The meeting, to be held at the Vineland Branch Library from 7 to 9 p.m., will address concerns about a new piece of public art and an on-going discussion about an already planned-for piece of art that the Public Arts Task Force committee says needs some tweaking.

Before leaving office in December, outgoing District 10 Councilwoman Pat Dando found $100,000 in her Construction Tax and Conveyance Tax Fund and recommended to the city council that these funds be appropriated to the Almaden Branch Library and dedicated to the recognition of Doris Dillon at the library.

Dillon, a beloved Almaden schoolteacher and school librarian, has two local elementary libraries named for her. Last summer, a group, including Dando and Gary Dillon, Doris' widowed husband—wanted to rename the new library after Dillon. But others in the valley—including some who were also friends of Doris—argued that the renovated library, and all San Jose libraries, should maintain their geographical names.

The skirmish ended in August at a city council meeting when Gary Dillon withdrew the request to rename the library for his wife. Instead, he asked the council to honor his wife by naming the new library's children's center after her; a suggestion that originally had come from a group of library renaming opponents.

While the renaming issue had been put to rest, another conflict involving how Dillion should be remembered has arisen.

At a recent meeting between the city's public art department and the volunteer Public Arts Task Force committee, members spoke their concerns about proposed changes to approved artwork, and to the placement and practicality of new artwork in Dillon's honor.

Of the $100,000 that Dando and the council designated to honor Dillon, one-quarter of that has already been spent; earmarked for architectural and cosmetic modifications to the plan, according to Barbara Goldstein, public art director for the city's office of Cultural Affairs and Mark Schatz, the architect with Field Paoli Architects who designed the library and community center.

The alterations include: Changing the color scheme to include a shade of purple to reflect Dillon's favorite color; adding an entryway to the children's center; signage that will say "Doris Dillon Children's Center"; the addition of quotes—some of Dillon's own and some of her favorites by other people; and an area to hang Dillon's portrait.

Schatz said the modifications made changes to the footprint of that area of the building that necessitated the moving a fire extinguisher and some lighting fixtures, and added that if any other changes are required based on the new artwork, there may be additional architectural fixes and fees, in store.

Dando said that Schatz met with her, Gary Dillon and a number of Doris Dillon's friends about the children's center. In that meeting, Schatz said that in addition to making the changes to the children's center entry and signage, a sculpture going in the courtyard could be altered.

"The architect suggested there was an already proposed artwork and perhaps it could be changed to better represent the recognition for Doris," Dando said.

"Gary Dillon had said that one of the areas of art that Doris really appreciated was Southwestern art and that of an image of an Indian storyteller. [The storyteller] was a rounded woman with lots of children sitting on her lap. It's a fairly famous piece of artwork that you can buy and the discussion came up that perhaps the artist who did the piece in the courtyard that maybe she would be willing to incorporate that." she said.

But when Dando talked with the artist, she said realized that not only was the artist, Lisa Rienertson, committed to the piece she had already imagined, but that redesigning it would be an additional cost.

That was when the talk turned to placing the new sculpture outside the building in the entryway.

But at last week's art task force meeting, members were concerned that placing any art piece outside the building's entry would detract visitors' views of the 23-foot-high by 20-foot-wide prism that will hang in the entry and that was designed to be visible while approaching the building. They also said that since the architectural and cosmetic changes were already in place for the children's area, anything honoring Dillon needed to stay close to that center.

The commission is committed to honoring the memory of Dillon, and the memory of the region, members say.

Other fine-tuning

And the task force was hoping to honor tradition further still by asking artists Mark Evans and Charles Brown to redraw the female figure in their "Pursuing Knowledge" mural that will go in the community room.

This piece of art, the committee said, needs some fine-tuning. The mural, which will be done with colors representing cinnabar and silver—the ores for which the region first became important—is bisected by a large window. One half of the mural depicts a man who represents the mining history of the region. It is the other half of the $65,000 mural that has committee members scoffing.

"She looks like a fat lady at a New Year's Eve party," said Judith Brynda, a member of the public arts committee, describing a woman who is standing above a young reader.

Added fellow committee member Don House: "She looks like Arnold Schwarznegger."

The design of the muscular woman and the futuristic and symbolic meanings did not match the written explanations the artists had provided, committee members said. The artists' renditions show her in scale as large, if not beefier, than the miner who represents the region's past. Above her head and below one arm are spheres that are intended to represent the future and the pursuit of knowledge, but to some committee members they just conjure up images of a party.

"She looks like a bubble dancer," Brynda said.

Discussion of the "Pursuing Knowledge" mural and the artwork recognition for Doris Dillon will be held at the Vineland Branch Library located at 1450 Blossom Hill Road, on Feb. 3, from 7 to 9 p.m.