Michelangelo painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. That would be too high up for little kids to see, so Milwaukee s Lois Ehlert puts her art on the floor leading into the Milwaukee Public Library Central Library s children s room when it was renovated in 1998.
Prompted by a commission from interior designer Susie Fondrie, Ehlert thought about pictographs she had seen during a visit to Peru. So Ehlert fashioned pictographic animals to welcome children into the space. I had to come to terms with the idea that people would walk on my art, Ehlert said with a chuckle during a 2008 interview with Journal Sentinel book editor Geeta Sharma Jensen. (Her pictographic animals are in linoleum.) It’s kind of a reverse Sistine Chapel. When kids come into the room, they jump from one animal on the floor to another. This floor will probably last longer than I do.
Lois Ehlert captivated children with Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and other picture books msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.