Tag Archives: Sprocket Mural Works

More Murals Please: 2019 HBG Mural Fest planned for late summer.

February 6, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

One of the many murals painted during the first HBG Mural Fest in 2017.

Two summers ago, Harrisburg became a far more colorful city, as 18 murals sprung up in the downtown and Midtown neighborhoods.

Now, the group responsible for this surge of large scale, outdoor art is planning a repeat performance, as Sprocket Mural Works has begun organizing the 2019 HBG Mural Fest.

So, the call is out for sponsors, artists and volunteers, with a goal of mounting another 10 murals over 10 days in the late summer.

“We would like to fill in the gaps of our mural trail,” said co-organizer Megan Caruso. “We want to fill in the gaps so we can have a more mural-dense area.”

The trail, Caruso said, begins near the Harrisburg train station and runs for about two miles roughly up 3rd Street, with some additional stops in Shipoke and along the river walk. She said that, while the first HBG Mural Fest laid a great foundation, more density is needed so that people easily can walk from one mural to another.

A mural takes shape during the first HBG Mural Fest.

Caruso said that she’d like to follow the example of Philadelphia, whose mural trail has become a true tourist attraction.

“In Harrisburg, people could get off the train and start their tour right there,” she said, adding that she’d also like to mount at least one mural on Allison Hill. “We want Harrisburg to be a mural-dense city, so they have to be concentrated.”

Sprocket’s impact on tourism has already been noted, as Visit Hershey & Harrisburg last year honored Sprocket with one of its annual tourism awards, “The Best New Event Award.”

This year, the Mural Fest will begin on Aug. 30 and will culminate with a block party on State Street downtown on Gallery Walk day, Sept. 8. Like in 2017, the 10-day festival will include many accompanying events, such as receptions, a community paint day, a bike tour and educational events.

In 2017, the greatest spectacle may have been watching the world-class artists go about their work, as crowds of people gathered around as the murals took shape. Caruso expects the same this year.

“People love to watch the art come to life,” she said.

According to Caruso, Sprocket is still in the process of signing up sponsors for the murals, so they welcome additional support from the community. So far, sponsors include companies such as LCSWMA and Premier Eye Care Group.

Caruso said that the 2017 event exceeded her expectations. Although 10 murals were planned, the group ended up painting 18.

“Hopefully, we’ll stick to 10 murals this year!” she said.

The 2019 HBG Mural Fest will run Aug. 30 to Sept. 8. For more information, including how to become a sponsor, donate or volunteer, visit www.sprocketmuralworks.com.

Disclosure: Megan Caruso is creative director for TheBurg.

Photos for Dani Fresh.

A Message of Hope: Allison Hill mural offers permanent record of “Familias Separadas” art project.

November 9, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

Michelle Angela Ortiz’s new mural at 13th and Derry Streets in Harrisburg’s Allison Hill neighborhood. Images courtesy of Michelle Angela Ortiz.

The massive mural that appeared on the steps of the state Capitol building in October may be coming down this weekend, but another work by the same artist is in Harrisburg to stay.

Philadelphia-based muralist Michelle Angela Ortiz last week unveiled a 35-foot mural at the Latino Hispanic American Community Center (LHACC), at 13^th and Derry streets in Allison Hill.

It is the only permanent installment in Ortiz’s “Familias Separadas” project, which shares the stories of migrant women and children detained at the Berks Family Detention Center in Berks County, Pa.

“Familias Separadas” comprises eight pieces of art throughout Harrisburg, the most high-profile of which is an 88-foot appliqué mural on the steps of the state Capitol Complex.

Ortiz installed the appliqué mural at the Capitol in late October under temporary permit from the state Department of General Services. She will begin removing it tomorrow.

The other installations appeared on bus shelters near the Capitol and on rented billboards outside of Harrisburg. All feature words and images Ortiz collected while interviewing women at the Berks Family Detention Center, where migrant families are detained indefinitely as federal authorities weigh their claims of asylum.

Just an hour’s drive from Harrisburg, the Berks facility has long been the subject of protest from immigration advocates, who say that detaining children and asylum-seekers in prison-like conditions is inhumane.

Ortiz designed “Familias Separadas” as a temporary installation, meant to compel action on immigration policy ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm elections. But as she planned its components and spoke with local immigrant advocates, she realized she wanted to leave something enduring in Harrisburg.

She decided that a permanent mural in Allison Hill would complement the temporary installation at the Capitol, showing how political decisions reverberate in the lives of ordinary people.

“It’s important to have this image on the Capitol steps, but it’s equally as important to have it in Allison Hill,” Ortiz said. “Both communities need to hear this story. Allison Hill is an immigrant community that’s thriving despite the attacks of immigration raids and presence of ICE these past few years.”

The eyes on the warmly colored mural belong to a woman named Delmy, who was detained at Berks Family Detention Center for almost two years with her son, Ortiz said. It also features a quote from Delmy in Spanish: “My son is the only one that gives me strength.”

“Compared to messages on other installations, this one is a message of hope,” Ortiz said. “It reminds us of our strength and resilience as we fight against an anti-immigrant climate.”

Ortiz painted the mural on a wall owned by Brethren Community Ministries. All the works in “Familias Separadas” were funded by a national fellowship for artist-activists.

With help from local immigrant advocate groups, Ortiz invited members of the neighborhood to watch and help with the mural installation. The support the project received was overwhelming, she said.

