Regional Artists & Poets Celebrate the Beauty & Revitalization of the Clarion River
Commemorating the Clarion River, Pennsylvania’s River of the Year for 2019, regional artists and poets are coming together in a community art event on Sunday, July 14 from 4 to 6 PM in Foxburg’s Red Brick Gallery to celebrate the scenic beauty of the Clarion River, revitalized by the dedicated conservation efforts of many hearts and hands over the past fifty years.
The Clarion River Art Exhibit runs from July 12 through August 18 on the second floor of the Red Brick Gallery and Gift Shop at 17 Main Street in Foxburg – just a mile north of the mouth of the Clarion River. The exhibit – the vision of RBG art curator and painter, Jason Floyd Lewis – will feature several regional artists whose work has been inspired by the serene, serpentine beauty of the River – its steep forested hillsides, dramatic rock outcrops and reflections of misty morning light. Among the work to be shown is photography by Kyle Yates and Tom DiStefano and digital art by Carolyn Schiffhouer. The show also will feature works in wood, clay, drawing and painting.
Jason Floyd Lewis said,“I think all of us who live in this region have personal, meaningful memories of the river – whether we have seen the sun drenched valley walls from inside a car on a winter evening, or we have waded in the water with our feet in the mud. This exhibit is a way for us to share those memories and celebrate the Clarion River.”
Sunday, July 14 will be a day of music, Clarion River art and poetry. Allegheny RiverStone Center for the Arts presents internationally acclaimed pianist Gayle Martin performing Chopin, Beethoven and Grieg joined by pianist Ted Barr in four hand Schubert at 2 PM in Lincoln Hall and from 4 to 6 PM in the Red Brick Gallery a wine and cheese opening reception for the Clarion River Art Exhibit with poetry readings curated by Clarion University English Professor and poet, Philip Terman. The reception and literary readings are free and open to the public.
The Red Brick Gallery is located at 17 Main Street in historic Foxburg, PA. Gallery hours are Fridays, 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Saturdays, 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Sundays, 12 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
About The Artists
The Clarion River is truly a conservation success story. With more than half of its 110 miles protected as a Wild and Scenic River, it survived nearly two centuries of deforestation and industrial activity. Itwas, according to zoologist Dr. Arnold Ortmann in the early 1900s,“one of the worst in the state” with water running “as black as ink”. Fifty years after being basically considered “dead”, the Clarion River’srevitalization is a success story that includes the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and many other local organizations, transforming itinto what PA Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources Cindy Adams Dunn called an “icon of our Pennsylvania Wilds… a wilderness of clean water and healthy forests that draws back visitors again and again.” Its peaceful beauty is well known as a recreation destination for its scenic beauty, diversity of wildlife and its calm waters – and inspiration to artists, poets and writers.
The Red Brick Gallery is located at 17 Main Street in historic Foxburg, PA. Gallery hours are Fridays, 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Saturdays, 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Sundays, 12 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The Red Brick Gallery has been operating as an artist’s co-op since 2011. It exhibits the work of its fifteen cooperative members continuously, but also has a second floor gallery for rotating guest artist exhibitions. This is the first guest show generated by an open call for entries.
The Clarion River Art Exhibit runs from July 12 through August 18 on the second floor of the Red Brick Gallery and Gift Shop at 17 Main Street in Foxburg – just a mile north of the mouth of the Clarion River. The exhibit – the vision of RBG art curator and painter, Jason Floyd Lewis – will feature several regional artists whose work has been inspired by the serene, serpentine beauty of the River – its steep forested hillsides, dramatic rock outcrops and reflections of misty morning light.
Among the work to be shown is photography by Kyle Yates and Tom DiStefano, digital art by Carolyn Schiffhouer and paintings by James R Rose. The show also will feature works in wood, clay, drawing and painting.
Poet Philip Terman, who will be reading from his work, shared his insights on rivers. “Rivers flow out of one source and into another, are boundaries and gatherings. Rivers are what we share across time, though never the same river twice. Rivers have inspired poets from the Euphrates—Langston Hughes “bathed in the Euphrates when dawns were young”– to the Clarion, as Mary Oliver wrote: “And still, pressed deep into my mind, the river/keeps coming, touching me, passing by on its/long journey, its pale, infallible/ voice/singing.” We’ll hear from poets who live near the Clarion, and whose souls, as Langston Hughes also said, “run deep like the river.” They will share what it calls them to sing.”
Clarion area writers reading their work include Byron Hoot, Co-founder of The Tamarack Writer’s Group and co-founder of The Fern Wood Writer’s Retreat;J.V. Miller, proprietor of the anti-business establishment Artfunkle in Clarion, PA and author of a collection of autobiographical stories, What Else Do You Want?; Judy Rock, who helped found the Theodore Roethke Poetry Festival at Lafayette College and is author of the poetry collection, Ark Before Dove; Patricia Thrushart, who’s written two books, Little Girl Against the Wall, and Yin and Yangand has work published regularly in many journals, including, The Watershed Journal,Tobeco, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and Feminine Collective; and Girard Tournesol, who has published two books of poetry and appears as a regular contributor in regional literary magazines, The Watershed Journal and The Pennsylvania Poet’s Society magazine, PENNESSENCE. Keith Hilemanis an environmental artist, marathon runner with a passion for animal rights, a poet, and calls himself an old hippie. He resides wherever his spirit happens to be at the moment.Philip Terman’s recent books of poetry are Our Portion: New and Selected Poems and The Four Seasons, a collaboration with an artist and bookbinder. He founded the journal Tobeco at Clarion Universityand directs the Bridge Literary Arts Center in Franklin, PA.
The Red Brick Gallery is located at 17 Main Street in historic Foxburg, PA. Gallery hours are Fridays, 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Saturdays, 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and Sundays, 12 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.