of the Board’s Arts Committee, said at the Jan. 20 meeting that the Committee had received a total of 13 proposals for artwork at the Oconee County Library in Wire Park.
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| Norton 1/20/2026 |
Ten of the proposals came in after the Board decided at its October meeting to reopen the competition.
Three of the proposals came in after the initial request for proposals and had been considered at the Board’s July meeting.
Norton said that the Art Committee, consisting of herself, Angela Moss-Hill, and Laura Moore, had reviewed all 13 of the proposals and invited artists representing three of the second wave of proposals to present at last week’s meeting, held at the Library in Wire Park.
In addition, one of the original artists from the first wave, who had not been present at the meeting in July, was invited as well, as those initial three plus the three newly invited presenters were considered top be “selected” for consideration, Norton said.
Galau Presentation
Galau was the first invited presenter, and he told the Board that “We have three walls to consider, what I call the IV room wall, the study room wall, and the main drag.”
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| Galau 1/20/2026 |
“The prints will be organized into sets of three panels, two panels, three panels,” he said.
“They'll be manufactured by Vivid Metal Prints in Lexington, N.C., by dye substitution into a coating on aluminum,” he said. “I really like it. It's vivid. It pops out at you.”
Galau showed the Board two prints, but he said he had rejected one of them after getting feedback from the Art Committee because of the bright color.
“And I think it will still be effective, up in the skys,” he added of the selected photographs.
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| Example Of Trees |
Galau said he has used this technique for a show at the Oconee Cultural Arts Foundation, 34 School Street in Watkinsville, called “Winter Respite” that runs through Feb. 28.
“I am excited about this,” he added.
He said he has been working on the proposal since the end of November and “I have learned some techniques. I have learned things not to do, and I consider this a good investment regardless of the outcome.”
Galau said the cost will be $10,000 for the printed panels and about $1,000 for installation.
Carter and Glass Presentation
Carter and Glass are teachers at Oconee County High School. When the request for proposals came before them, they said, they decided they wanted to work together on a submission.
“I knew that she would be a joy to work with,” Carter said of Glass. “Our aesthetics are so similar, and working with a great friend is so much more fun than doing things by yourself.”
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| Glass (forefront), Carter 1/20/2026 |
“When we decided we were going to tackle this request for art and submit a proposal...we looked at all areas and then we determined we really wanted to work within the children's space,” Glass said.
“And looking around that children's space,” she continued, “we realized there needed to be a strong, cohesive theme to kind of bring together the beauty of that area.”
“And we knew we wanted to make it playful and colorful,” she continued. “We wanted it to be story driven.”
Carter said a refrain from a poem her father had written for her when she was a little girl gave them that theme.
“Where are you going, little cloud, in such a hurry today?”
“Why don't you stop and make some shade, and in it I will play.”
“I have held on to it since I was a little girl with hopes and dreams of illustrating in some capacity when one day,” she said. “This is the perfect opportunity to tell the story of this Little Cloud.”
The cloud will be made of plexiglass and be attached to the wall near a series of panels that portray “recognizable locations in Oconee County,” Carter said.
The projected cost for the proposal is $10,353.
Kennon Presentation
“I have been a local artist in the Athens Watkinsville area for 10 plus years, probably closer to 12,” Kennon said when she came to the front of the room and began her presentation.
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| Kennon 1/20/2026 |
“I was very excited to hear about this project,” she continued. “The library is a very special place to me and my family.”
I have worked mostly with acrylics and studio art,” she said. “Lots of canvases. Done many shows. Lots of holiday markets in the area.”
“I, over the past two years, have really gotten into mural work, and it's a lot of fun,” she said, “just being able to leave your mark on the community and kind of bring more joy into your space.”
“My proposal is for murals, with one possible canvas space, throughout the entire library,” Kennon said, “kind of hoping to create an immersive experience for people when they walk in that's warm and welcoming, that really reflects the history of our community.”
Kennon showed the Board her plans for the entryway to the library and for others walls throughout the facility.
