A Never-failing Spring

Lindsay Joy Hamilton

June 10,  2026

Acrylic Paint on drywall

27 ft x 18 ft

In collaboration with the Fort Frances Public Library and Technology Centre; Children’s Department and with support from the Ontario Arts Council Northern Arts Grant.

Artist Statement

I drew inspiration from the polyphonic essence of birdsong at dawn — many voices existing together with their own purpose, each distinct, each contributing to a larger sound. That idea became an important symbolic foundation for how I see the public library itself.

At the centre of the mural is a child reader. I hope viewers see someone recognizable here — perhaps themselves, their own inner child, or simply the universal human instinct to learn, imagine, and understand. Children approach the world with what is sometimes called a beginner’s mind: an openness to curiousity, contradiction, wonder, and discovery. I think libraries protect and nurture that state of mind. They make room for questions. They invite us into relationship with ideas larger than ourselves.

Around the child are ripples of history that contributed to the public library as we know it today.

In the prehistoric section of the mural are handprints reminiscent of cave paintings. This is in reference to some of humanity’s earliest recorded marks — evidence of our desire to communicate existence across time. There is also the nautilus, which became a symbol of both growth and retention: the instinct not only to evolve, but to carry memory forward. Somewhere deep within us is an instinct to grow yet retain what has come before us.

There are references to ancient history. Specifically, Ashurbanipal’s library; one of the earliest known organized collections of written knowledge from Ancient Assyria. Many of the clay tablets from that first library survived because the fire that destroyed the palace also hardened the clay and preserved the writing. I was deeply moved by that paradox — that destruction and preservation can sometimes exist together.

The mural moves into the era of Gutenberg and the printing press. Gutenberg hands are shown with his tools that helped to invent the movable typeface which radically changed humanity’s relationship to knowledge. Information could suddenly travel farther, faster, and to more people than ever before. It transformed religion, science, literature, political thought, and eventually democracy itself.

Throughout the mural, human hands emerge. Hands appear on cave walls; a king’s hands hold up a basket that contains the world;  Gutenberg’s hands hold tools in which he set typeface. There are hands that guide in caregiving, in reading, in reaching toward keys on a typewriter or keyboard to communicate.  Hands that paint murals. For me, the hands became a reminder that technology is never separate from humanity. Every tool we create carries our values, our fears, our ambitions, and our longing to connect. Human hands preserve stories. Human hands defend ideas. Human hands guide, build, nurture, and sometimes destroy. Even now, as we move deeper into technological spaces, we remain responsible for what we create and how we shape the future together. I hope the mural also acknowledges complexity.

Andrew Carnegie, an industrialist and philanthropist from the Guilded Age, played a major role in the expansion of the public library system across North America. That legacy includes our original Fort Frances Library. I grappled with how to include his important role. I did not want to create a mural that glorified any single historical figure or ignored the oppressive histories often intertwined with wealth, industry, and power. It was important to hold the complexity.  The image of the caregiver and child emerging from the shadows of the iconic public library columns was how I wanted to project our present moment as we collectively grapple with many complex historical legacies in our institutions. However, Carnegie had one idea that resonated with me and it is from a quote of his;

“ A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never-failing spring in the desert. “

From this quote I found the title of the mural; A Never-failing Spring

Moving forward, I wanted to focus on the evolving idea of the public library itself: a democratic institution shaped collectively over generations. Always aiming to offer access to information and knowledge be it by book, archive, staff or access to essential technology. Most importantly the undercurrent of all this is seeking connection.

In the final section of the mural is the robin’s nest with eggs. The nest became a symbol of return, renewal, and possibility.  To borrow a library word – ideas of circulation. Around it is subtle references to technology; USB, lightning, and aux cords nested amongst the natural materials. I did not want the future represented as something cold or detached from nature. I wanted it to feel integrated — a future where technology, nature, humanity, creativity, and care remain interwoven and supportive. The nest is both fragile and protective. It is a place where new ideas can emerge safely before entering the world.

And so the mural returns to the idea of polyphony.

Like birdsong in spring, the public library is polyphonic. Many voices. Many histories. Many perspectives. No single voice more important than another. And yet together, something sustaining and deeply human emerges. This mural celebrates the ongoing development of the public library and the many visible and invisible contributions that make democratic public spaces possible.