“Painted Journey”: PA Watercolor Society opens exhibit at Brain Vessel

June 10, 2019 | by Bob MacGinnes

My personal 3rd in the Burg arrived early this month, and the “burg” got switched to Mechanicsburg. That’s accurate in that an art reception was held at Brain Vessel on the Carlisle Pike last weekend, but don’t despair. Harrisburg’s monthly 3rd arrives as scheduled on June 21.

Nothing evokes summer more than a wistful watercolor painting that engages a symphony of colors. So, it was appropriate that the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society’s board of directors opened their exhibit, “Along the Painted Journey.”

The board’s Debra Kreiger graciously guided me around the gallery for the grand tour of watercolors. A knowledgeable host, she has a personal connection to the gallery, as she is one of the co-owner’s mothers. In the background, the jazz duo of Rhoads and Putt provided the perfect seasonal sounds, sharing standards with a twist on electric guitars. The society’s Walker family was well represented—John, Virginia and Johnny. Rounding out the board of 12 were artists Donna Barlup, Jeannine Swartz, Pam Wenger, Linda Young, Helen Canfield, Eric Miller, Gay Dunn and Caryn Husowech.

Barlup is also a past president of the Susquehanna Valley Plein Air Painters, and her works have also been well represented in “Art of the State,” the annual juried exhibition at the Pennsylvania State Museum. She and her fellow artists embrace the challenges created by watercolors, approaching their next work with planned precision as exacting execution determines the finished result.

Perhaps one of the most challenging mediums in the art compendium, watercolor painting, in its best representation, proves that focused attention to detail and a steady hand are paramount to success. Watercolorists’ lives are defined by beauty and passion, chasing ethereal eloquence on archival paper with brush in hand.

Speaking of challenging—on hand for the show was Roni Dietrich, who has specialized in the artistic endeavor of scrimshaw for 40 years. In case you’re not familiar, scrimshaw is the adornment of whalebone and walrus tusks with carved or colored designs. Her work has been featured at galleries in Maine and Rhode Island, as well as in art journals and national publications.

It makes sense that Dietrich is a house artist at Brain Vessel, since, as one pulls up to the building on the Carlisle Pike, piracy immediately comes to mind. Romance of the high seas is visibly present with a rusted ship’s anchor at the entrance to the gallery.

The brainchild of Doug Koozer and Jason Kreiger, Brain Vessel opened in 2013 and is known for incorporating their love and legacy of high-seas hijinks, branding its way onto a buccaneer’s bounty of treasures. It’s on playing cards, collectible coins, dice and tooled leather coasters, among other objects, all carrying a nautical theme. Brain Vessel’s own creations mark just the beginning of an adventure-worthy visit through a gallery that highlights artists’ works through showings and classes.

Brain Vessel houses a pirate’s plunder of products for adorning the home, from fine art to one-of-a-kind, out-sized sculptures. Woven baskets, pottery, turned wooden vessels, hand-cast jewelry, teas and botanical honeys complete the flagship’s first floor. With another studio gallery below deck and a sumptuous garden out back, I recommend allowing an hour or so just to navigate the “vessel” and experience the adventure in its complete package.

The real genius of Brain Vessel is its ability to cross-pollinate both merchandise and ideas with other central Pennsylvania merchants and businesses. This creates a network that helps all in the way of maximum exposure. By breathing life into a vision of their client’s needs, Brain Vessel creates a polished product uniquely its own, solidly establishing an identifiable brand that cements an intangible idea with a real commodity. No mad scientist here, but true genius, capable of executing an idea to its desired end.

Brain Vessel Gallery is located at 4704 Carlisle Pike, Mechanicsburg. For more information visit https://brainvessel.com/ or their Facebook page.

The Week That Was: A summary of news and features around Harrisburg

June 7, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

A meeting of the Harrisburg school board

It was a big news week in and around Harrisburg this past week. Here are some of the stories and features you may have missed.