“While we were painting out in the cold, the encouragement we received from the community was just amazing,” Ortiz said. “People said, ‘Why here?’ and my response was, ‘Why not?’ What I saw in Allison Hill while working with local organizations and having conversations with community members is that they want more of this.”

Ortiz said that LHACC, Migrant Immigrant Leaders of Pennsylvania (MILPA), Brethren Community Ministries and Sprocket Mural Works were instrumental to bringing “Familias Separadas” to Allison Hill.

She hopes her work will remain an inspiration to the Latino community there as it faces new challenges, including the arrival of asylum seekers fleeing violence in Central America and continued displacement of U.S. citizens in Puerto Rico.

“The need to leave your home country to look for a better, safer place is still present, and it’s very much present among community members in Allison Hill,” Ortiz said.

Learn more about the “Familias Separadas” project by visiting Ortiz’s website, or by reading this feature from the November issue of TheBurg Monthly. To learn more about the Berks Family Detention Center, click here.

Color My World: In downtown Harrisburg, the banal becomes the beautiful.

August 31, 2018 | by Yaasmeen Piper

Wild birds. An octopus stretching his tentacles within a claw machine. A Capitol dome replica filled with red, blue, and gold, among other lively designs.

You may have noticed recently that downtown Harrisburg appears more vibrant, more cheerful, certainly more colorful.

For that, you can thank the Harrisburg Downtown Improvement District (DID) and Sprocket Mural Works, the outfit perhaps best known for mounting the 2017 Harrisburg Mural Festival.

Over the summer, 14 artists, including the two founders of Sprocket, painted traffic light electrical boxes throughout the downtown in “Art Outside the Box,” a project sponsored by the DID.

Before, most of the boxes were a dull gray, covered in graffiti, peeling paint and leftover stickers. Todd Vander Woude, DID’s executive director, saw the boxes as an opportunity to brighten the city.

“We can really make the corners look more colorful and really use artists through Sprocket Mural Works,” he said.

Different Way

DID matched each piece with a location that they thought would best represent the message of the art.

So, a box painted with a bag full of groceries was placed outside of Provisions, the new grocery store inside of Strawberry Square. The Capitol painting sits on 2nd and State streets, just down the block from the big, green dome itself.

Though there was no overall theme, most of the artists took this project as an opportunity to show what Harrisburg meant to them.

“The feedback we received has been really positive,” said Sydney Musser, DID’s social media coordinator. “People notice these boxes now. You kind of saw them before, but they were covered in grime and different things. And now you notice them in a different way.”

Sprocket announced their call to artists through social media earlier in the year. Artists then submitted drafts and sketches of their vision for the boxes. Sprocket founders Jeff Copus and Megan Caruso filtered through the submissions and chose the pieces that represent the community and DID’s desire to highlight the great things in the city.

“For projects like this, we think it gives an opportunity for new voices to be heard,” said Copus. “We don’t want all of these projects to be about us, but about the people in the community.”

So Cool

On the first day of working on her box, artist Jessica Singer painted in the blazing sun for five hours straight. This is the first public art project for the elementary art teacher and Harrisburg native, and she couldn’t wait to get started.

Her design, at N. 2nd and Pine streets, is based around the words she felt represented Harrisburg. There are words like “community,” “entertainment,” “capital” and “love,” interlaced with bright blues, yellows, reds and greens with white outlines and shapes. She even had some onlookers add a few words.

“I had the time of my life,” she said. “I enjoyed having people, as I was working on it, talking to me about it. I got to meet a lot of different people who work in the city everyday and live in the city, and I thought that was so cool.”

Singer was so excited about her piece that she brought the kids she nannies over the summer to see her work and take a tour of the other boxes downtown. Now that school has started, she plans to take her elementary students on a little box tour.

“I’m just very proud and honored to have a piece of artwork that is going to be there,” Singer said. “I teach so many little kids. I feel like they can look up to me and I say ‘Look! This is something you can aspire to. If art is your passion, follow it. You can do something like this.’”

Painter Shane Gallup is no novice to the Harrisburg art scene. Gallup has participated in gallery showings and body-paint exhibitions through his nonprofit, Artcan. Last year, he was involved in the mural festival, painting two hands reaching out for each other under the pedestrian underpass at Strawberry Square.

In a similar style of patchwork colors, Gallup created a painting of two kids: a girl holding tomatoes over her head and a boy grinning while eating a watermelon. According to Gallup, the piece was created to strike a conversation over what children put into their bodies.

“I wanted to encourage dialogue about what kind of foods are accessible to kids and their perceptions around them,” he said. “I think it’s a conversation that people have been having for awhile, and I think my piece adds something to it.”

These conversations are some of Gallup’s favorite things about creating public art. While painting his box, people came up to him asking questions about the project, his piece and what it meant. Though not all conversations were pleasant, they all started a dialogue, which was what he hoped for.

“It’s been great doing the boxes because it’s inviting,” he said. “There’s so much walking traffic downtown that I got a lot of engagement.”

This was not the first collaboration between Sprocket and DID. The two worked together on the duck sculptures that invaded downtown last year, the painted planters back in 2016 and the mural festival.

“With any of these public art projects, I think it gives people a reason to come into the city,” said Copus. “Whether people are already coming in for a baseball game or coming in for dinner, it gives them a reason to explore the city and just leave with a really good feeling of what they saw.”

For more information the Harrisburg Downtown Improvement District, visit www.harrisburgdid.com. Follow Sprocket Mural Works on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @sprocketmuralworks and visit their website at www.sprocketmuralworks.com.

