A Jeweled Winter Forest
Abstract acrylic painting with white swirls and shapes of orange, blue, and yellow. Signed bottom right. Undated<br /><br />Barbara Aubin (1928-2014) was born in Chicago and studied Art Education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Until her retirement in 1991, Aubin was a professor at Chicago State University. She received fellowships that enabled her to travel abroad, including a Fulbright Fellowship award in 1958. She has received many awards and her work has been exhibited internationally. In 2002, the Chicago Women’s Caucus for Art held a retrospective of Aubin’s work.<br /><br /><strong>This painting is near the First Floor elevators.</strong>
Collection of Skokie Public Library. Gift of Edward and Cecile Fellin, 1973.
Aubin, Barbara, 1928-2014
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Swans
Sculpture of a continuous curved piece of polished and burnished stainless steel with a double loop effect reminiscent of swimming swans. The piece was commissioned specifically for placement in the Water Court on the Library’s First Floor. Weighing approximately one thousand pounds, the sculpture was moved from the artist Elliott Balter’s studio to the Water Court by crane in 1979. The ceremony for the sculpture's dedication was held on Sunday, October 14, 1979.<br /><br />On plaque:<br /><blockquote>Elliott Balter<br />”Swans”<br />In honor of Hester King<br />In memory of Armond D. King<br />made possible by gifts of Armond D. King, Inc.<br />The King Family<br />First National Bank of Skokie<br />Skokie Federal Savings and Loan Association<br />and a grant from<br />Illinois Arts Council</blockquote>
Elliott Balter (1926-2006) studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He was one of the founders of the Skokie Sculpture Park and he taught art at Niles North High School in Skokie. In 1985, Balter opened his backyard Skokie Sculpture Garden to the public. His work has been exhibited at various locations around the United States and in Paris, Barcelona, and London.<br /><br /><strong>Located in the Water Court on the First Floor.</strong>
<hr />Read more about this sculpture on the library's <a href="https://skokielibrary.info/blog/416/library-art-swans/" target="_blank" title="Blog post on library website, "Library Art: Swans" by Perry Nelson dated December 26, 2026" rel="noreferrer noopener">blog</a>.
Balter, Elliott, 1926-2006
1979
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Fusion I
Abstract oil painting in yellow and orange. Signed bottom right.<br /><br />Modernist abstract painter Morris Barazani (1924-2015) moved to Chicago in the 1950s to join the Chicago Bauhaus movement at the Institute of Design where he worked with Laszlo Maholy Nagy. After founding the art department at DePaul University, Barazani became the director of the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois’ Chicago Circle Campus, where he remained for 24 years.<br /><br /><b>Located on the east wall near the southeast corner of the Second Floor.</b>
Barazani, Morris, 1924-2015
1967
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View from McCormick
Abstract wall sculpture made from welded bronze, copper, and steel gasket forms.<br /><br />On original plaque:
<blockquote>Ted Gall<br />View from McCormick<br />Gift of<br />Federal-Mogul Corporation<br />2010</blockquote>
The sculpture was created during the 1970s and was located in the Fel-Pro building on McCormick Boulevard in Skokie for 25 years. The sculpture was <a href="https://skokielibraryhistory.omeka.net/items/show/692" target="_blank" title="Skokie Public Library Board of Trustees Meeting Minutes, September 15, 2010" rel="noreferrer noopener">donated to the library in 2010</a> by the Federal Mogul Corporation, the parent company of Fel-Pro Manufacturing. When first installed, the sculpture hung on the outer west wall of the library, but it was damaged in 2012 when vandals attempted to remove copper tubing from the piece. After returning from being repaired by the artist the sculpture was relocated to the interior South Courtyard.<br /><br />Theodore (Ted) Gall studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and worked for twenty years as the artist in residence at Fel-Pro, an automotive gasket manufacturer in Skokie before moving to California. The Library owns another of his sculptures, “<a title="Continued Dialog" href="https://skokielibraryhistory.omeka.net/items/show/13">Continued Dialogue</a>.”<br /><br /><strong>Located on the wall in the South Courtyard on the First Floor.</strong>
Read more about this sculpture on the <a href="https://skokielibrary.info/blog/411/library-art-view-from-mccormick/" target="_blank" title="Library Art: View from McCormick" rel="noreferrer noopener">Library's blog</a>.
