Rail

Rail (20 feet long x 10 feet high x 10 feet wide) was commissioned by Friends of the Akron Public Library. It is painted steel and includes an abstracted fanciful landscape with birds and a cat. Situated in a lovely garden area, a colorful “L” shaped heavy steel rail, symbolic of structural architectural forms, is surrounded by curving metal pipes that seem to rise up from the earth as they grow. Flat cutout birds rest high above the ground, while a very large domestic cat sits intently watching them from below. The rail is bright blue, the organic pipes are green, the birds represent black crows and the cat is dark brown. Rail is located directly outside the children’s glass-walled reading area, and it is a favorite respite with the youngsters.

Rail is the third iteration of ideas first publicly expressed in Upper Arlington’s 1975 Dingle sculpture. The Akron Library is planning to repaint the sculpture in the Fall of 2018 as part of a regular maintenance program. Discussions have been held with the artist to ensure the proper colors and type of paint are used to retain the integrity of the artist’s original concept.

Description provided by the artist, Gene Kangas