Showbiz Kids: Gamut completes theater build-out with Education Center, Second Stage.

August 31, 2018 | by Laura Dugan

Pictured, above: Jeff Lutter Moser, dean of Gamut Theatre Summer Academy, speaks at the debut of the Alexander Grass Second Stage.

According to an old saying, good things come to those who wait.

For Gamut Theatre Group, the wait has been long, but the good things are here, and they’re in abundance.

After five years of planning, fundraising and construction, Gamut last month officially opened the Gamut Theatre Education Center, featuring the Alexander Grass Second Stage. The center is part of the final phase of the theater’s renovation of its downtown home, fully converting the historic building on N. 4th Street that was originally constructed as the First Church of God.

Purchased in 2013, the building’s initial renovations focused on the main stage, lobby, classrooms and support spaces for costumes, sets and props. After the mainstage opened in November 2015, the focus shifted to additional fundraising for the Education Center. The Alexander Grass Foundation sponsored the Second Stage during the initial renovations, but additional fundraising was necessary to complete important facility upgrades.

An official ribbon cutting was held last month at the side door to the theater, which is the new entrance to the Education Center.

In addition to the Second Stage, the 10,000-square-foot Education Center includes a new, ADA-compliant entrance, an elevator, classroom improvements, a digital projector and screen, and learning areas for costumes, sets, lighting and sound.

“We wanted the Education Center to be a teaching/learning space for students,” said Executive Director Melissa Nicholson. “This is a very simple, hard-to-mess-up space. Students will be able to design lights with an iPad and plug in their own devices for sound. There are some things they can learn about sound equalizing and lighting design, but it’s much simpler and easier to use than traditional equipment.”

Long-time Gamut colleague Lynne Kay Porter from Fairfield University designed the space, while local artist Jacintha Clark, through Sprocket Mural Works, painted a floor-to-ceiling wall mural.

“The mural invokes the feeling of being inside a storybook, but not necessarily a children’s storybook,” Nicholson said. “Audience members feel like a part of the story, with sunshine behind you that turns into a dark night to focus in on the stage.”

Even the ceiling has been considered and is filled with a sky full of stars.

The Second Stage enables Gamut to be more flexible in its use of the space. Popcorn Hat Players, Gamut’s children’s theater, will primarily use the Second Stage, as will the more informal, educational “Stage Door Series” and some classes. Last month, the first show to use the Second Stage was the innovative “Choose Your Own Play: Hijacked!”

“Prior to the availability of the Second Stage, smaller performances were held in the Gamut lobby,” Nicholson said. “The new space seats about 75 people. It holds more than the reception lobby but less than main stage.”

Nicholson also hopes the Education Center will be another space that smaller community groups will be able to use.

“A lot of people come to us wanting to use the main stage, and it’s difficult because of the programming,” she said. “This space doesn’t have as much nighttime usage. It can also be cost prohibitive to use large spaces downtown. It’s part of our mission in serving the community to offer something more reasonable for smaller groups that may need a space.”

One partnership has already developed between Gamut and The Capital Area School for the Arts (CASA). This summer, Gamut used some CASA classrooms for its summer programs. Next year, CASA will hold its midyear performances at Gamut. There are also plans in progress for internships for students and other ways to partner.

Some exterior work remains on the agenda. But, now that the internal renovations are complete, Gamut staff is able to focus completely on their core mission.

“What’s really attractive about reaching this finish line is we’re not finishing growing,” said Artistic Director Clark Nicholson. “We are now able to focus on programming and what we do here. We’ve been focused on modifying the physical space for years.”

To that end, Gamut staff has been working with its board on short- and long-term strategic planning.

“In many ways, the opening is just the beginning,” said Melissa Nicholson. “It’s nice to turn our excitement to what we’re meant to do—our programming.”

Gamut Theatre is located at 15 N. 4th St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.gamuttheatre.org.

Photograph courtesy of the Harrisburg Regional Chamber & CREDC.

Raise the Curtain: Gamut cuts ribbon for new education center, second stage

August 6, 2018 | by Yaasmeen Piper

Gamut co-founders Clark and Melissa Nicholson, center, surrounded by students, cheer following today’s ribbon cutting.

After years of campaigning and construction, Gamut Theatre Group held the grand opening and ribbon cutting today for its new Education Center.

Located at the back of the theater in downtown Harrisburg, the center features the new Alexander Grass Second Stage, two renovated classrooms and technical teaching shops for students to learn about costume construction, scenery design, sound, lighting and more.

“What this space does is it provides a way for us to really focus in a geographical way in this building on our children’s theater, which is what we started with,” said Clark Nicholson, Gamut’s co-founder and artistic director. “We wanted it to have a home, and we have it today.”

The 10,000-square-foot center features a wooden stage in the center of the room surrounded by seats and pews, with a balcony one on side. The walls feature a mural by local artist Jacintha Clark, who painted cotton candy-colored clouds merging with a night sky filled with golden stars on the ceiling. Behind the seats on the first floor are two rooms for costumes and props. Upstairs are three rooms: one for teaching, another for lounging and a third full of knick-knacks, books, paintings and more.

Gamut Theatre’s Alexander Grass Second Stage

The new space will house the Popcorn Hat Players Children’s Theatre, as well as the Stage Door Series Ensemble and Gamut Theatre Academy, all year round. Before, students floated among various places in the theater, but this new space will be their permanent home.

