> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# New library comes together with art
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/new-library-comes-together-with-art/
- Published: 2005-04-22T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T06:43:18.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Government & Politics, Pier, #archive-import

*By Daily Press staff*

The interior of the new Main Library is coming together with new artwork. The preliminary installation of “Underwater Canopy” by artist Carl Cheng was recently placed in the new library, located on Sixth Street and Santa Monica Boulevard.

The site-specific artwork is located over a portion of the café space in the outdoor garden courtyard of the new library, scheduled to open in January 2006\. The steel and glass structure is more than 30 feet in diameter and hovers more than 11 feet above the courtyard deck. It is adjacent to landscaping and a water feature that also reflect the underwater theme. For Santa Monica artist Cheng, the “shadow canopy … is inspired by the marine life in the Santa Monica Bay.” Once the project is completed, seven circular skylights mounted on the canopy will have “transparent images depicting underwater scenery as if the café is an underwater café. One small skylight shows a recent (1996) sonar map of the actual Bay topography,” according to Cheng.

Cheng was chosen as the Main Library project artist through the city of Santa Monica Arts Commission’s juried selection process from a field of 54 California artist applicants. Cheng has received several public art commissions throughout the United States. He also has an extensive roster of solo exhibitions and installations internationally. In 1988, he executed the “Santa Monica Art Tool: Walk on L.A.,” a cast concrete and steel sculpture that is installed on the beach, north of the Santa Monica Pier. Cheng also has received numerous visual artist awards, grants, fellowships and residencies from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Getty and the Flintridge Foundation.

“Underwater Canopy” is a project of the city of Santa Monica’s public art program and was developed through a collaborative process with the Main Library architects Moore Ruble Yudell and the landscape architect for the project, Pamela Burton & Company, both of Santa Monica. The interplay of materials, natural processes and physical phenomena are hallmarks of Cheng’s public art. In addition to the intricate design of the piece, “Underwater Canopy” focuses on the effect of shadows thrown by the canopy as the sun moves across the sky with the patterns reflecting the topography, landscape and sea life of the nearby bay. Teaching men to be spiritual

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 22, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/042205.pdf?ref=smdp.com)