Ashland Art on View at San Lorenzo Library

First, the bad news.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did not appear in any of the five artists' proposals for 's interior courtyard on display at the San Lorenzo Library. 

Neither did Mohammad Ali. I looked for him—if he's there, he's hiding better than Waldo.   

The good news is, the five artists selected in January by a panel of youth, county staff, artists and local residents and workers appeared to have heard the community loud and clear, putting on an impressive—and impressively diverse—exhibition of their visions for the space. 

Artists Robert Minervini, Josef Norris, team Eduardo Pineda and Joaquin Newman, Johanna Poethig, and John Wehrle met with the community in February to hear ideas and anxieties about the art that would fill the Center. 

Members of the unincorporated community are being invited to vote on the displays, which appeared in the library Thursday and will remain on display until next Wednesday. If you miss them there, you can catch them at Ashland's  festival on Saturday, May 7. 

Minervini filled his imaginary courtyard with tree roots, while Newman and Pineda envisioned a "Codex to the future" full of hieroglyphic symbols. Poethig's display was a punch of color, while Norris' softer mosaics boasted layers of texture and dimension. 

But it was John Wehrle's (Applause!) The Labyrinth of History, that seemed to be the local favorite on Thursday. 

Wehrle's proposal for the courtyard's amphitheater steps, the centerpiece of the project, comprised an laughing menagerie of historical luminaries.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Mohammad Ali—the two suggestions lobbed from the back during the artists' Ashland listening tour—weren't immediately apparent, but their absence was somewhat assuaged by the prominent figures of Mahatma Gandhi, Rigoberta Menchu, Cesar Chavez, and President Barack Obama. 

Pavers for the center's "labyrinthine pathway" depicted historic scenes from the unincorporated community—East 14th Street in 1905, Pioneer Cemetery restored to its former stately elegance.

Which will you pick? Choose quick—community members are being asked to vote for their favorites on or before May 17.