“The core of this mission is the classic story, these universal truths and these stories that have been around for hundreds of years. We give kids access to those,” said Jeff Luttermoser, dean of the Gamut Theatre Summer Academy. “They are going to be the keepers of those stories and the following generation. So, it’s so important that we do that work, and we get to do that here.”

The center was created with the help of partners such as Harristown Enterprises, the city of Harrisburg and the Alexander Grass Foundation. Arts patron Lois Grass was the advisor for the Gamut Theatre Capital Campaign, which raised $2.3 million for the project.

This is the second phase of construction for Gamut, which purchased the former First Church of God in 2013 and has been busy at work since raising money and turning the historic building into theater space. The first phase, completed in 2015, focused on the lobby, mainstage and other core components.

“We’re not just going to have a bigger building and touch more kids lives,” said Brad Winnick, Gamut Theatre’s board vice president. “But now we’re going to actually increase the breadth and depth of what we do.”

The first performance on the new stage will be this Thursday, Aug. 9, through Aug. 19, when Gamut will present “Hijacked!” a choose-your-own play performance starting at 7:30 p.m.

“The most exciting thing to me, as a parent, is that every one of these kids is going to grow up and be adults who may be on stage,” said Winnick. “They are going to be the people that keep that arts community that Gamut is a part of in this city–and whatever communities they live in–alive.”

Gamut Theater is located on 15 N 4th St., Harrisburg. For more information visit www.gamuttheatre.org

Riots & Raffles: Our editor offers his annual review of Harrisburg’s top news stories.

December 29, 2017 | by Lawrance Binda

Ah, January.

Bitter winds. Winter storm warnings. Slush up to your knees.

But here’s something to warm your soul—my annual “top 10” list of Harrisburg news. As usual, I’ve employed a totally unscientific, subjective process to judge what I consider to be the top Harrisburg stories for the year just ended.

10. Mega-Murals: Let’s kick off the top-10 list on a happy note, with perhaps the most delightful thing to happen in Harrisburg in 2017—the Harrisburg Mural Festival. In September, artists came to town from near and far, and, at the end of 10 days, more than a dozen new murals were sprinkled throughout Midtown and downtown. It was a fun, affirming community event the likes of which I hadn’t experienced here before. Speaking of public art, I’d like to give a quick quack-out to another way-cool project, the Downtown Ducks, which offered a bit of needed whimsy amidst the hard surfaces of Harrisburg’s business district.

9. To the Limits: Every year, an issue arises that epitomizes the perennial discord and power struggle between Harrisburg’s mayor and City Council. In 2017, there were several, but an effort by council President Wanda Williams to impose mayoral term limits had to be the most overt. Williams recalled the excesses of seven-term Mayor Steve Reed to justify her ordinance, but most people regarded it as a naked swipe at current Mayor Eric Papenfuse. In turn, Papenfuse said he didn’t necessarily oppose term limits for the mayor, but thought they should extend to council, as well. And, months later, that’s where we stand.

8. Going Up: In November, Harrisburg University offered up an early holiday present when it announced plans to build the city’s tallest building—a 30-story-plus neck-strainer at the corner of S. 3rd and Chestnut streets. The project, currently slated to break ground next year, may include a hotel and conference center, in addition to classrooms and student housing. Downtown saw other development news in 2017, as Harristown Enterprises announced new projects on 2nd Street and continued its transformation of Strawberry Square with the debut of high-quality tenants like Fresa Bistro, Provisions, Freshido and the UPMC Pinnacle medical offices.

7. What’s the Plan? A single story rarely lasts through an entire calendar year, but the saga of Harrisburg’s comprehensive plan has now extended through 2015, 2016 and 2017. The year began with the city dismissing consultant Bret Peters, as relations between the administration and its hired architect reached a breaking point. In an odd twist, it ended with the Planning Commission adopting Peters’ plan as its final working draft. Because the plan still must pass muster with City Council, I’ve already penciled in this never-ending story as part of my 2018 top-10 list.

6. Not a Laugh Riot. By springtime, it looked like 2017 might be a difficult year on the streets of Harrisburg, as the capital city got drawn into the nation’s pro- and anti-Trump drama. Following clashes between factions at one protest, Harrisburg police asked council for $65,000 for new protective, or riot, gear. That got the crowds to council chambers, with most speakers opposing the purchase. In October, council tied the funding to the creation of a new, eight-member citizen task force to advise on police issues. However, as of mid-December, council had not passed a resolution authorizing it.

5. Triple Tragedy: Every year, a few stories in this often-fragile city seem particularly tragic. For instance, the double-murder in November of stepsisters Kaliah Dearing and Natasha Harner was especially horrible and heartbreaking. But arguably no story was more tragic than the triple loss in March of 10-year-old Savannah Dominick, 2-year-old Ashanti Hughes and Harrisburg firefighter Lt. Dennis DeVoe. The girls perished from a house fire in Uptown Harrisburg sparked by a faulty hover board, and DeVoe was killed when his car was T-boned on his way to the fire. Fittingly, the Fire Bureau later retired DeVoe’s badge number and placed his name on the Memorial Wall at the PA National Fire Museum.

4. Reed Plea: Harrisburg’s “trial of the century” was set to start, with the city’s former seven-term mayor and erstwhile savior, Steve Reed, in the dock facing more than 100 criminal counts. Then, poof, it all ended. Reed suddenly accepted a plea deal on 20 counts of receiving stolen property and, a week later, was sentenced to two years of probation. The conviction was cold comfort for those wanting someone to answer for hanging Harrisburg out to dry, driving it the brink of bankruptcy. Back in 2015, the state had charged Reed with nearly 500 corruption-related counts, but most of those were dismissed because a judge ruled that the statute of limitations for prosecution had expired. Following the sentencing, the state and the city declared that, with the criminal case settled, they now could pursue civil charges against the myriad people responsible for the city’s financial implosion. So far, crickets.

