Fallbrook Library Murals • January 2011by Betsy Kopshina Schulz

Fallbrook Library Murals • January 2011By Betsy Kopshina Schulz

The project started with a groundbreaking and an art competition. The Friends of the Fallbrook Library and selected officials selected five artists to complete five separate art projects within the new library. Betsy Schulz was chosen to design a donor mural. As construction progressed, she was also asked to complete a mural on a concrete wall in the Garden Room. This book shows the process of both murals and all the people who helped Betsy make it happen.

The Fallbrook Library

The Fallbrook Library Donor Mural project started in May of 2009 and was completed in November of 2010. The client was the Friends of the Fallbrook Library. The Library’s entry mural incorporates four donor-tile panels (each 18 in. wide x 48 in. tall) settled among three art panels (each 48 in. tall x 60 in. wide), depicting the natural and rural essence of Fallbrook. Betsy Schulz silkscreened the donor names onto handmade tiles, with six tile sizes representing six levels of donation, from $1,500 to $40,000. The art panels are made from sculpted and silk-screened tiles, found objects, and word mosaics. Schulz used an owl flying out of a sculpted book surrounded by a spray of words and phrases to represent the wisdom to be gained from study. A giant avocado, a sunflower, and leaves represent the agricultural heritage of Fallbrook. Historical images of local people and places, from the Fallbrook Historical Society, were silkscreened onto tiles and used throughout the mural. In an event that provided the community an opportunity to be a part of the project, more than 200 local residents attended a workshop at the Fallbrook School of the Arts to create tiles with inspiring words and phrases. This event provided the community an opportunity to be a part of the project.

Fallbrook Library Donor Mural

At a well-attended community workshop to make background tiles for the donor mural, Kathy Tanaka and student intern Esme Bitticks from Hightech High organized letters for stamping clay.

After the word tiles were fired, Kathryn Schmiedeberg, Kathy, Insu Nuzzi, and Betsy worked with Liam and Tori Austin and Carlee Schulz to glaze tiles in Betsy’s studio.

Betsy selected a color palette of glazes to coordinate with the building colors selected by the architect.

Betsy chose Half & Half and Santa Fe clay bodies to make the sculptural tiles. The glazing made the tiles come alive.

The tiles were sculpted, bisque-fired at cone 06, then glazed and fired at cone 5. Kathy and Insu worked hard to help complete the project on time.

“I mix grout for a mosaic canvas like I mix oil paints. The different colors are used to help strengthen either a gradation of tile or a block of a single color. Strong, saturated painterly color is one of the most important aspects of my glazing and grouting.”

—Betsy Schulz

The following are the Laticrete colored grouts we used in the Donor Mural: Midnight Black, Almond, Navajo Tan, Twilight Blue, San Beige, Chocolate Truffle, Cooper Beech, Caramel with 6 tsp. of #6024 orange stain.

Many Grout Colors

The murals were transported to the library by truck. Stanford Sign & Awning helped install the murals on-site by drilling 3/8 in. x 2 1/2 in. metal screws into the metal straps contained within the wall.

After the murals were mounted, small round tiles were glued to the top of the 3/8-in. screw heads with silicone glue.

More than just a list of donors, the final mural is joyful welcome to a wonderful new library for the Fallbrook community.

Like the Donor Mural, the Garden Room Art Wall and Fountain project was started in May of 2009 and completed in November of 2010 for the Friends of the Fallbrook Library. The art for the outdoor reading room is seamlessly integrated into a concrete retaining wall, 300 sq. ft. of which is textured and sandblasted concrete, with another 60.5 sq. ft. of inlaid murals. The goal was to turn the concrete wall into a warm and inviting reflection of nature, integral to this outdoor space. The concrete and the tile murals were chosen to last decades. The murals include handmade tiles, metal objects, minerals from the local Gem and Mineral Society, old bottles and shards found in the building excavation, and donated artifacts from the community. The murals artistically represent history as layers of earth that have accumulated to give rise to the trees of today. Quotations from literature express how we live and use the land, recycling or reinterpreting the old into something new. Finally three basalt columns and a recessed pool filled with pebbles form the fountain in front of the wall.

Fallbrook Library Garden Room Wall

The art for the Library Garden Room is seamlessly integrated into the east-facing poured-in-place concrete retaining wall. A Grape Stake form-liner from Spec Formliners, Inc. was used to create the vertical texture in the center portion of the wall. Six areas were blocked out to create recesses to install tile murals flush with the surface. Once poured, the wall was sacked and sealed with masonry sealer. High tack sandblast mask was applied, then silhouettes of grasses, birds and butterflies were sandblasted into the surface using Garnet sand to reveal the concrete aggregate. The mask was then removed and the wall cleaned and touched up with Wonder Fix by Rapid Set. The effect created is a subtle nature scene silhouette.

Concrete Wall Treatment

Gordon Darnelle and Betsy taking a break during the sandblasting. Cooper Schulz on-site during construction. Denise Holcombe and Betsy made paper and WonderBoard templates of the recessed areas before making tiles.

Gordon, Kathy Tanaka and Betsy installed the mural panels onto the wall with thinset. It took two days to complete the installation.

The sculpted clay tiles were dried slowly, flat on Betsy’s studio tables. A red clay (Santa Fe) and white clay (Half-and-Half) were used to get different variations of glazed colors.

Shown here are the same sculpted tiles, glazed and installed on-site.

A number of Laticrete grout colors were used, including Midnight Black, Twilight Blue, Copper Beech, Caramel, Almond Green, Custom Green, Navajo Tan and Stain 6236 Chartreuse.

Garden Room Mural and Fountain installed with furniture, ready to use.

A new donor section was sold and installed in 2012. The clay used was Santa Fe, with screened images in CN074 and CN213 and text in CC165. The grout is Laticrete Caramel.

Expanding thinset had caused four of the glass bottles to crack. Betsy replaced them with handmade ceramic bottles in January of 2012. Cooper was a real help with clean-up.

The well-attended grand opening of the Fallbrook Library was held on January 22, 2011.

José Aponte, Director of the San Diego County Library, spoke at the ribbon cutting, along with architect Manuel Oncina, Marlo Miller and Jerri Pachet of Friends of the Fallbrook Library, and many others.

The library at the opening. Kathryn Schmiedeberg and Norbert Schulz with Betsy in front of the Fallbrook Library Mural during the opening.

The festivities inside the library’s Garden Room were lively, with a great backdrop.

At the finale of the Fallbrook projects, Betsy and the volunteers jumped right into the Solana Beach Community Center project. The celebration party was for both the Fallbrook and Solana Beach projects and also Kathryn’s 60th (59th) birthday. It was enjoyable, as always, with this group of lovely talented ladies, and a capable man or two.

A Luncheon of Course

Friends of the Fallbrook Library, Jerri Patchett, Denise Holcombe, Kathryn Schmiedeberg, Kathy Tanaka, Insu Nuzzi, Ted Cantor (Premier Image Screen Printing), Gordon Darnelle (Stanford Sign & Awning), and the many Fallbrook community volunteers.

A Special thank-you to:

Fallbrook Library Murals • January 2011by Betsy Kopshina Schulz

Fallbrook Library Murals • January 2011By Betsy Kopshina Schulz