In the middle of winter, it is refreshing to look at artwork portraying four seasons of outdoor scenes including familiar settings in Venango, Crawford, and Clarion Counties. That’s the concept for the Second Annual Nature Art Showcase which will be offered free to the public this Friday and Saturday in the midst of the Franklin On Ice festival.
The lobby of the Barrow-Civic Theatre at 1223 Liberty Street in downtown Franklin is the location where the Council on Greenways and Trails has assembled art items prepared by 28 different artists. This free display will be open Friday evening from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. including an informal reception where guests may interact with many of the participating artists, and then again Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until 9:00 p.m.
Although the artist’s own residence location was not a factor according to the guidelines for this event, most of the artists do happen to live in northwestern Pennsylvania and the most distant hometown for one of the participating artists is Zion, Illinois.
The ages of the artists also vary widely, from college students to retirees. For instance, an acrylic painting entitled “Chickadees” was painted by Mr. Clair Schweitzer, who at 89 years young, is a newcomer to the field, having only begun painting in September of 2015. Mr. Schweitzer resides at Wesbury United Methodist Community in Meadville, PA.
This year’s art entries are quite varied, including acrylic paintings, metal sculptures, fabric items, hand-woven baskets, wood carvings, drawings in colored pencil, paintings on recycled wood and slate, stained glass mosaics, books consisting entirely of photographs from along the area’s trails, copper hammered pieces, watercolor paintings, polymer clay paintings, wood burl bowl, and of course photographs.
Sponsors for this Second Annual Nature Art Showcase include the following: Barrow-Civic Theatre; the Be Here Initiative of Venango Area Chamber of Commerce; Erie Arts & Culture; Franklin Fine Arts Council and Franklin On Ice; Oil City Arts Council; Oil Region Alliance; Titusville Area Chamber of Commerce; Titusville Council on the Arts; and Victorian City Art & Frame. Campbell’s Pottery provided a handmade sunflower vase which will be presented to the artist whose work is selected by attendees as the “People’s Choice” award.
The Council on Greenways and Trails is a non-profit corporation comprised of municipalities, agencies, and non-profit entities which manage or advocate for year-round recreational use of natural resources in Venango, Crawford, and Clarion Counties of Pennsylvania. For more information, see www.nwpagreenways.org; (814) 677-3152, Ext. 105.
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