3. Election Division: High-stakes elections often bring out the worst in a body politic, and so it was once again with Harrisburg’s mayoral contest. The five-candidate primary race was rather quietly (and often poorly) run until about two weeks before the primary election, when a series of debates finally forced the candidates out from behind their Facebook pages. Then it was all division: race, neighborhood, class and anything else that could be used by challengers to try to divide and conquer. In the end, incumbent Papenfuse had the overall best debate performances and won handily. And, with the Democratic nomination determined, the mayoral election seemed to be all but settled, until . . .

2. Raffle Wreck: In Harrisburg, nothing ever seems resolved. So, candidates lose in the primary, but then often reappear in the general election. This time around, two of the losing primary candidates decided to mount last-minute write-in bids, which seemed rather innocuous and, honestly, pointless, until one of them, Gloria Martin-Roberts, lost control of her campaign. Several supporters decided to mount their own rogue campaign on her behalf, rounding up a bunch of homeless men to distribute flyers supporting the candidate. The men also handed out raffle tickets, which offered a chance to win big prizes just for voting. “Foul!” cried several concerned citizens, who complained to the county elections bureau. A judge, seeing a possible connection between the flyers and the tickets, issued an order to halt the raffle. Over ensuing days, most folks complicit in the strange affair laid the blame on others or denied involvement completely. To quote those New Zealand pop gods, OMC, “How bizarre.”

1. Up and Up: Several years ago, in my year-end “Top 10” list, I remarked that most news items were surprisingly positive, even though the city itself, broke and under state receivership, was a basket case. This year, I have the opposite assessment. Many of my top news items are rather negative, but, in truth, the city had a very good year overall. The budget is balanced, many new businesses opened, re-development continued, the city’s first bike share launched and home sales were brisk. Back in 2012 and 2013, I never could have imagined such a rapid turnaround and bright future for Harrisburg. But, thankfully, here we are. So, that’s my No. 1 story of the year.

Numerous other stories almost made the cut in this news-rich little city. My runner-up list included City Council resignations, the doomed Eastern University deal, the sinkhole solution, the surprising Civil War Museum accord, the delayed (finally begun) 3rd Street project and the Hail Mary bid for the Amazon headquarters.

Wait—did I just finish up an entire year-end news review without once mentioning parking? This is Harrisburg. That can’t be right.

Lawrance Binda is editor in chief of TheBurg.

City More Beautiful: Images of the HBG Mural Fest

September 29, 2017 | by Lawrance Binda and Dani Fresh

It was an event like central PA had never seen before.

Over the course of 10 days last month, more than a dozen murals were created as part of the Harrisburg Mural Fest. Sprocket Mural Works asked local, national and even international artists to paint murals in Shipoke, downtown and Midtown Harrisburg, supplementing the projects with several mural-themed social and educational events. It all ended with a tremendous block party on State Street.

In this photo feature, photographer Dani Fresh shows us some of these stunning works of art, captured during and soon after their creation.

From Dani Fresh:
There are probably thousands of images of these newly painted, beautiful walls. And hot dog, they are wildly beautiful walls and wonderful perspectives. But the most striking thing about the Harrisburg Mural Fest was the profound willingness of artists to invite an entire city to be a part of the process of creating art. It is brave, vulnerable, and sweet—and it is one thing to say that murals are tools for civic engagement; it is another to witness it on such a grand scale.

These images are a collection of gestures and moments that exist between working diligently, talking to and engaging with people passing by, teaching and guiding students and eager community volunteers, and eventually, the triumphant finish of a long project.

June News Digest

June 30, 2017 | by Lawrance Binda

Dog Park Proposed

Terriers and hounds soon may displace groundhogs and squirrels from a block of long-empty land in Midtown, as plans are afoot for Harrisburg’s first public dog park.

The community group Friends of Midtown is raising about $18,000 to cover two years of expenses for the off-leash park, which would be created on a grassy, three-quarter-acre expanse at N. 7th and Granite streets.

“We have the enthusiastic support of the city, the planning bureau,” said Annie Hughes, who is spearheading the effort for Friends of Midtown with her husband Andy. “Everybody’s all in, essentially.”

The Vartan Group owns the lot and has agreed to a two-year commitment, Hughes said. Friends of Midtown should hear soon on the fate of a grant application from PPL Electric and also is soliciting funds from individuals. It hopes to have the park, which would be free and open to the public, ready by spring 2018.

Plans call for a fence to ring the lot, which would be divided into two areas—one for large dogs and the other for small dogs. Dog waste bags would be available on site, and signs would be posted with the rules of the park.

The desire for a dog park in Harrisburg has come up repeatedly in recent years. Two years ago, it was the fifth most-popular suggestion among 1,200 ideas for inclusion in the city’s comprehensive plan, Hughes said.

She added that the dog park would be temporary, serving as a pilot for the city, which may use data collected from this effort to build a permanent park.

Jackson Hotel Mural

A new mural will celebrate Harrisburg’s African-American history, adorning the side of a building that once hosted such luminaries as Louis Armstrong and Pearl Bailey.

Sprocket Mural Works announced the project last month for the former Jackson Hotel and Rooming House on the 1000-block of N. 6th Street, a building that, decades ago, catered primarily to a black clientele refused service in the city’s major, segregated hotels.

