Pearl River Public Library Director Kathy Rose said the pieces just fell together, combining the reception for Pearl River high school and middle school artists and and the dedication of the "Paula Bohovesky Art Gallery" Saturday.
The library already had the reception for artists from Pearl River High School and Pearl River Middle School set to begin 1 p.m. Saturday.
Approximately two months ago, the library put in a new hanging system on its main art exhibit wall. Around this time, the library was asked to take part in the Concert for Paula - A Celebration of a Life. Paula Bohovesky was murdered while walking home from the library in 1980.
That led to the dedication of the library's art space, which will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday.
"We wanted to do the reception," Rose said. "We thought, here we have this exibit space with monthly art exhibits. And we have Paula Bohovesky, who has a real tie to our library. It was the last place she was seen and she was our employee. I suggested to the board and it all came together that the right thing would be to dedicate the space in her memory. We contacte dthe family and they are very pleased that we will have something here forever."
Combining the dedication with the reception for Pearl River students was a natural fit. Bohovesky was a student at Pearl River High School. The library already has a case with a display of Bohovesky's art.
"It is the ideal time to do the dedication, to have the ceremony during the reception for the reception," Rose said.
Normally, artists who have a display in the library are responsible for organizing their own receptions, but this reception will be hosted by the library. Rose said musicians from the schools will also play during part of the reception.
"We do want to recognize our student artists," Rose said. "We're hosting this for the kids to let them know we appreciate their work."
Putting the exhibit in place has become easier with the new hanging system.
"What we did before was a series of hooks and strings," Rose said. "It was very labor intensive. We put up a new system called the Walker Hanging System. There is a rail across the top and clips that can move up and down on the rod. It's a professional system. It makes it much easier to put up whtaver display we have. It is new to our exhibit space, which had never had a name."
