Library Public Art Galleries
The Lafayette Library and Learning Center Art Galleries
The Lafayette Library and Learning Center features two gallery spaces that are designed to support rich and diverse artistic expression, provide the opportunity for local artists to display their works, and to encourage the appreciation of the visual arts in Lafayette's cultural center.
Exhibits are held in the Community Hall Gallery, located in the Don Tatzin Community Hall (adjacent to the library), and in the Homework Center within the library. Exhibits are selected by the City of Lafayette Public Art Committee.
Embodied: Figurative Works in Clay and Paint
August 4 – October 27, 2026 | Homework Center, Community Hall and Display Case
Embodied: Figurative Works in Clay and Paint brings together contemporary figurative work in ceramics and painting, exploring the human form as a site of presence, perception, and material translation.
Across both mediums, the figure becomes more than representation—it is shaped through touch, gesture, accumulation, and surface. In painting, the body emerges through layered color, mark-making, and image construction. In ceramics, it is built through weight, volume, and the physicality of fired form. Together, these practices reveal how meaning is held in material itself, and how the human form remains a central language for understanding lived experience in an increasingly digital world.
Throughout the exhibition, recurring moments of human experience emerge—figures in states of waiting, reflection, connection, and action. These works invite us to consider the body not only as an image, but as a record of time, experience, labor, and presence.
The exhibition offers multiple interpretations of embodiment, with each artist bringing an individual perspective while remaining in conversation through a shared focus on the body as subject, structure, and presence. In doing so, the works highlight the continued relevance of figuration as a way of seeing and making sense of the world through hand, material, and image.
Embodied points to what is felt most directly in physical encounter, from the weight of clay, the resistance of paint, and the trace of the hand. At a moment when images can be generated, altered, and shared instantly, these works hold time, labor, and attention in ways that ask to be experienced slowly and in person.
The paintings in Embodied: Figurative Works in Clay and Paint are on view in the Lafayette Library & Learning Center's Community Hall Gallery and Homework Center Gallery, as well as the Town Hall Theatre Lobby Gallery, while the ceramic works are exhibited in the Public Art Display Case at the Lafayette Library & Learning Center.
Artists
Suzun Almquist is a Bay Area painter whose work is informed by more than 15 years of study with Marcy Wheeler and active involvement in regional arts organizations, with exhibitions throughout the Bay Area, Napa Valley, and San Francisco. suzunalmquistart.com
Donna Arganbright is a ceramic artist who creates functional porcelain pottery with flowing forms and vibrant glazes, drawing on a lifelong career as an art educator and an active presence in the Bay Area arts community. moragaartgallery.com or laa4art.org
Amber DeSilva is an Orinda-based mixed media artist whose psychologically layered figurative paintings and collages explore themes of identity, emotion, and the cultural narratives that shape women's experiences. amberdesilvaart.com
Marianne McCraney is a Bay Area painter working in watercolor and oil whose observations of everyday life—from still lifes to portraits and working people—have been exhibited in galleries and arts centers across California and beyond. mariannemccraney.com
Ruth Stanton is a Lafayette artist whose expressive landscapes and portraits, inspired by California's natural beauty and her background in interior design, celebrate color, light, and human connection. ruthstantonart.com
How to Apply
Exhibits are selected by the City of Lafayette Public Art Committee. Artists interested in displaying artwork must submit a complete Exhibit Packet, including executed Art Gallery Release, an exhibition statement and an artist biography. Please contact Public Art Liaison Jenny Rosen for more information.
The exhibition calendar is divided into three seasonal shows—Winter, Spring, and Fall—with a fixed deadline application process. Application deadlines are as follows:
- September 15 for Winter (November - January)
- January 15 for Spring (March - May)
- June 15 for Fall (August - October)
Applications shall be reviewed by the Public Art Committee at its regular monthly meetings. Scheduling of exhibitions is dependent upon availability. No alternate works may be substituted for accepted works.
Space and Guidelines
The Community Hall gallery features approximately 32 linear feet of exhibition space. The Homework Center features approximately 20 linear feet of exhibition space. Works may be installed in a single row or salon-style. All two-dimensional artwork must be suitably framed and equipped with hanging apparatus (D rings and wire) that will enable the artwork to be installed on the Gallery’s picture rail hanging system. Work that is fragile in nature or whose framing or display arrangement is of questionable durability may be rejected. Absolutely no nails, hooks, and/or mounting tape will be allowed to install any exhibit at the Gallery.
Location
The Don Tatzin Community Hall and the Lafayette Library and Learning Center are located at 3491 Mt Diablo Blvd, Lafayette, CA 94549
Hours
The Homework Center is open to the public during library hours. The Community Hall Gallery is open to the public only during public events occurring in the Community Hall.