FGCU Library’s Art in State Buildings Project: Ecotone

Artist: Barbara Cooper

The project has been a year and a half in the works and hopefully to be installed this summer. There will be two forms, each about 25′ long, that float in the center of the atrium, near the elevator banks of the library. The piece is made of layers of cherry veneer that are all glued together.

From the artist, “The piece is called Ecotone. I saw the term used while I was down for a site visit exploring the ecology of the area and I loved the idea that the overlap of two different ecosystems creates the richest and most diverse area of the two ecologies. I thought that this was a good metaphor for the library itself as it is a coming together of so many different information systems, but especially because of where it is sited on the campus, on the edge, looking out over the water, the library becomes part of an ecotone between the world of nature and the world of culture.”

For more information about the Art in State Buildings projects at FGCU, please see the Facilities Planning page.

March is designated as National Women’s History Month to ensure that the history of American women will be recognized and celebrated in schools, workplaces, and communities throughout the country. This year the theme, selected by the     National Women’s History Project, is “Women Inspiring Innovation Through Imagination”.      The focus being on Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, or STEM, disciplines.

There has been concern that the United States is losing ground in the development of the next generation of science researchers and innovators.  Many believe that we need to raise the educational standards and promote the value of an education or career in mathematics and all the sciences if we are to retain a leadership role in a more competitive world.

Sustaining the interest of young people in the sciences, as well as diligently recruiting those with the greatest potential is essential.   It has also been noted that there is a resource of talent in the sciences that has been too often neglected in the past.   That resource is the women who have the intelligence and talent to make substantial contributions to the science disciplines. More attention is being paid to tapping this resource by encouraging and promoting STEM careers to women.

The Library book display spotlights women, past and present, who dared to followed their calling into a science education and excelled in STEM careers.   Being aware of, and reading about these women, may serve as inspiration for students who may be considering a STEM education for themselves or perhaps their children. The careers of the women featured in the book display and poster, is designed to encourage, support and promote the need for more qualified women contributing to excellence in the sciences.

Take a look at recent statistics from a National Science Foundation Report  revealing the difference between the degrees earned by men and women in the sciences, and the presence of women in the STEM workforce.

National Science Foundation Report:

Overall, more women than men graduate from college with a bachelor’s degree; however, men earn a higher proportion of degrees in many science and engineering fields of study. Women’s level of participation in these fields varies, but within fields it is consistent over every level of degree.

The science and engineering workforce is composed of people who earned degrees over roughly three decades. Because older cohorts of science and engineering workers are disproportionately white and male, women and minorities constitute a lower percentage of the overall science and engineering workforce than of science and engineering degree recipients who recently joined the workforce.