Local Artist Donates Sculpture to Desert Foothills Library

Cave Creek sculptor, Robert Thornley, presents his sculpture
"Nightwind" to DFL Director, Kris Proskus.

It stands to the left of the library entrance in a tiny garden, pale limestone with two heads at the top, depicting a man and woman, cradled in the softly flowing curves of stone.
"Nightwind" welcomes library visitors and encourages them to appreciate art everywhere in the
community. Robert Thornley had benefited from the Desert Foothills Library for many years and wanted to show his gratitude by donating one of the most beautiful sculptures from his studio. "The library has been extremely good to me," he says of all the books on tape he has enjoyed while driving on trips. When asked about the process he uses in creating the works in his
desert sculpture garden, he simply touches his heart. His work does come from his heart and the library is extremely fortunate to have one of his beautiful sculptures at its entrance.

Robert Thornley was self-taught, starting out by working in wood. Over the years he moved on to marble and limestone, carving pieces that seem to be shaped by the natural forces of wind and water. He and his wife Sherrie participated in art shows all over the country until she passed away in 2003. He has received many awards and his work can be found in countries around the world. In spite of his own physical restrictions, Robert loves to welcome visitors to his sculpture garden in Cave Creek at 6712 E. Cave Creek Rd., behind Cartwright's restaurant, where he can be found working almost every day. Visitors are encouraged to call ahead at 480 227-6144.

Thornley is currently creating a piece of devotional art for Christ Anglican Church, which will be called the Cave Creek Cross. It is inspired by and patterned from the Ruthwell Cross of Dumfriesshire in Scotland. The artist has spent much time in research and will carve the new cross out of large blocks of limestone. He has also worked in copper, steel and bronze, but
regardless of his subject and material, his pieces reflect his determination to "live one day at a time and make it a masterpiece." To see several of his finished scultures, view www.robertthornley.com.

Generous Donors Help Desert Foothills Library

At a time when it most needed help, the Desert Foothills Library has received several very generous donations to help it recover from the theft and vandalism which took place on February 23. At that time, thieves stole over $10,000 worth of computers and electronics as well as committing vandalism to other equipment. This came when the library was dealing with its ongoing expansion project, leaving patrons and office staff without much needed computers.

The Scottsdale Foothills Rotary Club gave a gift of $2,500 for new computers. This gift from the generous-of-heart-and-spirit-group was greatly appreciated.

The Kiwanis Club of Carefree contributed a $9,000 grant, $7,000 of which will be used for Sunday staff hours at the library in 2008,09 and $2,000 for the Reading is Fundamental books and Children’s program throughout the year.

Tim Shea and Western WiMAX-LLC purchased and will install a donation of five new Dell computers.

The Desert Foothills Woman’s Club gave a grant of $1,500 to help replace the stolen computers and to replace and add to the “family oriented” DVD collection at the library.

As a 501 ( c ) (3) non-profit, the Desert Foothills Library is dependent on the support of generous groups like these and grateful for their help in the newly expanded facility which was built by private donations. Library Director, Kris Proskus, thanked all of the organizations for their generosity and added, “At a time when many civic libraries are cutting their hours, staff and budgets, the Desert Foothills Library is able to remain open seven days a week, with a huge corps of volunteers.”