Harrisburg City Council reacted warmly to Harrisburg University’s plan for a 17-story downtown tower. Click here for the full story.

Harrisburg school district is set for a state takeover, as PA Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera filed a petition to place the district into receivership. Click here for the full story.

Harrisburg school district played a bit of a cat-and-mouse game with the state Department of Education, which acted several times to prevent the school board from entering into new contracts ahead of a hearing on possible receivership. For the story, click here, here and here.

Lancaster’s Jonathan Burns appeared on “America’s Got Talent,” bringing his twisty routine to a national audience. Click here for the full story.

Midtown Scholar Bookstore’s stage is the scene of “Drag Storytime,” a national trend that has come to Harrisburg. Click here for the feature story.

PennDOT’s plan to wide I-83 is opposed by Harrisburg, but should the city spend money to try to influence the final design? City Council seems divided on the issue. Click here for the full story.

Sara Bozich has more than 100 ideas for things to do during this early summer weekend. Click here for her full list.

“Free Shakespeare in the Park” opened last weekend, and our reviewer recommends that you catch the annual production in Reservoir Park, this year featuring “Much Ado About Nothing.” Click here for her review.

Additional stories from TheBurg over the past week:

Ephraim Slaughter was one of the last surviving veterans of the Civil War, and his ancestors now carry on his legacy in Harrisburg.

Music is a big part of our lives in the Harrisburg area, and our music columnist shares her can’t-miss shows for the month in her monthly “Musical Notes” column.

Urban Churn has some of the best craft ice cream you’ll ever taste, and now, with a new shop, you can walk right in.

Do you receive TheBurg Daily, our daily digest of news and events? If not, subscribe here.

Judge expected to issue order barring Harrisburg school board from entering into contracts

June 7, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Harrisburg school district administration building

A Dauphin County judge is expected to issue an order stopping the Harrisburg school district from entering into certain contracts without the express consent of the district’s chief recovery officer.

At an hourlong court hearing on Friday afternoon, Judge William Tully said he was prepared to issue an order that would prevent the school board from acting on certain contracts and other legally binding matters, in anticipation of a June 17 hearing that could place the district into state receivership.

Tully seemed to reject the principal argument of district Solicitor James Ellison, who said that, even if the school board entered into contracts over the next couple of weeks, those contracts potentially could be unwound if the district were placed into receivership.

Tully, however, pointed out that that undoing those contracts would require litigation, which would end up unnecessarily costing the taxpayers of Harrisburg.

“That’s why this injunction is probably going to be granted, because that’s where the harm is,” Tully said.

He indicated that he would draft the order to allow the district to enter into contracts only with the explicit approval of Dr. Janet Samuels, the district’s chief recovery officer.

Last Monday, education Secretary Pedro Rivera filed a petition with the court requesting a three-year state receivership and asking that Samuels be named the receiver. The hearing on the petition is slated for June 17, and Tully then has 10 days to approve or deny it.

Immediately after the petition was filed, the current school board called a special meeting for unspecified “personnel” matters, leading some to believe that the board wanted to quickly pass long-term contracts for the district superintendent and solicitor.

Today, Tully also called into question Ellison’s reasoning for that special meeting, which was stopped last night after Tully issued a temporary injunction to prevent it from happening before today’s hearing.

Ellison said that the meeting was called so the board could approve a potential settlement with Premier Arts & Sciences Charter School, which would allow the threatened school to continue operating, and, in the process, approve a smattering of faculty contracts.

Tully, though, was not satisfied with that answer. He cited the board’s repeated reliance on special meetings, its alleged lack of transparency and the fact that the agenda for the special meeting was posted just hours before it was to occur.

“That timetable had a smell to it,” Tully said.

Today’s hearing also brought to light that the state’s petition for receivership is likely to be granted. Tully described the state’s burden of proof as a “low bar” to meet, as state law allows for receivership unless the judge determines that the request is “arbitrary” or “capricious.”

