York & Hanover's "Invisible Wall"
I had the good fortunate to talk (and exchange emails) with Jim McClure about the “invisible wall” between York and Hanover, both in the art world and in general. Mr. McClure does a great job sharing some of the historical separations. Communities (and artists) in that straight line between York-Hanover-Gettysburg would benefit from greater efforts to work together.
Read the article at this link.
Monoprints on Display in Hanover
Clay monoprints are on exhibit in Hanover, PA, through the month of February.
Monoprints by Andrew Smith (Visual Realia) on Display in Hanover, Pennsylvania through February, 2021
Monoprints by Andrew Smith of Visual Realia will be on display in the Hanover Area Arts Guild through the month of February, 2021.
Visitors may see the works during the Guild's regular hours:
Tuesday through Friday: Noon — 5:00 PM
Saturday: 10:00 AM — 3:00 PM
The Guild is located at 32 Carlisle Street, Hanover, PA 17331.
Clay Monoprints Live!
Visual Realia is LIVE with a demonstration on May 7th, 2020.
Tools of the Clay Monoprint Technique
Art Demonstration - Live This Thursday
Have you been curious about these clay monoprints I share? Looking for something to learn about while sheltered-in-place at home?
This Thursday, May 7th, at 6:30, the Hanover Area Arts Guild and the Visual Realia Studio will be sponsoring a free online artist demonstration, live on Facebook.
At 6:30 PM Eastern Time, stop by the Guild's Facebook page. You'll notice a new post added around that time, and by clicking on that post, you'll be able to watch me show you some techniques used to create clay monoprints, a unique printing process where colored clay is used to create a one-of-a-kind print.
Clay monoprinting was invented by Pennsylvania native Mitch Lyons, who resided in southeastern Pennsylvania, so there's a state connection to the art medium.
If you want to get a peek at the process beforehand, you can read a short article on his website:
https://www.visualrealia.com/articles/2017/10/15/art-of-the-clay-monoprint
Note: You won't see the post on the Guild's Facebook page until the live stream starts around 6:30 on Thursday. See you there!
Thursday, May 7th, at 6:30 Eastern Time
Hanover Area Art Guild's Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/HanoverAreaArt/
"Disruption" by Andrew T. Smith of Visual Realia, LLC
Hanover Time
A mission to purchase a sundial instead ends with a customized Hanover project.
I've always been fascinated by sundials. Large ones, unique ones, small garden ones, all a testament to the human will to understand the world around them. Visually simple in appearance, but quite complex in their method.
In simplest form, a sundial is a device used to calculate time via the altitude of the sun. Classic sundials have a gnomon that casts a shadow onto a flat area, although there are many other variations of increasing complexity. These devices can display the local solar time, which varies from the time shown on our modern watches. (Variances include the non-circular nature of our orbit and the tilt of Earth's axis.)
Ancient Egyptians kept track of time via the length of shadows, and the Old Testament notes the "dial of Ahaz." Giovanni Padovani in the 1570s and later Giuseppe Biancani in the 1620s gave us the techniques still used today to create accurate timepieces, or at least as accurate as we can get with these techniques.
CAD drawing of calibration lines - courtesy of Chet Roberts/ANCR Sundials
CAD drawing of the custom gnomon - courtesy of Chet Roberts/ANCR Sundials
My interest led to an initial hunt for an antique decorative sundial, but after some thought, I realized that I'd much rather have a working device that can provide accurate information. Both latitude and longitude must be considered in the design. (Note the CAD drawings above.) Chet Roberts of ANCR Sundials was able to help.
As part of the project, I was able to choose some text and a background of my choice. As the end product would be tied to the Hanover area for accuracy, it seemed obvious to use Hanover as the focus of the theme.
The black rose used in a Hanover area advertisement.
'Hanover" and the year was an easy choice, but there were several directions for the background. The black rose has been associated with Hanover at times due to the use of the symbol by the German royal dynasty, the House of Hanover. The dynasty's rule reached into Great Britain and Ireland.
The Hanover Area Chamber of Commerce utilized the black rose shown above in a campaign starting in the late 1970s. My only source was a poor scan of an advertisement, but I was able to work with it to create the larger pattern necessary, and to modify the original design to work within the circular space of the sundial. (See the update below.)
Modified black rose design.
And the process began!
After discussion and sharing of my background image and home address for correct calculations by Mr. Roberts, a design was created and approved.
Approved design - courtesy of Chet Roberts/ANCR Sundials
After the mathematical calculations and design process, a CNC router cut the pattern in foam, a process that takes approximately 5 ½ hours. Errors can occur, as was the case in the first few attempts on the Hanover pattern. The good news? That left a pattern to capture in this photograph.
Foam pattern
The foam pattern is carefully cleaned up and placed in foundry sand. Aluminum is heated to 1450 degrees, which vaporizes the foam pattern.
Slag created when molten aluminum is skimmed off before making the pour.
Sundial and gnomons - courtesy of Chet Roberts/ANCR Sundials
After removal, the work is machined and polished.
Photo courtesy of Chet Roberts/ANCR Sundials.
Back of the sundial, showing the completion date.
Completed sundial and gnomon.
And the project was completed and shipped. With the gnomon pointed north, the sundial does indeed provide accurate time.
