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.
Hope in the Balance: Ukraine
"Hope in the Balance"
Clay Monoprint on Pellon
18" x 32"
Andrew Smith/Visual Realia
“Hope in the Balance” - Clay Monoprint by Andrew T. Smith of Visual Realia
"Hope in the Balance"
Clay Monoprint on Pellon
18" x 32"
by Andrew Smith/Visual Realia
The blue and yellow flag is associated with Ukraine and its long struggles with independence, having been flown by soldiers in Kyiv in 1917. The flag was banned under Soviet rule but began appearing again in 1990. It was raised above the Ukrainian Parliament in September of 1991.
In this monoprint, fissures appear in the wheatfields and lands, and the national flower, the sunflower, serves as the sun, both potentially rising and setting. Hope is in the balance.
The colored interruptions in the sky are efforts of the art to speak - echoes of past prints appearing, perhaps in a visually appropriate way: clouds of war. This monoprint is a larger work, using the full clay slab (matrix) used to design the image.
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron."
― Dwight D. Eisenhower
Intro to Pennsylvania's Clay Monoprints
York Town Craft Guild is offering a single session clay monoprint workshop.
New art forms and mediums are fascinating to explore, and in the case of clay monoprints, you can also be part of Pennsylvania’s art history.
Pennsylvanian Mitch Lyons developed this unique art form where past works influence the future. Intrigued, but don’t have the time to invest in multiple sessions?
York, Pennsylvania’s York Town Craft Guild is offering a single session workshop on Saturday, January 11th from 9-11:30 AM. $45 covers all costs and materials, and each participant leaves with a truly unique monoprint, as well as insight into an amazingly creative process!
Register online at:
History, Discarded
History was discarded. Or was it?
“People tend to forget that the word ‘history’ contains the word ‘story.'”
- Ken Burns
The main living area of our house had its carpet removed this week, and with good reason.
For more than two decades, my family walked, ate, slept, talked, laughed and played over this carpet. Friends gathered on it, as did family. We met new people and renewed friendships with those we’ve known a long time.
When a previous owner of the house installed the carpet, they no doubt celebrated what it brought to them; it made them feel good. It was a source of pride.
But while it once provided comfort, it no longer supplied the same positive result. Time had altered it. While still essentially the same object, it was now worn, dirty and frayed. It no longer provided pride.
It was pried loose, rolled up and hauled away.
——
The carpet that supported many memories is no longer here, but…
The memories are. I’ll still remember my kids and friends just the same. The meaning of history isn’t in something we can hold or touch, but in the connections, emotions, hopes and fears. History’s importance is in the stories we tell.
Our experiences individually and collectively aren’t erased because the status of an object changes.
But change can impact the usefulness of those same things. While facts may hold permanence, meaning is fluid. What we revere can not only change over time, but it should; as we mature and gain understanding as a community, our ideals must also mature.
History won’t be forgotten. Let’s not let it be our destiny.
A Working Kitchen in the Mansion
Food, food, and more food. Better yet, food in a working kitchen in one of Hanover's landmark buildings.
H.D. Sheppard and C.N. Myers started the Hanover Shoe Company in 1899 after planning to both manufacture and sell their own products via retail stores that their company would run. The first store was opened in 1900 in York, Pennsylvania.
Their families began construction of “twin” neoclassical mansions in 1911, designed by Philadelphia’s Herman Miller. The Athenaeum of Philadelphia holds numerous architectural drawings of the projects.
I was fortunate to photograph the working kitchen of their wonderful restaurant on three occasions during the period between 2009 and 2010 at Hanover's (Pennsylvania) former Sheppard Mansion. A gallery of photographs from these visits is available for viewing. All photographs were shot during typical evening food service, and plated items shown were as-prepared for guests. (Or “in progress’ photographs.) Lighting was limited to the room's lights and one flash unit, mounted on-camera.
Many thanks to the owners and kitchen staff for their indulgence. And here's the gallery!
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