ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Friday, January 17, 1997               TAG: 9701170049
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: A-6  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER

WITH THE FUTURE LOOKING UP, DONNELLEY BUILDS ITS SPACE COMPANY HOPES TO INSPIRE ITS STAFF WITH ART, HIKING TRAILS AND COMFORT

The economic spinoff from the R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co. book plant is straight as an arrow for Roanoke artist Judith Damon.

Damon was in her downtown Roanoke studio last fall when a company official wandered in and made her one of the greatest offers of her career.

John Pecaric wanted a piece of art to motivate employees at the $75million Donnelley factory, which is scheduled to open May 5 in Roanoke County. Pecaric, the plant manager, commissioned her to sculpt a life-size figure of an Indian shooting an arrow straight up. It is to stand on a granite slab in the factory's lobby.

The statue is based on a painting by John Nieto of New Mexico. Pecaric discovered the painting on the cover of a favorite book, ``Stewardship, Choosing Service over Self-Interest,'' by Peter Block.

The project fit with what Damon was trying do as an artist. Twenty-five years a professional oil painter and sculptor, she was looking to use recent training at an institute in the Southwest steeped in Native American culture. Moreover, she was stirred by the idea of sculpting a piece with symbolic value which was "not just a decorative piece for the lobby of the building," said her husband, Herb Detweiler.

What impressed Damon about Pecaric was a commitment he showed to his future employees.

``He said, `I want it to be the kind of plant where employees aren't so anxious to go home,''' Damon said.

Damon is molding the 6-foot figure in clay at Studios on the Square. The form will be cast in bronze.

Work ought to be more than just a way to get money, said Pecaric, who last managed a Donnelley printing plant in Crawfordsville, Ind. ``Hopefully, you gain some respect for yourself and the work that you do.''

``At one time, people took great pride in their work. That was evidenced by little things we did. We hung a shingle out,'' Pecaric said. ``The question is, how can we get some of that back?''

He said he is going to blaze hiking trails for employee use on the company's partially wooded property at ValleyTech Park west of Salem. (Limited public use of the trails is a possibility as well.)

Inside, he hopes to dispel what he said is a typical and negative image of a factory as a hot, noisy, dark place where workers strain their bodies. The new plant - which will produce color coffee-table books, how-to guides, large format volumes and children's books in hard and soft covers - will be air-conditioned throughout, with picture windows and skylights. For the pressroom, crews installed sound-absorbing walls. Machines will do most of the lifting.

Donnelley equipment operators will be valued for their skills rather than brawn or body type, Pecaric said.

As another amenity, Pecaric is looking into providing subsidized, off-site child care as an option for the 185 people the company intends to hire by the end of this year.

LENGTH: Medium:   62 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  JANEL RHODA/Staff. In her Roanoke studio, Judith Damon 
          sculpts a statue in clay, to be cast in bronze, for the R.R. 
          Donnelley book plant under construction in Roanoke County.