Pennsylvania College of Technology' s entry in the "Parade of Pigs" fund-raiser for James V. Brown Library's new children's wing soon will take its place in a display pen at the facility's future site along Market Street.
The college is among about a dozen community-minded sponsors, each of which purchased a life-size fiberglass pig to decorate for the public art initiative. The "Penn College Pig" sports a cap and gown in recognition of the college's "degrees that work," and was designed and executed by Phillip C. Warner, student writer-photographer, and Alfred M. Thomas, associate professor of collision repair.
Gail B. Landers, a group leader at the Children's Learning Center, provided ideas and photos culled from her travels to a number of communities in which similar themed sculptures were displayed: guitars in Cleveland, Ohio; carousel horses in Kitty Hawk, N.C.; and cows in Boston, among them.
Her work with youngsters also informed her participation: "Books for children are part of me," she said.
The library chose the motif because "Charlotte's Web," E.B. White's classic tale featuring Wilbur the pig, is the 2006 selection for the "One Book, One City" community reading program.
The display will continue through October, when the pigs will be sold at auction.
More information about the pig project is available online.