As you make your way into the children’s theater at the Santa Maria Public Library, a look outside might convince you you’re in another world: children at play with bugs of all sorts decorating the wall directly across from the theater.
Artist Glenda Stevens’ newest mural for the library was made possible with a donation from Altrusa of Santa Maria, which also funded the children’s library itself.
City Librarian Jack Buchanan said they wanted something “whimsical” for the mural.
“There are so many wonderful details; I think my favorite has to be the lily pad races with the steeds being dragonflies,” Buchanan said.
It’s those details—28 of them to be exact—that have the ladies of Altrusa smiling: as the mural’s patrons, each child portrayed in the mural is a grandchild or great grandchild of an Altrusa member.
“We thought it would be fun to have our grand and great-grandchildren’s faces painted on the mural,” Altrusa of Santa Maria member Diane Stevens said.
Glenda Stevens, whose own four grandkids are included in the mural, couldn’t agree more.
“It went from [City Librarian] Jack saying the theme inside is bugs, wouldn’t it be cute to have giant bugs? From there it went to ‘What about kids riding giant bugs!’” she said.
The rest is (and will be) history. Glenda said she gets a kick out of the thought of her grandkids seeing the mural in the future.
“They’re going to grow up and say, that’s me! My grammie did that!” she said.
Glenda always knew she wanted to be an artist. One of her earliest memories is of her kindergarten teacher holding up a picture Stevens drew of a butterfly and exclaiming. “Isn’t this beautiful!” That, she said, made quite the impression.
At 11, her parents found her a private art teacher. From there she majored in art in college and spent her summers on scholarship at the Art Institute of L.A.
Glenda’s work can be seen all over Santa Maria: she painted the mural on the side of the old cleaning supply warehouse on Chapel Street, as well as the lobby of the Radisson hotel. She also painted the mural inside the library in the children’s section—check behind the big tree, you’ll see it.
Glenda said she got her start painting in Santa Maria after she moved here from Oregon—“the weather’s sunnier here”—just before Christmas 1980. She went to different businesses and started painting Christmas scenes on storefront windows.
“That was good discipline, working big and fast. Then people started asking me to do their windows throughout the season, and that turned into a full-time job,” she said.
Altrusa of Santa Maria’s main focus is literacy, member Diane Stevens said.
“When we were picking a place to make a difference in Santa Maria, we picked the library,” she said.
That’s why the group has already contributed $60,000 for the construction of the children’s library, and why they donated the money for the most recent mural, which, Diane added, turned out “absolutely gorgeous.”
City Librarian Jack Buchanan said he was also very pleased with the mural, adding that it was natural for the library to sponsor artwork.
“The library is a champion of the arts. We want to see as much happening like this as possible,” he said.
People interested in seeing the mural will have to make an appointment because there’s no way to see the mural without going through the theater.
Buchanan said the public is invited to check the library’s schedule of events for the children’s theater or simply ask the children’s staff to see the mural.
Staff Writer Nicholas Walter wants to ride a giant ladybug. Send him riding tips at nwalter@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jun 4-11, 2009.