As part of a major expansion and renovation project that included the creation of a children’s wing, the Howe Library’s environmental graphics program was unusually broad in scope for a town library. In addition to an exterior clock face and main ID sign, interior components included donor recognition, wayfinding and regulatory signage, bookcase flags, special-event kiosks, an archival donor-plaque mural, Children’s Room entry sculpture, and a lobby mural.

The Library requested only that the mural’s theme should relate to “the community” and that it not be didactic or verbal in nature. CGD’s “A Townscape Fantasy” challenges the viewer’s imagination by transforming selected architectural impressions from the community into a simple, yet richly layered, geometric matrix in the manner of quilting. Constant interaction between recognition and abstraction sets in motion a kaleidoscopic dynamic that energizes the wall surface and the lobby space as a whole.