As the hearing ended, the crowd of about 50 people broke into applause with the belief that the judge would grant the emergency order preventing the school district from entering into contracts.

“I am extremely pleased,” said Jayne Buchwach, who, last month, won the Democratic nomination for a school board seat. “And I don’t feel badly for Mr. Ellison.”

Lancaster’s Jonathan Burns is funny, bendy and clearly has talent

June 7, 2019 | by Hanna Martin

Jonathan Burns performing on “America’s Got Talent”

Jonathan Burns first appeared on TV trapped inside of a zipped suitcase.

During his audition for NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” which aired on Tuesday, Burns proceeded to squeeze his entire body through both a toilet seat and a tennis racket.

It’s no wonder that the Lancaster resident has trouble explaining his unique comedy act to people.

“One of the reasons that it’s hard to describe what I do is because I try to be different,” Burns said. “I want to do my own thing and not be like anything else. I think that’s the artist in me trying to create something new and different for the audience to experience.”

His love of performing started when he was young. Originally from Johnstown, Burns, a self-described “weird kid,” said he always enjoyed performing in magic, contortionism and comedy. In gym class, he was the king of armpit fart competitions, and impressed his friends by bending his body in peculiar ways.

When Burns was in middle school, a magic shop opened near his house, and he spent hours learning the tricks of the trade. While his friends started getting normal first jobs at grocery stores or the local diner, he was booking gigs at birthday parties and retirement homes.

However, Burns wasn’t always a comedian. When he was first starting out in magic, he said that he tried to be serious, but “with this face, it didn’t work” — instead of getting the “wow” response he was looking for, he got laughs. He embraced the humor.

“Now, I get a wide array of wows, laughs and even amazement,” he said.

And that’s the reaction Burns got when he appeared on televisions across America on the June 4 airing of “America’s Got Talent.” Although he has been a full-time performer for 15 years and had considered auditioning on the show before, it just had never felt like the right time.

That is, until a friend who was a veteran of the show strongly encouraged him to try. During his audition, Burns hopped around the stage with funky dance moves in a tracksuit, throwing glitter and squeezing his body through various objects in creative ways.

The judges loved him, and he proceeded to the next round.

“Starting as a kid, I would perform for like five people in my kitchen, and now I’m on television in front of millions of people, which is pretty great,” Burns said.

Burns graduated from Millersville University in 2004 with a degree in art education. He said that he found “his people” at the art program and loved the encouragement to be creative.

“I still use things that I learned at Millersville every day in my act,” he said.

Burns is excited to continue to share his many creative talents, saying it felt great to hear the judges say “yes,” advancing him to the next round. And although he hopes to wow people in the future, he still has one main purpose when performing.

“The comedy is my main focus,” he said. “I’m always trying to make people laugh.”

To learn more about Jonathan Burns, visit his website.

Deputies halt Harrisburg school board meeting; judge schedules hearing as state attempts to stop action on contracts

June 6, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Harrisburg school district administration building

Two Dauphin County sheriff’s deputies marched up to the second floor of the school district administration building to serve a temporary order to stop the school board from entering into any contracts during a meeting on Thursday night.

The board was in the middle of its private executive session when the deputies delivered the order, which forbade the district from “taking any action to bind the District to new — or terminate existing — commitments, obligations or expenditures of resources . . .”, thus halting the public portion of the meeting.

A hearing will now be held Friday afternoon at the Dauphin County courthouse on a motion filed today by the state Secretary of Education Pedro Rivera.

In that motion, Rivera wants to halt all contractual decisions by the district until Judge William Tully decides whether or not to grant Rivera’s petition, filed Monday, to place the Harrisburg district into state-controlled receivership. That hearing is scheduled for June 17.

“The board should not be permitted to enter into or terminate existing contracts during this interim period with the Petition pending, impacting a receiver’s ability to effect meaningful change,” according to today’s court motion.