“It will be an African-American historic mural, playing off the history itself,” said Sprocket co-founder Jeff Copus.

The Jackson Hotel painting is one of 10 murals that will be created during the Harrisburg Mural Festival, which Sprocket is organizing for the first 10 days of September.

Copus last month told the Harrisburg Architectural Review Board (HARB) that the mural will feature people who stayed at the hotel, possibly including entertainers like Armstrong, Bailey, Cab Callaway and Ella Fitzgerald. It may also incorporate images of important Harrisburg figures such as Ephraim Slaughter, an escaped slave who fought in the Civil War and later settled in the city.

In August, Sprocket will seek public input for the mural design, Copus said.

Sprocket is commissioning artist Cesar Viveros to paint the mural. Locally, Viveros is best known as the artist-in-residence who helped design and lead the creation of the Mulberry Street Bridge murals.

Stop the Drop

A small change to trashcan lids may cut the amount of litter on Harrisburg streets.

That’s the idea behind “Stop the Drop,” a campaign to turn home trashcans into, essentially, public trashcans.

The new lids are bright orange with a hole in the center that residents can attach to their trashcans, replacing their existing, solid lids. Pedestrians then can put litter into the can through the hole, rather than toss it in the street, said Julie Walter, neighborhood revitalization manager at Tri County Community Action, a part of the grassroots coalition Clean and Green Harrisburg.

A successful, three-month pilot run on 6th and Market streets convinced the coalition to roll out the lids citywide, Walter said.

“[We were] excited that people were actually using the lids,” she said about the trial run. “When we would go check them out, there would be coffee cups and chip bags in the cans. You can tell that there was actually a need.”

Later this month, residents citywide will be able to volunteer to swap their lids out with the new lids. These new lids work well with rowhome residents who place their trashcans at the front of their houses, she said.

King Mansion Sells

Harrisburg’s iconic Horace King Mansion sold last month, purchased by an engineering firm that plans to relocate there.

K & W Engineers, under the holding company name 2201 NFS LLC, purchased the building at 2201 N. Front St., along with several adjacent parcels, for $1.8 million from a group called 2201 Partnership, which had owned it since 2003.

The 10-person engineering and consulting firm expects to leave its current offices in Swatara Township and move into the building once renovations are completed this fall. To that end, CREDC provided a $325,000 Enterprise Zone Loan for improvements to the second floor.

The building also houses the marketing firm Sacunas, which moved into the first floor late last year.

Home Sales Up Again

Area home sales continued a years-long climb, as unit sales rose 4.4 percent in May, according to the Greater Harrisburg Association of Realtors.

GHAR said that May sales totaled 948 units versus 908 houses in the year-ago period. The median price dipped to $170,000 compared to $174,900 in May 2016.

Dauphin County sales were strong, with 355 units sold versus 297 in the year prior, with the median price unchanged at $155,000. In Cumberland County, 310 houses sold compared to 326 in May 2016, with the median price falling to $190,125 versus $193,950, said GHAR.

In Perry County, 43 houses sold versus 30 in the year prior, and the median price fell to $127,000 against $151,500 in May 2016, said GHAR.

GHAR covers Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry counties and parts of York, Lebanon and Juniata counties.

So Noted

Andrew Guth of Harrisburg took first place in the category of “Work on Paper” at the 2017 “Art of the State,” a juried exhibit held each year at the State Museum of PA to honor the commonwealth’s best artwork. Guth is a Millworks and Burg artist, contributing the cover art for our May issue. You can see his winning entry, “Where We Used to Go When Everything Was Wrong (I Watched the Lilies Grow Until They Got Old),” with the rest of the exhibit, which runs through Sept. 10 at the State Museum.

Anna Rose Bakery & Coffee Shop opened last month at Walnut and N. 2^nd streets in Harrisburg, featuring doughnuts, cupcakes, cookies and espresso drinks. The business, owned by Ron Kamionka, is located in the rear portion of the former Molly Brannigans Irish Pub, which closed almost three years ago.

Excelon Corp. is making plans to shutter Three Mile Island in 2019 absent policy reforms by the state legislature to make nuclear power more competitive. TMI employs 675 workers, most of whom would lose their jobs if the facility closed.

Freshido, a fast-casual restaurant specializing in Asian cuisine, is expected to land this fall in Strawberry Square, at the corner of N. 3^rd and Market streets. The 50-seat eatery will occupy the 2,200-square-foot storefront long vacated by Plum Sport.

Harrisburg Downtown Improvement District launched “Discover the Ducks Downtown,” an outdoor art and beautification exhibit for the summer. Along with HDID, Harrisburg-based Sprocket Mural Works commissioned artists to paint 15 fiberglass ducks, which now can be seen throughout the downtown.

Harrisburg Hoopla, a field day of track-and-field activities, raised $5,500 last month for local nonprofits. Fourteen groups with 101 participants competed for select organizations in this first-ever charitable event, sponsored by Emerging Philanthropists Program, a partnership of TFEC and HYP.

Hershey Harrisburg Regional Visitor’s Bureau last month received a Bronze Anvil Award of Commendation from the Public Relations Society of America. The award was for “Tourism in Your Town,” a series of advertorials that appeared in TheBurg throughout 2016.

PFM Asset Management signed a lease last month for 63,133 square feet of space in an office building at 213 Market St. in Harrisburg. By year-end, the firm plans to relocate its 150 employees from 100 Market St., where it has been for the past 20 years, according to commercial real estate firm CBRE Group, which represented the company.

