New York City native Joanne Landis never expected to call rural Pennsylvania “home.”
“I thought I'd come out here, not talk to anyone, paint for 10 years, come out of the woods, you know, with an entirely different dialogue of work,” said Landis.
But Lewisburg opened her eyes to art — and a sense of community — Landis didn’t think was possible.
“I'm very responsive to the colors of the seasons … in New York, you just live in isolation,” she said.
“It’s not a conscious effort, [but color] comes into all of my paintings,” said Landis, a self-described “narrative painter” who moved to the Lewisburg area from New York's Lower East Side in the 1990s.
Landis shared her journey during opening night of “Art in Lewisburg: A 50-Year Retrospective" this week.
The show features artists who feel the borough’s given them a voice in their field, whether by serving as their muse, like for Landis, or by providing a support system.
Artists, their families and friends, and art-lovers from around Lewisburg mingled alongside live piano music and with ample wine in hand. Guests traveled from room to room at The Gallery admiring the curated collection of Lewisburg’s prominent artists.
A rich creative environment
Art seems to be everywhere in Lewisburg.
Gary Sojka, a former president of Bucknell University from 1984-95, boasted of the borough’s opportunities for artists. He highlighted Bucknell’s Stadler Center for Poetry & Literary Arts and emerging shows and artist collectives.
Lewisburg’s strength, he stressed, is that it shows “there is no real dividing line … between the arts, the sciences, the social sciences.” With a background in biochemistry, the former educator said the community gives space for people with different experiences to work together.
“They're just people who think … that's the important thing. We shouldn't be stopped by artificial boundaries,” Sojka said.
Despite not being an artist himself, Sojka’s spent his retirement helping local artists. He curated a show for older adults called “Continuing Creativity” to support artists who “were creating right up till their last breath.”
“Most of them were not trained as professional artists. It was a way of letting out some of that creative urge in the same way that Winston Churchill did or George Bush did. These people, you know, paint or sculpt or something after they get out of the public eye after they stop punching a clock. And I think that's wonderful, and this town allows that to happen.”
Winston Churchill discovered his love of painting in his 40s and specialized in oil painting under many pseudonyms, favoring “Mr. Winter.” George W. Bush has spent some of his time after leaving the Oval Office in 2009 on painting portraits, notably his Portraits of Courage series, which honors veteran and military families.
Printmaker Sandy Davis founded Artists & Artisans in downtown Lewisburg to bolster other artists.
No one owns the cooperative, Davis explained. Members pay yearly dues and the gallery gets 20% commission to cover costs, but artists walk away with the remaining 80%. She said it gives artists the opportunity to show their work in a field where it’s difficult to find a space, make rent payments and eke out a living.
But most importantly, Davis said the cooperative fosters personal connections.
“The nice part about a co-op is, any time you come to visit us … there's always an artist member behind the sales desk who can answer your questions and tell you about the artists and how they made what they did,” said Davis. “So, it's an educational experience any time you walk in the door.”
The collective opened in spring 2023 and launched its new exhibit this week, "Spring to Creativity,” which features work by gallery members. Opening reception is tonight, Friday, March 7 at 6 p.m. at 229 Market St., Lewisburg.
'It should be part of everyone's life'
Landis has two pieces that will be shown at the exhibit until its last day, March 15. One depicts a woman working in an apartment, the other shows a woman moving in sync with nature, her body flowing in conjunction with the pond looping around her body. Landis explained she created the first while living in New York, and the second was after she moved to Union County, Pennsylvania.
Landis left the city to have her own studio instead of being cooped up in her apartment “for the rest of her life.” She bought a house with a barn she turned into a studio and said her work transformed.
Her work, which depicted women working in the home, expanded in nature. Now, she focuses on the relationship between the body and the seasons.
With gratitude, she said Lewisburg changed her. She never expected to find community — or abundant work — in rural living.
“Possibly because I was from New York, everyone was interested in seeing what I was doing and then showing me,” said Landis.
She said she’s been “racing” to keep up with shows. Part of the joy of showing in Lewisburg, she added, is bringing art into people’s homes and communities. In New York, there’s art everywhere, “you’re just used to it,” said Landis. “It's in restaurants, it's in people's homes, and out here it's still separate … it should be part of everyone's life.”
Artists coming and going
Like Landis, painter Paula Swett moved to Lewisburg from out of state and joined the collective shortly after it opened. The Baltimore-native dyes cloth to construct what she calls “textile paints.” She said Lewisburg’s art community has supported her since she moved 48 years ago.
One of her two pieces at the gallery show is a small 16’’ by 16’’ patchwork called “Community.” Swett designed it in 1995, but said its meaning has held true over the last 30 years.
“I feel that in all the years that I've been here, I have been really supported by this community in terms of showing up for like a retrospective tonight to collect in my world. And I think that's the pulse of what happens for me – it really does keep me here and keeps me creating,” said Swett.
Portrait painter Catherine Hafer’s long since left Lewisburg, but showed pieces at The Gallery that were inspired by her hometown. She said she paints to “capture personality.” Hafer shared with pride that her work is getting international acclaim in recent years.
One of her pieces was shown in Spain last year as part of the Almenara Art Prize, an international online painting competition.
Hafer traveled to Spain for the exhibition.
“I met artists from all over the world — Russia, Spain, Romania. It was just the most incredible experience,” said Hafer.
She met the couple who owns the Almenara collection and was hooked on their artist-in-residence program. They told her to get her application in and two weeks ago, she found out she had been accepted.
Artists spend four weeks living and painting the idyllic Spanish countryside. Hafer said she is flying out in mid-October to attend an art gala in Spain and is thrilled to capture what she saw during her first, short visit.
“When I was there for the [2024] exhibit, I was kind of kicking myself because I was only there for a couple days … there’s going to be so much to paint,” said Hafer.
Besides painting what moves her, she plans to leave something behind in Spain, as well.
“They ask that each artist leave something at the residency,” said Hafer. “That's kind of the exchange. So, they've asked me to do a portrait of a family member while I'm there, so I'll leave that for them, and then paint whatever else I want to paint while I'm there.”
No matter how far Hafer travels, she said she carries the community’s support. People often ask her if she’ll ever move back.
“But they're all following me on social media and … I'm on a journey right now, because I plan on being like one of the top master artists … but they're all rooting me on from my hometown … just having my back. And it's really a good feeling, y’know, to have that behind you,” said Hafer.
She pointed out a portrait behind her of a young girl looking defiant beside a mourning dove. Mourning doves mate for life, explained Hafer.
“The reason I added the morning dove was because the painting’s called ‘She's All She Needs,’ said Hafer. “Because I want women to know — you are all you need. You have everything you need inside: you have the voice of conscience, you're strong.”
The painting depicts the girl with a brave face, harsh even, as she stands with a solitary dove. She looks unafraid, despite her young age. Hafer said it shows how women have innate intuition and spirituality.
“I really try … to empower women … I had to capture that feeling … [that] kind of defiance on her face. Yeah, she's gonna take on the world and nothing's gonna stop her,” Hafer said.
Hafer’s model for the painting is from Lewisburg. The painting was a finalist for the Portrait Society of America’s Members Only Competition.
'Art in Lewisburg: A 50-Year Retrospective' ends on March 15. Its hours are from Monday to Saturday from 1-7 p.m. and Sunday from 1-3 p.m., at 15 N. Water St., Lewisburg.