The school board had scheduled a special meeting for tonight to discuss unspecified “personnel” issues, which many believe could include action on several long-term contracts, including for the district superintendent and the solicitor.

“The disingenuous nature of the board’s actions here is illustrated by the vague description of its June 6 meeting which, by its own terms, could literally encompass anything,” according to the motion [bold and emphasis are contained in the motion].

In his response, school district Solicitor James Ellison stated that “there is no legal basis whatsoever for infringing upon or limiting their [school board’s] actions as the Secretary requests.”

On Monday, Rivera petitioned the court to place the Harrisburg district into receivership, citing numerous alleged failures on the part of the current school administration and board. The hearing was originally slated for tomorrow, but was pushed up 10 days.

State files motion to stop Harrisburg school board from granting contracts

June 6, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Harrisburg school district’s administration building

The state secretary of education has filed an emergency motion aimed at stopping the Harrisburg school district from entering into new contracts, just hours before the school board is scheduled to meet in special session.

Secretary Pedro Rivera this afternoon filed an emergency motion for an injunction “to preserve the status quo,” in anticipation that the board would vote tonight on long-term contracts for the school superintendent and solicitor.

Rivera wants to halt all contractual decisions by the district until county Judge William Tully decides whether or not to grant Rivera’s petition to place the Harrisburg district into state-controlled receivership. That hearing is scheduled for June 17.

As of this posting, Tully had not taken action on the injunction motion.

The school board has scheduled a special meeting for tonight to discuss unspecified “personnel issues,” which many believe could include action on several long-term contracts.

Weekend Roundup with Sara Bozich

June 6, 2019 | by Sara Bozich

Happy Weekend!

Tonight! Join us at ABC for the launch of their newly renovated deck! On Friday, I’m at Shy Bear Brewing for a screening of Poured — maybe it’s a good night for a mini road trip? Saturday feels like a Market Day (and then just relaxing), and we’ll cap the weekend with swim lessons on Sunday.

What are you doing this weekend?

(more…)

County judge delays Harrisburg school district receivership hearing for 10 days

June 5, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

A recent Harrisburg school board meeting

A Dauphin County judge has delayed by 10 days a hearing to determine whether the Harrisburg school district should be placed into receivership.

Judge William Tully this morning signed an order delaying the hearing, originally scheduled for Friday, until June 17 and 18. The motion cited unspecified “scheduling conflicts” as the reason for the delay.

Just yesterday, district Solicitor James Ellison asked for a delay until Tuesday, stating that the district needed more time to prepare for the hearing. Tully’s order extends that timeframe by another six days.

The order also extends the time for Tully to make a decision about potentially placing the school district into receivership.

Under statute, Tully has 10 days following the hearing to make a decision. So, if the hearing occurs on June 17, he would have until nearly the end of the month to render a verdict on the fate of the school district.

The state Department of Education has asked that Dr. Janet Samuels, the current chief recovery officer for the district, be named receiver for a three-year period. The district school board then would be stripped of virtually all its power, except for the ability to levy and raise taxes.

Meanwhile, the school board has called a special meeting for tomorrow night for unspecified “personnel issues.” Both long-time district Superintendent Sybil Knight-Burney and newly appointed Solicitor James Ellison currently lack contracts, leading to speculation that the board plans to consider contracts for them just before the state might put the district under its direct control.

The board also has a regularly scheduled meeting on June 17, the same day as the court hearing.

The board also must approve a final budget for the 2019-20 school year before the end of the month. Currently, that budget envisions a 3.4-percent increase in the school portion of the city property tax.

Harrisburg Council voices support for new Harrisburg University tower

June 4, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Harrisburg University gave a final push on Tuesday night for its 17-story, mixed-used tower downtown, as officials offered a project presentation to City Council.

Council got a detailed look at the final design plans for the project (rendering left), which includes an academic tower, a hotel and a restaurant.

