Contact: Jack Baur
Supervising Librarian, North Branch
Berkeley Public Library
510-981-6050
jbaur@ci.berkeley.cs.us
Author and blogger Tom Dalzell Celebrates
Quirky Berkeley Book Release Party and Photography Exhibit
at Berkeley Public Library North Branch
Berkeley, CA. July 8, 2016 – The Berkeley Public Library North Branch is excited to celebrate with the community and Tom Dalzell, blogger at Quirky Berkeley: The Quirky Material Culture of Berkeley. Tom Dalzell’s new book, Quirky Berkeley, a photographic celebration of Berkeley and its whimsical, eccentric, and quirky culture. This book will be published by Heyday in August, 2016.
To celebrate the book’s release, the Berkeley Public Library North Branch has teamed up with Heyday for a book release party and photo show. The photo show will start at the North Branch on Monday, July 18th and will feature photos from the book. The party is Monday August 1, 2016, from 7:00 – 9:00pm at the North Branch. The author and many of the artists profiled in the book will be on hand to talk about their work. Copies of the book will be available to purchase from Heyday at the event, and there will time for signing books. Refreshments will also be served. For more information call 510-981-6250.
There is a wealth of unusual art in Berkeley neighborhoods: murals painted on walls, a front yard decorated with an alien lifeform sculpture next to a spaceship, or unusual tiles that look like they were inspired by children’s drawings. Seeing such fun oddities inspired the beginning the Quirky Berkeley website where Tom shares photos, interviews with the artists, and the history of the art. Tom Dalzell says, “I started walking every block of every street in Berkeley in late 2012, in search of quirky material culture. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and then turned into something oh so much more – a love letter in photographs and words to Berkeley and all that makes us different and special, our freedom and creativity and verve.” The new book based on that blog, Quirky Berkeley, celebrates art, sculpture, and other curious things you will find in Berkeley and surrounding areas.
Malcolm Margolin, local Berkeley publisher of Heyday Books, raves, “Looking at this art and what it says about my community fills me with pride: pride for the artists, for the community that I have long loved and been part of, for the untamed artistic spirit that is humanity’s saving grace, and for Tom Dalzell and his pilgrimage into the heart of creativity."
This program is made possible by a generous gift from the Pace Trust, in support of the North Branch of the Berkeley Public Library. The North Branch Library is located at 1170 The Alameda, Berkeley CA 94707, and is open: Monday, 10:00am-6:00pm, Tuesday and Wednesday, 10:00am-8:00pm, Thursday 12noon -8:00pm, and Friday and Saturday, 10:00am-6:00pm.
Wheelchair accessible. For questions, to request a sign language interpreter or other accommodations for this event, please call (510) 981-6195 (voice) or (510) 548-1240 (TTY); at least five working days will help ensure availability. Please refrain from wearing scented products to public programs. Visit the library’s website: www.berkeleypubliclibrary.org.
###