Rite Aid has opened in Strawberry Square in downtown Harrisburg. The new, 14,000-square-foot store moved from cramped quarters across Market Street after a yearlong build-out.

Changing Hands

Adrian St., 2418: G. Brown to R. Ivey, $30,000

Balm St., 60: Kusic Financial Services LLC to OJK Enterprises, $32,000

Bellevue Rd., 1921: CNC Realty Group LLC to J. Romelfanger, $55,000

Berryhill St., 2202: PA Deals LLC to R. Narinesingh, $62,500

Berryhill St., 2316: D. & Y. Jiang to D. & L. Nguyen, $30,000

Boas St., 1925: P. Long to Resistance Properties LLC, $38,000

Camp St., 521: G. & S. Gallagher to K. Moralez, $30,000

Conoy St., 123: Secretary of Housing & Urban Development & Information Systems Network Corp. to E. Fultz, $73,000

Elliot St., 1080, Lot 2: R. & C. Berger to A. Gerges, $250,000

Fox Ridge Ct., 307: B. Miler to C. Hoover, $121,500

Green St., 1007: R. Nicoli to J. & C. Nunley, $110,000

Green St., 1915: J. & K. Johnston to S. Williams, $207,900

Green St., 1930: A. Miller to I. Bailey, $205,000

Green St., 2013: L. Binda to M. Didone, $214,000

Green St., 2137: Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. Trustee to N. Morrison, $32,694

Green St., 2321: J. Yoder to Willowscott Investment LLC, $37,500

Hale Ave., 447: K. & L. Torres to D. Norris, $62,000

Hamilton St., 242: J. & J. Collins to P. Christensen, $150,309

Harris St., 207: MTGLQ Investors LP & Selene Finance LP to K. Clark, $117,900

Harris St., 344: MidAtlantic IRA LLC Phillip Sachs IRA to M. & A. Gilbert, $108,500

Herr St., 269: G. Thall to M. Berlin, $115,000

Hoffman St., 3221: W. Wood to N. Consagra & L. Umberger, $109,900

Holly St., 2006: W. Thompson III to SCC Ward Inc., 32,000

Kelker St., 427: Secretary of Housing & Urban Development & Information Systems & Networks Corp. to I. Jordan, $32,500

Kensington St., 2110 & 2116: Donald L. Pong Trust to M. & A. Robinson, $59,000

Lewis St., 237: J. Toro to M. Horgan & Innovative Devices Inc.., $43,500

Locust St., 202: AMTO LLC to Sturges Property Management LLC, $300,000

Luce St., 2320: EAD Associates LLC to S. Ginder, $38,000

Muench St., 278: Secretary of Housing & Urban Development & Information Systems & Network Corp. to H. & C. Foley, $44,06

N. 2^nd St., 1522: J. Cantarell & A. Meck to K. Reiter, $164,000

N. 2^nd St., 2323: LSFP Master Participation Trust to M. Horgan & CR Services Inc., 63,900

N. 2^nd St., 2528: A. & C. Broadus to E. Pine & S. Ransome, $145,000

N. 4^th St., 3119: R. & C. Steele to T. Gottshall, $123,500

N. 4^th St., 3213: A. Semancik to G. Erdman & S. Ukodie, $120,000

N. 4^th St., 3227: Central Penn Properties to T. Barnes, $142,000

N. 5^th St., 2515: 2013 M&M Real Estate Fund LLC to T. & V. Williams, $129,900

N. 5^th St., 2600: PA Deals LLC to S. & S. Aiken, $69,900

N. 7^th St., 2714: M. Owens to L. Owens, $45,158

N. 14^th St., 1206, 1314 N. 15^th St. & 603 Benton St.: Kirsch & Burns LLC to Equity Trust Co. Custodian John Spencer IRA, $165,000

N. 15^th St., 1340: MidAtlantic IRA LLC James Yeager IRA to Z. Yap, $39,000

N. 16^th St., 1216: R. Urrutia to W. Jones, $110,000

N. 17^th St., 1102: C. & N. Finnell to J. Martinez & T. Kobayashi, $33,500

N. Front St., 1525, Unit 605: A. Lenda to C. Carter, $173,500

Peffer St., 219: N. Braun to D. Wendt & S. Shultz, $122,000

Peffer St., 317: 1515 Associates to D. Berhe, $75,000

Penn St., 1605: R. Daniels to L, D. & R. Olenowski, $87,500

Reel St., 2416 & 2418: 24 Reel Street LLC to American Rental Home LLC, $52,000

Rudy Rd., 2454: J. & S. Merlina to J. Howard, $57,500

Sassafras St., 269 & 1112 Susquehanna St.: R. & J. Ruth to Major League Properties LLC, $60,000

Showers St., 605: H. Madsen to J. Moore, $163,900

South St., 122: Tang Liu Realty LLC to FA Realty LLC, $126,000

S. 2^nd St., 316: WK Rentals to Diamond Real Estate Solutions LLC, $32,000

S. 13^th St., 1456, 1460 & 1466: Davden Property Investments Inc. to 4880 East Prospect LLC, $66,000.

S. 16^th St., 947: R. Splawn to L. Jackson, $30,000

S. 24^th St., 623: K. & D. Brown to S. Jordan, $72,200

Swatara St., 2055: G. Barlow to S. Thomas, $34,500

Swatara St., 2413: J. Garisto to PI Capital LLC, $85,801

Verbeke St., 300: Kidder Wilkes LP to Silverstone Enterprises LLC, $215,000

Watson St., 2815: R. & A. Gates & C. Windham to LJ Realty Trust, $59,800

Harrisburg property sales for May 2017, greater than $30,000. Source: Dauphin County. Data is assumed to be accurate.

