Chance meeting blossoms into community-crafted sculpture for Children's Gallery

Local artists Nicole Hunter and Sidne Allinger unveiled a community-created hanging sculpture on April 19 at the dedication ceremony for the new Children's Art Gallery at Branches at the Carnegie. The inspiration for the hanging sculpture evolved out of a chance meeting and instant connection made between Hunter and Allinger while showing art during the Placer Artists Tour in 2025. "Nicole and I were part of the tour in Auburn, housed in the Carnegie building," said Allinger, whose art is found at Persimmon Art Gallery at 900 Lincoln Way. She hand-builds in clay, focusing on themes of nature and Latinx culture. "I am a ceramic artist. Some of what I do is create small iconic milagro – meaning miracle – strands." "We talked about a vision and that started the thoughts," said Allinger. The discussion included integrating sculpture with branches as a hanging chandelier in tribute to the idea of Branches at the Carnegie, which operates the building as art hub and event space. "The Auburn Carnegie Library began its story as one of over 2,500 libraries gifted around the world by Andrew Carnegie," Hunter said. Considered by many to be the "father of modern philanthropy," Carnegie dedicated his fortune to building places where the public could go to be educated and inspired. "Carnegie was an amazing human being who actually walked his talk," said Hunter. "I have no doubt he would be thrilled with the evolution of this library, and I am immensely honored to be a small part of its next chapter." The collaboration between the artists began in earnest. Allinger noted she has tremendous confidence in her ability to do sculpture but was not comfortable with dealing with branches, which is where Hunter's talents came in. "Knowing that we wanted to do something with local wood, manzanita came to mind," said Hunter. "As a branch artist, I love reclaiming fallen branches and transforming them into something new and intentional. It's this cool, creative alchemy where you get to collaborate with nature." The whimsical sculpture uses various colors of manzanita, including the deep rich reds, stripped bark that reveals a lighter golden hue and even blackened pieces collected in Foresthill from the Mosquito Fire. The strands of community-created ceramics hang on copper strands below the branches. "In our concept, we wanted to make it a true public art piece," said Allinger. Hunter and Allinger manifested the public contributions to the sculpture through two workshops where members of the public came to make the art pieces Allinger then threaded on copper wire. "It has been a labor of love that I have been filled with joy to do," said Allinger. The sculpture hangs from the ceiling over the stairwell in the area now designated as the Children's Art Gallery. A gallery for children's art had been part of the original vision of the board members with AlmostFreeToAll, Inc. (AFTA), the nonprofit that transformed the Carnegie Library into an event space that now operates as the Branches at the Carnegie program. Hunter and Allinger donated their time, and funding for the sculpture and gallery came from community participation donations, a grant and scholarships. "The Sugar Plump Fairies were the first organization to believe in the vision we had for revitalizing the Carnegie Library and they gave us a grant for the Children's Art Gallery," said Diane Gilbert, AFTA Board member. "Bob and Stephanie Snyder then offered a scholarship for the art project to allow more kids to participate in creating the sculpture." More than 40 people, including several children who contributed to the project, attended the dedication and unveiling. To learn more about the artists and see their work, visit www.NHART.com and www.SidneFineArt.com. Allinger opens her home studio in Auburn to the public to use. More information about the Branches at the Carnegie program can be found at https://www.branchesatthecarnegie.com.