BELIEVE In Our Schools On Exhibit in the Gallery at AIABaltimore First Thursday Opening Reception Thursday, September 1, 2005, 5-7 p.m.

AIABaltimore is pleased to present the designs of the BELIEVE In Our Schools program, a Baltimore initiative to provide complimentary, original library designs to Baltimore City Public Schools. With the participation of 13 local architecture firms, and numerous engineers and other consultants, the effort has generated 13 innovative designs for school libraries in Baltimore. The program began when, three years ago, Alexander Design Studio was approached by Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse, Inc. to volunteer with a library design for Southeast Middle School. Construction would be funded by the state of Maryland, through a program called QZAB. Baltimore City and QZAB determined which schools were eligible and most needed the pro-bono design work of Baltimore’s architects and engineers. Now 13 local firms have donated their innovative ideas to Baltimore City’s schoolchildren, saving the city hundreds of thousands of dollars while simultaneously providing our children with the best and most creative designs for their libraries. BELIEVE In Our Schools will be on display in the AIABaltimore Gallery until September 29. The public hours for the Architects Bookstore and Gallery are Monday through Thursday, 9 – 4:30 p.m.

MOBILES Large and Small by sculptor Rick Eisenmann continues on display in the Architects Bookstore through September 2005

Sculptor Rick Eisenmann will present a collection of mobiles in the Architects Bookstore through September. Formerly from Pittsburgh, he has been crafting mobiles since his first in 1965. Now relocated to Baltimore, his work already hangs in the reception area of the Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse offices at Tide Point. Many of the pieces Rick will be showing at AIABaltimore are maquettes for architectural-scale works.

Since he was a child, Rick has been fascinated with the concepts of balance, and the way these elements are reflected in nature. His mobiles, assuming an organic temperament, are inspired by his childhood in tropical Panama. “Some grow in a very orderly, predictable fashion, while others are unruly and full of subtle surprises,” says the artist.

However, what is most fascinating about a mobile is the way it is perceived by the viewer. “The mobile is a line drawing in space, a line drawing that is constantly changing.” With so much negative space, it is the sail, or shape at the ends of rods, that attract the eye most easily. However, it is the length and angle of each rod that grants the mobile its ability to float in space, and the space in between these rods that allows the viewer to recognize their shifting relationships.

“There’s a way in which a good mobile tricks the human eye. If you focus on the lines of the rods and find them pleasing, what you may not realize is that you are probably reacting to the spaces between the rods as much as, or more than, the lines of rods themselves.”

MOBILES Large and Small will be on display in the Architects Bookstore through September 2005. The public hours for the bookstore are Monday – Thursday, 9 – 4:30 p.m. For more information, contact AIABaltimore, 410.625.2585. To learn more about Rick Eisenmann, visit www.rickeisenmann.com.