News Release

The second annual Collectors' Series, designed to celebrate collections amassed by two generations of Garretts who lived at Evergreen House from 1878 to 1952, will focus on Evergreen's rare book collection with an exhibition of new books created by 20 contemporary artists in response to that collection.

T. Harrison Garrett (1848-1888) and his son John Work Garrett (1872-1942) collected the 30,000 books in Evergreen House that today are an integral part of the Special Collections of The Johns Hopkins University libraries. Included among the holdings of this library are elephant folio Audubons, Goulds, Redoutes, Catesbys, and all four Shakespeare folios dating from 1623, 1632, 1664, and 1685. As part of the Collectors' Series, Evergreen will present five "Evenings in the Library" to highlight the rare books chosen by the contemporary artists as the inspiration for their new books. The evenings are scheduled for Oct. 23, Nov. 13 and 27, and Jan. 8 and 29, each from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The contemporary component of this series is the exhibition of artist's books, Kings, Hummingbirds and Monsters: Artist's Books at Evergreen. The 20 artists selected to participate are Colin Ives, Peter Bruun, Laurie Snyder, John Wood, Janet Maher, and Linda de Palma, of Baltimore; Louise Wheatley of Joppa, Md.; Oletha DeVane of Ellicott City, Md.; Carol Barton of Silver Springs, Md.; Gail Rebhan of Washington, D.C.; Suzanne Solis of Arlington, Va.; Tanja Softic of Richmond, Va.; William Smith of Philadelphia; Martha Caruthers of Newark, Del.; Laura Davidson of Boston; Roberley Bell of Batavia, N.Y.; John Henley of Chicago; and Jo Rango of Las Cruces, N.M. The exhibition will open at Evergreen House on Friday, Oct. 12, with a reception from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The exhibition will continue through February 28, 2002. Additionally, many of the earlier books by these artists will be on display in the Eisenhower Library on the Homewood campus of The Johns Hopkins University from Oct. 12, 2001 through February 28, 2002. The October 12th exhibition opening is free to the public. Admission to each of the five "Evenings in the Library" will be $8 for Evergreen members and $10 for the general public. Reservations are required and space is limited. Evergreen House is located at 4545 N. Charles St. in Baltimore. For information or to make reservations, call 410-516-0341.