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Manheim-based artist Carol Piersol's fabric piece "Tree of Life" is the most recent addition to the Lancaster Museum of Art's permanent collection.
Gene Shaw's assemblage piece "Seeing Red" won the first prize at the Lancaster Museum of Art's 60th annual community art exhibition.
Linda Mylin Ross's graphite drawing "Dover, the Ratcatcher" took second prize during the Lancaster Museum of Art's 60th annual community art exhibition.
The 60th annual community art exhibit, which runs through Sept. 4, features more than 100 locally-made pieces.
The 60th annual community art exhibit, which runs through Sept. 4, features more than 100 locally-made pieces.
Manheim-based artist Carol Piersol's fabric piece "Tree of Life" is the most recent addition to the Lancaster Museum of Art's permanent collection.
The 60th annual community art exhibit, which runs through Sept. 4, features more than 100 locally-made pieces.
Tranquil nature scenes, colorful cityscapes, inventive assemblage pieces and surreal abstractions. The entries into the Lancaster Museum of Art’s 60th annual Community Art Exhibit are as diverse as the Lancaster County landscapes and the people that inhabit them. Artists young and old, from beginners to professionals with decades of experience, are featured side-by-side in the exhibit.
“This exhibit really brings everyone together,” says Sarah Keim, communications and programming coordinator for the Demuth Foundation, which includes the Demuth Museum and the Lancaster Museum of Art. “There are a lot of artists that have shown with us for many years, and there are also many new artists, that either they just moved here or are just starting out, and they’re just as talented and have great work to show.”
The annual exhibit aims to showcase that diverse pool of local talent. Any artist age 16 and older is eligible to submit work, which are then displayed, made available for purchase and awarded first, second and third place prizes as well as honorable mentions by a juror invited by the museum. This year’s juror was Kathryn Overgaard, director at Franklin Parrasch Gallery in New York City.
The 60th annual community art exhibit, which runs through Sept. 4, features more than 100 locally-made pieces.
This year, for the exhibit’s 60th anniversary, there was an additional prize: one of the 118 submitted pieces from the exhibition would be selected to become a part of the museum’s permanent collection of more than 400 works of art.
The newest addition to the Lancaster Museum of Art’s permanent collection is a sewn fabric piece by Manheim-based artist Carol Piersol, “Tree of Life.” The Lancaster Museum of Art committee made the selection.
The winning piece was selected to fill a gap in the museum’s collection according to Abby Baer, the executive director of the Demuth Foundation.
“There has been a lack of representation of the fiber arts in the Lancaster Museum of Art’s collection, which was an important consideration in selecting Carol’s piece,” Keim wrote in a follow-up email.
The piece was purchased from Piersol for $600.
“I’m very honored. I can’t say I expected it,” says Piersol, 68. “I think it’s very nice they included a piece of fabric art into the collection.”
The piece of sewn silk stretched over plywood measures 24 inches in diameter and features a representation of a tree with two figures embracing inside of the trunk. Flowers with red petals and mother-of-pearl beads in the center grow from the tree’s branches which extend outward as red roots reach down beneath the surface.
“Depending on which way you turn the fabric, the grains of the silk take on different hues and colors,” Piersol says, “You can use the same piece of fabric and get all different sorts of shadings.”
Piersol has been sewing for as long as she can remember, making wall hangings for 15 years and before that worked at the Franklin & Marshall College costume shop.
Making sure many mediums and styles of art are represented is part of the museum’s mission.
“We’re always looking to make sure our collection is representative of Lancaster and the artists in it and to make it a reflection of the community,” Keim says.
Overgaard’s selection for the first-place prize went to Gene Shaw’s 2021 assemblage piece “Seeing Red.” Shaw’s piece, which utilizes found materials, is a good example of art that could only be made in Lancaster County.
Gene Shaw's assemblage piece "Seeing Red" won the first prize at the Lancaster Museum of Art's 60th annual community art exhibition.
“My work is constructed from objects found in dumpsters, country auctions and an Amish salvage shop,” Shaw, of Lancaster, wrote in an email. “‘Picker’ friends look out for items I might like. I use distressed metal and wood with interesting shapes and colors. My winning piece contains parts of an Amish buggy, horse-drawn farm implements, and part of a foundry mold.”
The second-place prize went to Linda Ross, a retired Penn State University art and humanities professor from Marietta, for her drawing “Dover the Ratcatcher,” made with water soluble graphite on mylar. The drawing, according to Ross, is part of a larger series based on some of the hundreds of early 20th century family photographs she’s accumulated.
“I’m reading letters from the time and discovered several with references to how many rats Dover, the family dog, had just caught in the barn,” Ross wrote in an email. “I’m sure, based on the dates, that the dog staring out in the faded photo must be the celebrated Dover!”
Linda Mylin Ross's graphite drawing "Dover, the Ratcatcher" took second prize during the Lancaster Museum of Art's 60th annual community art exhibition.
Third place went to Mary Lou Weaver Houser for her assemblage piece entitled “The Listeners,” which was constructed from bamboo, textiles, cord, hearing aid batteries and metal hooks. Honorable mentions went to Elena Wolman for her oil on linen work called “Millersville” as well as “New York Times Cooking Section Brush Painting” made with sumi ink on newspaper by Owen Giblin, “Reeds in Water,” an acrylic painting by Andrew Garner and “Ikebana,” a stoneware piece by James Gallagher.
The selection represents a good cross-section of the many styles featured in the show.
“There was a lot of variety this year,” Keim says. “There’s a lot of artistic talent right here in Lancaster.”
What: 60th Annual Community Art Exhibition.
Where: Lancaster Museum of Art, 135 N. Lime St.
When: On view through Sept. 4. Museum hours are noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, closed Wednesday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.
Cost: Admission is by donation with a suggested donation of $5 per person.
More info: demuth.org; 717-394-3497.
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