Art Bench Donated to Library
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Tye Preston Memorial Library patrons can literally sit on piece of Texas art.
Area resident Tera Rae Shores donated a bench created by third-generation “faux bois” concrete artist Carlos Cortes.
In memory of Larry Lane Bybee
The donation was made in memory of husband Larry Lane Bybee. Shores says she first gifted the bench to her late husband because the teacher and nature lover grew up in the San Antonio area.
“That is why the bench was a perfect present for him and why this useful work of art is a perfect addition to the library’s landscape,” she says.
Shores says the Canyon Lake library is “the foundation of the community.”
In its July newsletter, the library thanked Shores “on behalf of everyone who will have the pleasure of seeing the bench and sitting on it…the library expresses gratitude for this truly beautiful and useful gift.”
The Craft of Faux Bois
Cortes’ bench represents a family tradition that has its Texas roots early 1920s San Antonio. Great-uncle Dionisio Rodriguez brought this European form of sculpting to the U.S. from Mexico City and taught it to Cortes’ father, Maximo Cortes.
Cortes now designs and builds unique “faux bois” concrete sculptures that fit smaller garden settings as well as larger public art installations for the urban landscape.
His work can be seen in Brackenridge Park, at the Witte Museum, and along the Riverwalk.