“All of these are very flexible,” she said. “I would love to be open to ideas. And if I was to be chosen, I definitely would work with anyone who did have thoughts and ideas... So don't feel like we're married to this.”
She said the total cost would be $20,000.
Eskridge Presentation
Eskridge, who was in the first set of applicants but had not been able to present to the Board in July, introduced himself by saying “I've been an artist since I was three.”
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| Eskridge 1/20/2026 |
“My dad was a veterinarian. My mom was a creative,” he said. “And so I kind of blend the two together. I paint. Animals are my kind of main thing. I love bright colors.”
“I've traveled around and I decided on the Athens area about 20 years ago,” he said, “and I love everything about it. I've shown a few times at the old (library) location of the library here.”
“My proposal is for a hand painted, direct-to-the wall mural,” he said. “I'm trained in oils, but I use acrylic for murals. And they all have a clear coat of UV varnish.”
“I'm really into playful imagery,” he said. “I really like to have fun. I think about adventure a lot. And so when this call came up, I thought of how much reading is important to me.”
Eskridge said his initial proposal is “based on this raccoon. The raccoon serves as a playful, relatable guide, curious, clever, and a little mischievous, mirroring the energy and imagination of young readers in the community.”
Eskridge said he proposed using the space of the children’s and young adult's sections of the library for the murals.
“I envisioned on the younger side more simplified imagery, kind of like, just really more on the playful, whimsical imagery.”
“And then for the teen side, to be a little more sophisticated with introspective tone, to reflect the evolving identities, interests, and inner world of young adults,” he said.
The cost for the project was $14,000.
Business Meeting
After the artist presentations, the artists left the meeting, and Norton said that the Art Committee had reviewed all 13 proposals and was recommending that the proposals by Galau and by Carter and Glass be accepted.
The total cost of $21,353 exceeds the $20,000 provided by the City of Watkinsville.
The Board also received a Balance Sheet Report as of Dec. 31, 2025, showing the $577,572 in total assets, with reserved three months of operating costs ($181,997), reserved employee vacation payout ($15,504), and an Unreserved Fund Balance of $379,983.
The proposed budget presented to the Board for Fiscal Year 2027 shows a transfer of $123,533 from that reserve to balance the $802,872 budget. For the current Fiscal Year, $106,893 was transferred from the reserve to balance the budget.
The budget shows a contribution of $541,059 from Oconee County, $31,000 from the Oconee County Board of Education, $30,127 from the City of Watkinsville, and $7,000 from the City of Bogart.
Most of the budgeted expenditures, $709,743, are for salaries and benefits.
Beth McIntyre, Director of the Athens Regional Library System, of which Oconee County’s two libraries are a part, presented two glossy handouts to the Board, one based on a report by the Carl Vinson Institute of Government (CVIOG) at the University of Georgia and the other the Georgia Public Library Service 2025 Year In Review.
The CVIOG report lists $282.5 million in public library funding in 2024 resulting in $857.4 million in services and $202.8 million in economic impact.
The 2025 Year In Review shows that the 60 library systems in the state with 410 library facilities clocked $45.9 million visits in 2025, up 6 percent from the previous year.
The report states that 45 percent of all Georgians have a library card and that the number of card holders ($5.1 million) increased 4 percent from 2024.
Video
The video below ends after the fourth presentation by Eskridge.
I had to leave the Library Board meeting at 5:40 p.m. to attend the 6 p.m. meeting of the Oconee County Planning Commission at the county Administrative Building.
The Library Board meeting began at 4:30 p.m.
Galau began his presentation at 2:07 in the video.
Carter and Glass began at 12:28 in the video.
Kennon began speaking at 40:27.
Eskridge began his presentation at 56:56 in the video.
James Mitchell, Oconee County Library Branch Manager, gave me draft minutes of the meeting, on Jan. 23.
I used those minutes and documents Mitchell provided me to write about the parts of the meeting I did not observe.
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