Gall, Theodore T., 1941-
1970-1980
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Semi Nude with Zooples #5
Hand-embellished print of a large orange and yellow flower on the top left with a semi-nude figure at the center. Signed top right, "Max".<br /><br />"Zooples" is the name Peter Max has given to the little squiggles he often includes in his work. This print was added to the collection shortly after the Library’s 2001 renovation. The donor, raised in Skokie, said that when he was in college he remembered seeing only drab, grey walls in the university library when he looked up from his books. Now a Skokie Public Library user, he wanted to give his fellow patrons something interesting to see when they looked up from their books.<br /><br /><strong>This item is on display in the Community Engagement Meeting Room on the First Floor.</strong>
Max, Peter, 1937-
1980
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Search
Arched, abstract, three-legged sculpture with curved, angled, pointed top. Bronze with green patina on a custom marble base. <br /><br />On original plaque:<br /><blockquote>Brian Monaghan<br />Search<br />Bronze<br />Purchased in honor of<br />Mary Radmacher<br />Chief Librarian 1956 – 1985<br />by<br />The Kihara Corporation<br />Cole Taylor Bank<br />and her friends</blockquote>
This piece was chosen by former Head Librarian, Mary Radmacher, to decorate a meeting room at the Library named in her honor. The sculpture was dedicated on December 7, 1997. <br /><br />Sculptor Brian Monaghan said the piece “is constructed of silicone bronze sheets welded into a dynamic and fluid form, evoking a restless and energetic nature... I am working with two themes — serenity and dynamic energy.”<br /><br />Monaghan owns Central Sculpture Works in Chicago and studied art at the Massachusetts College of Art and the Art Institute of Chicago. His large-scale steel sculptures can be seen throughout the Chicago area. The Library owns another piece of Monaghan’s sculpture, “<a title="Untitled Cor-Ten" href="https://skokielibraryhistory.omeka.net/items/show/27">Untitled Corten</a>.”<br /><br /><b>Located on the First Floor in the Mary Radmacher Gallery.</b>
Monaghan, Brian E., 1950-
1997
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Chicago River
Painting of the Chicago River with a bridge in the foreground and buildings in the background. Undated.<br /><br />Hilda Rubin Pierce was born in Vienna, Austria in 1923, but left for England in 1938, when Hitler took over Austria. She later moved to Chicago and was described, in a 1958 <i>Chicago Tribune</i> article as a “young Chicago artist of great promise.” She exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago and taught art. She later wrote a memoir entitled, <i>Hilda: a True Story of Terror, Tears, and Triumph</i>. <a href="https://youtu.be/-PZL7cC3wCw">Pierce's oral history </a>has been recorded by the University of Santa Cruz Shoah Foundation's Visual History Archive online. The Library owns another painting by Rubin, “Walled City.”<br /><br /><b>Located in the Community Engagement hallway on the First Floor.</b>
Collection of Skokie Public Library. Gift of Edward and Cecile Fellin, 1973.
Rubin, Hilda
Pierce, Hilda
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Petrified Journey One Thru Ten
Abstract acrylic painting in gray and white in the upper portion in a wave effect. Red, orange, and blue wavy pattern in the lower left. Signed on the bottom right, “Tuna 1 May 1977.” <br /><br />Gift in memory of James O. Burke, Andy Frain, and John R. Sobeck. The artist, John R. Sobeck, Jr. (1947-2001), painted under the name, “TUNA.” The Library owns another painting by Sobeck, “Energy."<br /><br /><strong>Located on the east wall in the Petty Auditorium on the First Floor.</strong>
Sobeck, John R., 1947-2001
1977
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Wall Hanging
Wool wall hanging is composed of bright pinks and reds with pale orange, olive green, and yellow. Overall amorphous shapes with one large circle in the top center. Long fringe at the bottom. Hung from a carved walnut wood dowel. <br /><br />Donated to the library by Harry and Diana Hunter in 1986 with the suggestion that it would be hung in the Petty Auditorium.<br /><br /><b>Located on the west wall of the Petty Auditorium on the First Floor.</b>
Unknown Artist
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Untitled [Giraffes]
Needlepoint tapestry depicting a herd of giraffes with mountains and sky in the background. Velvet stitch is used for three of the giraffe tails and one of the giraffe manes.
<b>Located in the Nursing Room in Youth Services on the First Floor.</b>
Collection of Skokie Public Library. Gift from the family of Marcia Grusin.
Grusin, Marcia
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