I was stunned by the sheer amount of artwork as I entered the 49th Art in the Park on Saturday, Sept. 14. It was a beautiful day with heat from a lingering summer sun and music that filled the air from one of the local bands. The wide array of paintings, ceramics, glasswork, and jewelry all made by local artists brightened up the park, while visitors from all over the community strolled through the stands that surrounded the center fountain to view and purchase artists’ original pieces.
West Park Civic Association organizes this event annually at West Park Allentown, Pennsylvania, and this year hosted 130 artist exhibitors, 18 arts-related community groups, 10 musical performances, and several other vendors.
Many new artists joined the 49th annual event — including Emmaus High School’s own art teachers: Tracy Maley, Julia Rose, Katie Pfenninger, and Lexi Soboleski. They participated following a joint decision to submit their applications and portfolios last spring.
As the fated day approached, the art teachers encouraged their students to attend the event, noting that some love art and others are prospecting artists. I decided to attend the event myself to see what artists who work in the field today are creating and maybe draw some inspiration from them. I also wanted to see what the EHS art teachers work on when they aren’t instructing, since they are major supporters for students who want to pursue art.
As I passed under grand trees and walked down the winding paths of the park, remembering to spot the teachers, I saw landscape paintings reminiscent of impressionism hanging from wired stands and tables filled with rainbow glass tableware. I also saw several paintings of cows that were strangely endearing. One of my favorites was a stand featuring beautiful blue and white prints of flowers and leaves. I didn’t get to see much of the event before I spotted Maley, EHS’s drawing and painting teacher but she encouraged me to explore the rest of the park before I got to ask about her collection.
So I continued to walk further and saw massive portrait paintings and to my delight several booths depicting nature in their own unique ways. Very quickly I came across Soboleski, EHS’s printmaking teacher.
Soboleski filled exhibit 707 with nine of her original prints. The first three were risographs depicting odd things she noticed in her bedroom like an army knife, a deck of cards, and oranges. The remaining six were black and white linocuts — three depicting surreal boardwalk scenes, and the last three depicting abandoned spaces. She did not sell the framed original prints, but she did sell print copies, the most popular, Soboleski noted, were the boardwalk scenes.
When I asked Soboleski how her day at the event was going, she was relieved that it was going well after a slow morning start. She further explained to me the process of creating a risograph print, as it was her first time using this printing technique, and finding the opportunity to do so was a process since she had to find a risograph printer and an artist who knew how to use one . In the end, she was very pleased with how the three risographs turned out.
Soboleski’s favorite print was one in the abandoned spaces collection called “All the Trimmings,” a print depicting an abandoned hair salon with giant scissors all over. This was inspired by her grandmother who recently passed away and had owned a hair salon with her sister when she was younger.
Right next to Soboleski’s exhibit was Pfenninger 702 and was decorated with her glass ornaments. Her collection was glasswork emphasizing how light reflects through glass objects. She took some time to speak with me and also noted that her day was going well; she had sold several pieces and was connecting with other artists and visitors.
As EHS’s crafts teacher, Pfenninger works with a lot of different materials but she chose to start closely studying this medium two and a half years ago. One of her favorite parts of the glasswork process is seeing how the colors look with and without light. Her pieces included butterflies, hearts, tiles, and gems and lanterns with lights placed inside, all in a wide array of vibrant colors. Her favorite piece was a glass lantern with flowers pressed inside the side panels, which also sold.
Rose’s exhibit, 709, was right next to Pfenningers but I got to the event after she had left early. Rose is EHS’s ceramics teacher and her collection was completely ceramics with brown clay with playful spots and patterns. She had two tables filled with plates, bowls, mugs, pitchers, and more.
Before I left the two exhibits Pfenninger told me that this event is such a fantastic thing to have in our area and I couldn’t agree more. As I continued to explore the event afterwards I was comforted with the realization that many people in the area love to create art and that in the contemporary art movement there are so many different styles and approaches.
I purchased one thing at the event, a necklace from Timeless Petals. It’s a precious black stone made of Pennsylvania coal placed on a silver chain. I would have purchased more if I were rich but unfortunately I am but a high school student. Afterwards I invited my friend Carina McCallum to join me at the event and we crafted flower crowns at one of the exhibits.
Then before leaving I went back to visit Maley at her exhibit, 703
Her’s was tent-like and inside hung her various mixed media paintings depicting nature and landscapes. She sat outside her tent painting watercolor landscapes in her sketchbook as I joined her at the table to speak to her. She explained the theme of her paintings called Escapes. Her focus was what inspired her when she was out in nature and her collection included acrylic paintings, watercolors, oil pastel, and mixed media pieces.
Mrs Maley’s day, as she noted, was amazing as she enjoyed the breezy sunny day and she unexpectedly reconnected with many past students and past college friends. She even got to see a handful of her current students who attend EHS. She successfully sold a handful of paintings including her favorite one, Ruby – a hot pink like tree with yellow and turquoise blue to a past student.
Maley has been attending this event as a visitor for years and was the one who encouraged her coworkers to apply for the 49th annual event. She loved that she got to do this with them and that she and the other teachers were able to convince students to attend. She further encourages her students to get their work out there, strengthen their skill and participate in events like these to help in the pursuit of their art careers.
After the event was over and I went home with my friend to share fries, I couldn’t help but feel grateful for the opportunity to attend this art event that I hadn’t known about previously. It inspires me to keep working to improve my art and participate more routinely in the art community.
