Art Library Launched

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - For years veteran Los Angeles artist Dan McCleary has been a mentor to young aspiring artists through his Art Division program, which teaches art to underserved youth. 

He’s also been an avid collector. 

His collection includes work from masters like Leonardo da Vinci and Pablo Picasso and it spans multiple genres, from sculpture and photography to painting and illustration. 

But what he’s collected isn’t hanging on the wall of some gallery or museum. Instead, it’s all neatly stacked on plain woodenartis shelves in a simple room less than a block from MacArthur Park.

With the hope of inspiring future generations of artists, on July 28 McCleary is launching a new art library stocked with about 5,000 art books he’s collected through donations during the past decade. The 2-5 p.m. event includes a student photography exhibition. 

The library is part of his Art Division nonprofit program, which he launched in 2010. 

“This is now the heart and soul (of Art Division),” he said on a recent weekday afternoon at the new library, which was already being used by about six of his 20 students. “Looking at the art books really does change people’s lives…I think we’ve become too reliant on the Internet. They can Google artists and see their work online, but it doesn’t compare to seeing it in books.”

The veteran Los Angeles painter, whose work has been compared to Renaissance masters like Piero della Francesca, started Art Division while working as the director of art programs for Heart of Los Angeles, an after-school program in the LAPD’s Rampart Division that focuses on art, sports and academics. 

Once students graduated from high school, some who wanted to pursue art were left with few options, McCleary said.

“There are very few services for young adults,” he said. “Once you hit 18 you’re on your own and I was finding that a lot of kids just ended up lost. So this provides them a path.”

The program teaches free classes like figure drawing, printmaking, art history and photography to students 18 to 25 years old. Instructors include established artists like contemporary painter Eowyn Wilcox, photographer Andy Romanoffand even a former student, 27-year-old Javier Carrillo, who aged out of the program two years ago and now teaches printmaking.

“For students like myself, after high school it can be hard to figure out a direction in life,” Carrillo said. “Art can be a ticket into that and you can use those skills for a lot of things.” 

The new library is a vital addition to the program that will help motivate new artists, Carrillo noted. 

“When I open a book it’s like finding a treasure,” he said. “Before I start any project I look through books and get inspired by seeing the work of other artists.” 

Art Division board members include other big names in the art world like Perri Guthrie, a fine art appraiser and the national chairperson for the International Society of Appraisers Fine Art Committee, and Paula Holt, adjunct professor at USC’s School of Performing Arts and a former commissioner of cultural affairs for the city. 

“(McCleary) has developed a program that is working for a small focus group of serious artists,” Holt said. “I cannot tell you what it’s like to see them grow. These kids are learning to live life as artists, to make it work for them, to make it pay.”

The new library is a vital tool for their growth as artists, she said. 

“It’s our belief that if you are never exposed to that kind of beauty you’ll never develop that muscle,” she said.  

Holt said she doesn’t see the library growing in terms of physical space in the future, but she does see it growing in terms of programs that will be offered, with lectures, film screenings and discussion slated for the space. 

As a young man, McCleary was inspired to pursue painting after reading books on artists like painter Albrecht Durer. 

“When I was 18 I was on Hollywood Boulevard and saw a Durer watercolor of a wing of a bird and it just changed my life,” he said. 

The collection of art books began after his mother passed away in 2004, when McCleary already had the idea to open an art library for young students. 

“I told my friends to not send flowers, to just give me art books,” he said. 

Since then the donations have continued to pour in and books have come from donors that have included artists as well as organizations like the Peter Norton Family Foundation. 

The new single-room facility looks more like an independent bookstore than a library meant to inspire future artists. There is a table set up in the middle of the room where Art Division students can sit down to read the books.

Stacked in three separate approximately 10-foot-tall shelves that cover three walls, the books are organized alphabetically by categories like individual artists and genres. There’s no library card needed since the books are meant to be read at the library. Students can also bring other work to the library or simply hang out. 

Some of the students sitting at the table a few days before the official opening were drawing in sketchbooks. Others were checking out some of the art books. 

“It’s a great place to hangout, read books, get some references if you want to,” said Roberto Ortiz, 21, who focuses on acrylic painting and drawing. “Even just hanging out with the people who come hear helps get you inspired. You just want to paint and be creative.”

Next to him was Alex Gonzales, 21, who focuses on illustration and surreal drawings. 

“When I see an image on a book it gives me ideas,” he said. 

As of a week before the opening, the library was still slated to be open just for the students, although McCleary said officials with the nonprofit will be discussing how it will serve the public in the future. 

“We want it also to serve this community, not just the students,” he said.