Patterson Library Octagon Gallery

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Octagon Gallery

The Octagon Gallery was formed in 1972 as a regional gallery space. This octagonal exhibition space is 105 ft. with 7 12 x 14 tall plywood walls. 38 black floating track lighting system. Pedestals and locked cabinets available for sculptural or delicate works. Curator, Nancy Nixon Ensign installs regional and national artists each month.

The Patterson Library was modeled after the Erechtheum in Athens, the building was designed in a style known as Academic Revival or Beaux-Arts Classicism of gray brick and white marble with a cut stone foundation and basement, the library was built on a radial plan, exactly symmetrical. The entrance is recessed behind four columns with Ionic capitals. The windows are topped with pediments and flanked with pilasters also with Ionic capitals.

Eight massive Corinthian columns with cornice and entablature support the beautiful interior central dome. The plaster decoration of the ceilings and walls in the rotunda and reading rooms are of plaster of Paris. The library's main desk is located in the rotunda with octagonal reading rooms beyond. The original balcony floor was of glass. The interior is enhanced by beautiful green-brown oak and marble. Fireplaces graced the reading room and children's room. Stained glass skylights in the rotunda and the reading rooms added distinction to the ceiling. Chandeliers of bronze and iridescent favrile glass made in the Tiffany studio in New York enhanced the beauty of the design. The furniture and equipment came from the Library Bureau of New York and were custom designed for the new building.

The curved surface of the rear of the building has a pattern of windows and pilasters with a continuation of the white bands of stone against the light brick. A colonnade of stone pillars supported by field boulders with cut stone coping encircles the building forming a pergola with a grassy terrace and a trellis for vines. Throughout the years, the library building has been superbly maintained and its beauty preserved. Visitors still delight in the splendor of the library’s rotunda with its magnificent columns. The wood is as stunning as it was on dedication day. Interior painting using a custom color design has further enhanced the building’s fine features. A major capital campaign with a goal of $450,000 begun in 1993 culminated in a building project in 1994 to provide access for all in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act. Included in the annex are automatic doors, a wheelchair lift, and new restroom facilities. An elevator was installed in the old stairwell of the existing building. In 1996, staff offices were moved to their original location in the south alcove to restore shelving in the rotunda area and make an appropriate environment for library automation. The library computerized its catalog, circulation procedures and patron records in 1997. The year 1999 witnessed the completion of a renovation to the lower level, which provided a state-of-the-art children’s room named Patterson Park planned by architect David Walter of Habiterra in Jamestown and Tim Benson of Jag Teckna in Erie, PA. National recognition for the design of Patterson Park took the form of a photograph in Library Journal’s December 2000 architectural issue. Due to the hard work of the library’s volunteer men’s group named the “Hands” led by Building Committee Chair David Correll, two archival rooms have been developed off the mezzanine to house the library’s most precious and rare collections. Gone, however, are the unique glass floor of the balcony, the stained glass skylights and the grand Tiffany chandeliers, save two, one in the library’s lower level and another in the main entrance. The library also possesses many notable collections. A splendid collection of World War I posters may be viewed in the new annex. Nineteenth century oil portraits of the Patterson family have been restored and are proudly exhibited in the library’s main reading room. The library owns several other portraits of prominent Chautauqua County residents painted in the 1800.s that are on loan to the Chautauqua County Historical Society. An astonishing collection of seashells from the collections of John D. Patterson and the Rev. Rueben Tinker are on display. There are over 300 varieties of shells in the collections including two rare golden cowries. A rock and mineral collection of Arthur Macer and G.W. Patterson is housed in the archives. A seven-foot sailfish was given to the library by H. H. Meyer. A display of stuffed animals completed in the early 1900s by Westfield native H.W. Mossman graces the library. A spectacular ninety-specimen mounted bird collection formerly owned by John D. Patterson and including a rare passenger pigeon is also housed in the library. The millstones in front of the library building owned by John McMahan ground the first grain taken to mill in Chautauqua County.