Harris is a graduate of Valley Stream South High School and earned a degree in medieval studies from Wellesley College. She owns and operates AOK Transcription Services.

She has been a regular library patron since she was a child and it was located on Rockaway Avenue. Today, she visits several times a week to check out books and chat with the librarians. She asked library Director Mamie Eng if she could display her work, and the request was met with enthusiasm.

Eng said she likes to have variety among the monthly displays, and Harris’s mosaic pieces were something different. “We are pleased to feature her,” Eng said. “It’s nice to support local artists.”

Harris said she had to borrow a few pieces for the display that had been given as gifts. Many of the works also regularly hang in her house, leaving her walls a little bare until the show’s end.

The library will host a reception for Harris on Sunday. Creating the pieces is often a solitary process, Harris explained, so she looks forward to conversing with patrons about her artwork.

Harris described mosaic art as a “forgiving medium” because the works are so busy that the ordinary observer doesn’t notice the imperfections that only an artist would see. Although she hasn’t worked on many pieces lately, she has no plans to put her artistic talents on the shelf.

“I see myself doing it forever,” she said of mosaic art. “I’m doing a lot of painting right now and really enjoying it, but this always calls me back.”

Meet the artist

A reception for Helene LaRossa Harris’s art display will be held on Sunday, May 18 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Henry Waldinger Memorial Library. The show runs through May 31 and brochures are available featuring information on each of her pieces.