Mockingbird Mosaic Livens Downtown Library

Becca Souder (front) and Erica Yoder (middle) help Cyndi Gusler (back) place tiles outside the Massanutten Regional Library in downtown Harrisonburg in collaboration with The Big Read project. (Photo: Kara Schlabach)

On Friday, November 2 at 6:15 p.m., Cyndi Gusler’s mosaic at the Massanutten Regional Library will be revealed. Gusler created the mosaic to represent Harper Lee’s book, To Kill a Mockingbird. The project is connected to the library’s The Big Read, which is celebrating and promoting To Kill a Mockingbird. The final Big Read celebration takes place from 5-8 p.m. on Friday and is a free event open to the public. The event aims, as Cyndi Gusler stated, to “[bring] the book to life” for the community and will include dances, theatrical performances, and arts.

Massanutten Regional Library received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts allowing them to purchase copies of the Harper Lee novel to pass out free of cost. Massanutten Regional Library has passed out a total of 3,600 free copies of the book. To Kill a Mockingbird was chosen because it is a timeless classic that contains themes of racial tolerance and diversity that connect well with the Harrisonburg community.

Gusler created the mosaic design with these themes in mind. Her mosaic features a vine plant called Woody Nightshade which looks beautiful but is, in fact, poisonous and very dangerous. Gusler said that, “Woody Nightshade represents the prejudice that runs through the community.” A mockingbird is perched on one of the poisonous vines, symbolizing Atticus Finch, a lawyer who defends an innocent black man in the book. Mockingbirds have a unique gift in that they can sing their own song as well as mimic other sounds while even “recomposing them to create a new song.” Like the mockingbird, Finch took the different views of the community and transformed them into a new view.

Work on the mosaic began in early September. Many stages were required in the process including design approval, ordering supplies, and the initial wall-sized sketch. The final tiling of the wall was put off for many days due to rain and blustery weather, but it finally began on Sunday, October 28, about a week before the unveiling.

According to Gusler, volunteers are important in the tiling process. “Others are welcome, especially art students,” she says of a call which has been answered by advanced studio seminar and painting classes. Gusler and her crew can be seen in front of the Massanutten Regional Library on Main Street in downtown Harrisonburg, every day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and anyone is welcome to “just show up.” During the process of working, passersby often stop to see what is going on. Many community members encourage and support the crew as they work, making comments such as, “Thank you” and “It looks wonderful.” One man on a bike bought the group cookies to show his support for the arts.

To show support for the community and this project, attend this free event, The Big Read Celebration, on Friday, November 2 from 5-8 p.m. Cyndi Gusler’s mosaic representation of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird will be unveiled at the Massanutten Regional Library at 6:15 p.m. The celebration will also include dance, theatrical performances, and other arts.