Pittsburg Public Library mural, sculptures, and other artwork

Located inside the Pittsburg Public Library, 308 N Walnut St, Pittsburg, KS. This building has a unique history and showcases a mural plus other art work and exhibits.

A rare Carnegie library

Steel magnate Andrew Carnegie donated towards the building, but to appease local coal miners angered by his involvement, his name was removed from the building. Completed in 1912, it was one of the few Carnegie libraries built in Prairie Style architecture, another concession to the miners who did not want an elaborate, ornate facility.

Outdoors

• copper Legacy Sculptures by Janet Lewis
• Two Children in the Garden sculpture
• Dragon sculpture (USD 250 Pittsburg is the Purple Dragons)

Ella Buchanan exhibit

Pittsburg's first librarian left her post in 1908 to pursue her dream of becoming an artist. She studied at the Chicago Art Institute, then worked there. While there she created a sculpture called "The Suffragist Trying to Arouse Her Sisters." It became the face of the women’s suffrage movement and was widely produced in small scale, on posters, banners and on postcards in the final decade of the American women’s suffrage movement. Another sculpture she created, "The Young Lincoln," was a gift to a U.S. president.

It took more than 100 years for the Pittsburg Public Library to be able to pay tribute to Buchanan. Created in 1928, her original bronze sculpture "Genius" is believed to have been modeled after a famed dancer of the time, and is now on display in the library. It is joined by a portrait of her by William Neukomm and a scrapbook of photos and news clippings about her.

Marjorie Schick exhibit

This former Pittsburg State art professor developed a worldwide reputation as an avant-garde jewelry artist with permanent collections on display worldwide.

"Solidarity" mural

This mural features St. Barbara, the patron saint of coal miners, and a number of the wives, mothers & grandmothers of miners who organized the 1921 Amazon Army march.