#boston-public-library

#boston-public-library

The contest will run from May 15 through June 15 in preparation for Library Card Sign-Up Month in September, the library said in a press release Thursday. The winners will have their original artwork featured on circulated Boston Public Library (BPL) cards starting that month. One winner each will be selected from three separate age groups: youth (ages 0-12), teens (ages 13-17), and adults (ages 18 and up). Honorable mentions will be featured on the library's website and social media pages, according to the BPL.

The resplendence of the Boston Public Library's McKim Building unfolds with each step up the grand staircase. Past the imposing stone lions, the golden-hued stairwell gives way to an airy gallery of murals, a millennium-spanning celebration of the muses. Nearby, a narrower stairway leads to the hushed third floor, where people wander the opulent gallery to untangle John Singer Sargent's "Triumph of Religion," a monumental cycle of murals the artist left unfinished despite nearly three decades of work.

The public library was his sanctuary, a haven of quiet reflection amidst the chaotic pulse of the Boston condo for sale market.