Completed work - courtesy of Chet Roberts/ANCR Sundials
Pointing north to provide accurate time for its unique location.
ANCR Sundials is named for Audrey 'N Chet Roberts. It was Chet's wife's desire for a sundial that led him on a journey to making them for others. Before his retirement from his full time career, he worked "behind the camera" in numerous positions for WEWS Channel 5 and WJW Channel 8, both located in Ohio. Chet's other interests include amateur radio and 1/8th size steam locomotives.
- Update, 10/5/20 -
Since publishing this article, I have learned that while the Hanover community utilized a black rose symbolically in the late 1970s and onward, the design shown in this article was not created and used until the mid-1990s and was designed by Doug West. A better view of the original design, as provided by the logo artist is below,
- Update, 08/8/21 -
Chet has retired from making custom sundials; his Hanover sundial will always be treasured!
Other photographs of the sundial continue below.
Vanishing Village
Nestled between Hanover and McSherrystown is a small village with a vanishing name.
Entering Adams County from the York County Line, Pennsylvania
There was a time when drivers traveling between Hanover and McSherrytown on Route 116 would pass small signs noting the village name of Midway. Businesses noted the name. Today, visual remnants of the name are seldom found.
Midway, located in Conewago Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania, borders Hanover (in York County) and McSherrystown. It is considered an unincorporated census-designated place, or a CDP. The United States Census Bureau considers CDPs to be a concentration of population for statistical purposes only. This areas have boundaries that tend to be softly defined and have no legal status. The 2010 census determined that Midway has a population of 2,125, which includes members of my family.
The signs noting your entrance to the area have been removed, and very few signs noting the name can still be spotted. As time goes on, explaining the location of your house as being "in Midway" has become less helpful. Midway, it seems, is a bit of a vanishing village.
Image by Ruhrfisch, used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.
Midway Tavern, Hanover/Midway, Pennsylvania
Hanover's "Caged" Lion
Herman Miller, architect for Hanover’s well-known Sheppard and Meyers homes, was also the architect for the grand, four column PNC Bank found in the first block of Carlisle Street, just a few footsteps away from our square. Traffic, both by car and foot, passes by this building daily, with very few knowing about Hanover’s “caged” lion. Read more and view our favorite feline by reading the complete post.
Hanover Saving Fund Society's Lion
Herman Miller, architect for Hanover’s well-known Sheppard and Myers homes, was also the architect for the grand, four column PNC Bank found in the first block of Carlisle Street, just a few footsteps away from our square. Traffic, both by car and foot, passes by this building daily, with very few knowing about Hanover’s “caged” lion.
Originally known as the home of Hanover Saving Fund Society, the institution was chartered on April 14, 1835, by “Matthias N. Forney, Henry Meyers, Peter Muller, Henry C. Wampler, David Diehl, Daniel Barnitz, William Bair, Daniel P. Lange, Peter Winebrenner, William D. Gobrecht, George Gitt, John L. Hinkle, Benjamin Welsh, Adam Alt, Samuel Trone, Jacob Hilt, and David Slagle of Hanover Borough and Samuel Hornish, George Eichelberger, and Charles Cremer of Heidelberg Township, York County…” (Source: Immigrant Entrepreneurship) Why include this list here? Hanover residents will note the familiarity of many of these surnames.
The cash capital at the time of charter was $10,000. Records show that deposits held in August of 1875 were $590,228, which received 5% interest. Interest in 1884 was listed as 3%.
The published “Reports of the Several Banks and Savings Institutions and Banks Organized under the Free banking Law of Pennsylvania,” published by the State Printer in Harrisburg in 1891, includes a report for the Hanover Savings Fund Society. The 1890 assessed value for the previous property in 1890 was $7,000. Bonds held and owned by the Society in 1890 included ones for various railroad companies and Western Union, as well as gas and water companies.
Originally known as the Hanover Saving Fund Society
Architect Herman Miller was born in the Roxborough area of Philadelphia, and helped design numerous respected facilities in that area. He went on to set out on his own by 1898, with a noted specialty in the design of hospitals and banks. In addition to Hanover’s, he is also the architect of our neighbor’s Gettysburg National Bank a few years later. The Philadelphia Architects and Buildings institution holds five drawings from Miller’s work on the Hanover project.
The Neoclassical concrete and brick structure we see downtown was erected in 1906 for approximately $100,000. It features Barre Vermont granite and American Pavanaza marble. The bank later was known as the Bank of Hanover, and is now owned by PNC Bank. The structure features a lion sculpture above the doorway, but later changes at the front have altered the view so the glass-encased figure is difficult to see by pedestrians at ground level. The photograph included here was captured from the roof of the Heritage and Conference Center, enabling a rare view of Hanover’s hidden feline.
Sources:
http://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/ar_display.cfm/27059
http://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/ho_display.cfm/57125
http://files.usgwarchives.net/pa/york/history/gibson/hanover-sav-fund.txt
http://www.livingplaces.com/PA/York_County/Hanover_Borough/Hanover_Histo...
http://immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entry.php?rec=197
https://books.google.com/books?id=JQYWAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA121&lpg=PA121&dq=han...
“York’s Historic Architecture” by Scott D. Butcher, The History Press, 2008
http://amzn.to/29D59vy