The Owen Library, a redesigned room containing art books, a white baby grand piano, a fireplace, seating, and table games, was dedicated at GO Art! in Seymour Place in Batavia on Friday night.
The library honors the family of Jim Owen, himself not an artist but from a family of people who pursued the arts in various ways.
"It totally made sense to dedicate this library in memory of the Owen family," said Gregory Hallock, director of Genesee Orleans Arts Council.
Frank Owen, the family patriarch, was a musician, conductor, and music instructor at Batavia High School. His wife, Natalie Walker Owen, was president of the Richmond Memorial Library Board of Trustees. Kathy Owen, daughter of Frank and Natalie and sister of Jim Owen, was a photographer, and Robert Owen, also a sibling, was an author and actor (as well as, like Jim, an athlete).
"My parents, my sister, and my brother say thank you from heaven and I thank you from earth," said Jim Owen during his remarks.
Gregory Hallock reads a letter from a former typing student of Jim Owen in Hamburg, Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Proclamations were presented by members of the City Council (Eugene Jankowski and Bob Bialkowski) above, as well as the County Legislature (Marianne Clattenburg, John Deleo, and Gary Maha (not pictured) and Assemblyman Steve Hawley (not pictured).