“That area where you’re building has been underutilized for many years, so thank you for that,” said Council President Wanda Williams, echoing general council support for the project.

Council is expected to vote next week on the final land use plan, which would allow HU to break ground at its site at S. 3^rd and Chestnut streets, a move currently planned for August.

The $135-million project includes a 10-story hotel and restaurant, in addition to an academic tower, which would house as many as 1,000 students in health sciences, advanced manufacturing and interactive media.

The 386,200-square-foot building is expected to take two years to complete, opening in time for the 2021-22 academic year, said HU President Eric Darr. A 197-room hotel and a restaurant are also parts of the project.

The hotel will front Chestnut Street, and the hotel and academic portions of the building will be separated by an atrium in the first 10 stories of the building, according to HU.

The three portions of the building will be owned and financed separately. The university will own and finance the academic portion, estimated at $100 million. Harrisburg-based HHM will own the hotel, projected to cost $33.5 million. The restaurant, expected to cost about $1.5 million, also will be owned separately. HU has not yet announced a restaurant operator.

University officials on Tuesday emphasized the contractor events they’ve held to try to attract local workers for the complex construction project.

“We would like our efforts to go as much as possible to the development of the workforce,” said Darr, who pledged that the university would periodically release data on the makeup of the project’s workforce.

Baltimore-based Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. and Harrisburg-based Reynolds are the principal contractors for the project.

Worthy Expense? Harrisburg council debates value of conducting highway study

June 4, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Aerial view of I-83 in Harrisburg from 19th Street to the Susquehanna River. A PennDOT proposal would double the width of this segment of the highway.

Can Harrisburg convince PennDOT to alter its planned expansion of I-83? Should it spend money to try?

City Council debated those points on Tuesday night, as it discussed hiring Kittelson & Associates to perform a study of the project.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse tried to convince council members to allocate $72,500 so that the Harrisburg-based engineering firm could perform a traffic and community impact study on PennDOT’s proposal to double the number of lanes coming off the South Bridge, a plan that would profoundly impact South Harrisburg.

Papenfuse said that he hopes that, following a study and recommendations for changes, PennDOT would be receptive to reducing or adjusting the footprint of the project.

“It’s true that it’s a done deal that there will be a widening of I-83,” he said. “It’s not a done deal in that the design is final.”

Last October, PennDOT unveiled a plan to widen I-83 from six to 12 lanes from Shipoke through South Allison Hill, which would displace as many as 28 city residences and 20 businesses, mostly in low-income and minority neighborhoods. The project also envisions a new highway ramp, which would doom the city’s current Public Works facility on Paxton Street.

Council members all seemed to oppose the project. However, a disagreement ensued over whether the expenditure for the study would be a good use of money.

“I just don’t want to spend $72,000 for a useless study,” said council President Wanda Williams. “Do you think you’ll have that much power over the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that they’re going to change their design?”

Papenfuse responded that PennDOT officials indicated to him that they would be open to design changes to lessen the impact of the project. However, the city would need to back up any proposals for change with data, thus requiring the study.

“Yes, it costs $72,000, but you have to have a study,” he said. “You have to have data.”

The money would come from the city’s substantial fund balance, Papenfuse said.

Currently, the project is in the preliminary engineering phase, and actual construction, assuming it occurs, would be years away.

Councilman Dave Madsen said he’d feel more comfortable with the proposal if the city received written confirmation that PennDOT would consider making changes in response to the city-funded study.

“We can play around with the verbiage, but something that says, ‘We won’t ignore this,’” Madsen said.

In the end, council seemed split on the proposal, which should come to a vote during next week’s legislative session.

“It’s still relatively early in the process,” said Councilman Westburn Majors. “Yes, $72,000 is a lot of money, but I think it would benefit us to do this.”

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

Happy Weekend!

What are you doing this weekend?

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like

You May Also Like