Artists Roberto Behar & Rosario Marquardt created an outdoor, open-air room; a unique multi-purpose area where children and their families can read, create art, picnic and enjoy the library’s popular storytelling program. This outdoor studio can be used for landscape drawing, inspired by art, artists and nature. In addition to the 10 ft. tall alphabet letters that spell the phrase “I LOVE YOU,” five brightly-colored, flower-shaped benches provide seating to create an area of nature, love and story. The benches are placed in an arc facing the I LOVE YOU sculpture to afford ample seating for storyteller and audience in the 44 ft. diameter circular room, which is defined by a ring of low vegetation separating it from vehicular activity.

The artists, who have been called by one critic, “architects of hope,” envisioned the seating/story-telling area as an iconic space -a secret garden where imagination and creativity can take flight. “Like Alice in Wonderland, who changes scale to transform through dreams, her perception of reality, I LOVE YOU provides physical evidence of the fantastic as part of daily life,” say the Artists.

Musician Walter Halil will greet guests as they arrive from 9:30 a.m.; the ceremony begins at 10:00 a.m. with a Welcome from Broward Cultural Division Director Mary A. Becht. Immediately following the ribbon-cutting, guests are invited to join professional storyteller Carrie Sue Ayvar; and at 11:00 a.m. artists Roberto Behar & Rosario Marquardt will present To Learn with Love, a free hands-on art activity in the Young At Art Institute. At Noon there is an event planned by the library staff to kick off their Summer Reading Program, which showcases an African Drumming Circle.

The works of Rosario Marquardt and Roberto Behar have been included in more than 200 publications worldwide and presented in museums and art galleries in America and abroad. R & R Studios, the collaborative office of Roberto Behar and Rosario Marquardt is a multidisciplinary practice weaving together visual arts, exhibition, design, architecture and urban design.