Author: Lawrance Binda

Splash Down: The ducks have arrived in downtown Harrisburg.

June 23, 2017 | by Allison Moody

One of the 15 giant, brightly painted ducks that can be found throughout downtown Harrisburg.

On Wednesday morning, a clear tarp was stretched down Walnut Street.

A fire truck blocked the road and blasted water down the slick surface. And one by one, spectators began to gather for an event like nothing Harrisburg has seen before.

By noon, hundreds of Harrisburg residents and workers, parents and children lined up between 2nd and 3rd streets to witness 900 rubber ducks careen down a make-shift water slide, each hoping their duck would win the race and that they might walk home with a $1,000 check in their name.

The rubber duck race—and the entertaining slip ‘n slide relay between Harrisburg police officers and firefighters that followed—was part of an event by the Harrisburg Downtown Improvement District and Kamionka Entertainment Group to kick off this summer’s downtown art project, “Discover the Ducks Downtown.” All of the money raised went to the Harrisburg Fire Bureau.

Harrisburg firefighters competed with police officers during Wednesday’s inflatable duck race down Walnut Street.

Fifteen fiberglass ducks, painted by local artists in coordination with Sprocket Mural Works, flew into Harrisburg the night before the event and will stay through September, placed throughout downtown. According to HDID Executive Director Todd Vander Woude, the ducks are kid-friendly, tie into Harrisburg’s own Susquehanna River and gave artists lots of canvas space.

“The ducks are great way to brighten up downtown for the summer,” HDID Director of Marketing and Special Events Leigh Ann Urban stated.

While the idea has been floating around for almost a year, planning for “Discover the Ducks Downtown” only kicked off after the HDID’s last large event, the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The rubber duck race and relay did not have any type of rehearsal, but Vander Woude was ecstatic with the “overwhelming response” by the community.

“Seeing the crowd that was there, the families, kids—I think it went fantastic,” Vander Woude said.

The finishing line of the rubber ducky race.

In the past, HDID has sponsored fire hydrant and tree pot paintings and installed artistic bike racks around downtown. Last year’s Dino-Mite Summer program tripled the HDID’s visitor log, according to Vander Woude, and this summer is already paced to exceed that.

“I really think it’s a great event to show off downtown,” Vander Woude said.

Would you like to check out the painted ducks for yourself? Maps of the ducks’ locations can be found at the HDID office on N. 2nd Street or online. Or, even better, just wander around downtown awhile.

Author: Allison Moody

Brush with Greatness: African-American history mural planned for side of Jackson Hotel.

June 6, 2017 | by Lawrance Binda

The old Jackson Hotel in Harrisburg, including, at the right, the wall where a mural is planned.

A new mural will celebrate Harrisburg’s African-American history, adorning the side of a building that once hosted such luminaries as Louis Armstrong and Pearl Bailey.

Sprocket Mural Works announced the project yesterday for the former Jackson Hotel and Rooming House on the 1000-block of N. 6^th Street, a building that, decades ago, catered primarily to a black clientele refused service in the city’s major, segregated hotels.

“It will be an African-American historic mural, playing off the history itself,” said Sprocket co-founder Jeff Copus.

The Jackson Hotel painting is one of 10 murals that will be created during the Harrisburg Mural Festival, which Sprocket is organizing for the first 10 days of September.

Copus last night told the Harrisburg Architectural Review Board (HARB) that the mural will feature people who stayed at the hotel, possibly including entertainers like Armstrong, Bailey, Cab Callaway and Ella Fitzgerald. It may also incorporate images of important Harrisburg figures such as Ephraim Slaughter, an escaped slave who fought in the Civil War and later settled in the city.

In August, Sprocket will seek public input for the mural design, Copus said.

HARB voted 4-2 to support the mural, the two “no” votes from members who wanted more input into the actual mural design. While HARB must approve a mural project within the historic district, the details of the painting are beyond its purview.

As the building’s owner, HARB member Jeremiah Chamberlin abstained from the vote. Chamberlin bought the building about 18 months ago, hoping to save it from further deterioration. It has been unoccupied for almost 20 years since the death of long-time owner German Jackson, who bequeathed it Dave Kegris, owner of the Jackson House restaurant next door. Kegris eventually sold it to Kerry and Lessa Helm, who then sold it to Chamberlin.

Ted Hanson, a long-time resident of the Old Fox Ridge neighborhood, wanted assurances that Chamberlin would begin work to stabilize and restore the building.

“My concern is that the building is in serious distress,” Hanson told the HARB board. “I am very concerned if stability doesn’t happen very quickly, you’ll be painting a mural on a crumbling property.”

Chamberlin assured Hanson that he would begin work on the building “within the next couple of weeks.”

“I have no desire to see my investment lost either,” Chamberlin said.

Hanson also was concerned that the mural might impede development of the vacant lots next door, as new construction could block the view of the mural. Copus said that Sprocket would not stand in the way of the development of the empty lots at N. 6^th and Herr streets, which are owned by the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority and by Bethel AME Church, a historically black congregation that lost its church to an arson fire in 1995.

“Hopefully, this will generate interest in that underutilized lot,” Copus said.

Click here for more information on the Harrisburg Mural Festival.

Author: Lawrance Binda

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