Lancaster’s Poets Laureate Share Poetry and Inspirations

The Ware Center, located on Prince Street in downtown Lancaster, held a poetry event Wednesday evening.

BY SETH ECKMAN

An intimate poetry reading that featured the current and past poets laureate of Lancaster County was held at Millersville University’s Ware Center on Prince Street in downtown Lancaster Wednesday evening. The laureates shared their poetry and discussed their influences to a small but engaged room of about 40 people for an hour and a half. Their work was accompanied by music, special lighting, and two monitors that showed images that were related to the poems they recited and the influences behind them. The event was hosted by the Lancaster Literary Guild and was its first event at the Ware Center. Admission was $15 at the door. For Millersville Students, it was free.

After plugging some of the Literary Guild’s upcoming events, Betsy Hurley, who runs the Guild and the poet laureate program, said, “I’m really excited for tonight. It’s more than a presentation of poetry from our three poet lauretes. It’s really an in-depth description of those people and events that have lit a path at their feet. It’s about people that inspired them and made them feel confident and free to approach writing.”

Hurley defined a poet laureate as “an individual who distinguishes themselves in poetry. Their duties include what the laureate feels most ‘called’ to do.” The duties of Lancaster’s poets laureate include writing blogs for the Literary Guild’s website, going to schools and universities to recite and discuss their poetry, and teaching poetry workshops around the county.

Lancaster’s first poet laureate was appointed in 2008. “We attained permission from the Lancaster County Commissioners to establish a poet laureate program,” explained Hurley. “Every two years in February we [the Literary Guild] accept applications for the next laureate. Each candidate submits a video reading or presentation from memory of their poetry. We also ask for published collections or typed poems.”

The laureate is then chosen by a laureate selection committee made up of about four or five people. Each laureate serves the county for two years and are paid $2,000 for their term. So far, Lancaster County has had three poet laureates: Barbara Buckman Strakso, Daina Savage, and current poet laureate Christine Longenecker. All three have had collections of their poetry published, and all three participated in the event Wednesday evening.

The first poet to speak was Strakso, who in 2008 was appointed the first poet laureate of Lancaster County. Strakso is the author of two poetry collections, 2008’s “On the Edge of a Delicate Day,” and 2010’s “Graffiti in Braille.” Among other accomplishments, her poem “Bricks and Mortar” was chosen to be engraved in Lancaster’s main square located on Queen Street in downtown Lancaster.

Speaking the longest, Strasko touched on her many influences and inspirations, those ranging from her family and Italian heritage to singer-songwriters like Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen to the city of Lancaster and to the Asian, Spanish, and American poets who had a profound effect on her when she was younger. Paintings of Lancaster, photos of her family, and a collage of Emily Dickinson were shown on the monitors, visualizing what her poetry is influenced by. “I don’t think I’m only influenced by the things I love, but also by the things that I struggle with and fight against,” said Strakso. “I began writing to protect myself, to claim myself, to preserve myself, and to celebrate the beauty of the world.”

Not only were Strakso’s influences diverse, but so was the poetry she read, which ranged from nature poems to political ones, like “Ode to the Berrigans,” a tribute to the priests who destroyed draft records during Vietnam. “You’re not the same person after you write a poem, and you’re not the same person after you read one,” said Strakso. “That’s important to me. I always want to be changing and learning and affecting change in others.”

Perhaps the highlight of the night came when Strakso read two poems that were influenced by the two sides of Lancaster County – the countryside and the city. The poems were performed with Beatrix Greiner, a local piano player. Greiner’s jazzy, lucid playing was the perfect accompaniment for Strasko’s poems, heightening the poet’s images of Lancaster.

Daina Savage, an award-winning free-lance writer for numerous regioanl publications, was the second poet laureate of Lancaster, holding the position from 2010 to 2012. Savage will have her first poetry collection, “Traces,” released this fall. A release party will take place on Nov. 13 at DogStar Books, located on Lemon Street in Lancaster city.

While Strakso shared many of her inspirations, Savage focused mostly on how nature has inspired her. “Natural landscape deeply influences my work,” said Savage, “both as a mirror and as a foil to the way we humans move in the world.”

Savage, who grew up in western Maryland around forests, great bodies of water, and mountains said, “I was influenced at an early age by the wondrous beauty that was all around me. The landscape soaked deep in my bones. It permeates everything I write and informs how I see the world.” The poems she recited, like “Traces,” “Nature Calls,” “Bare” and “Girl in the Mud Colored Raincoat,” employed vivid descriptions of animals, the changing seasons, weather, and forests. Explaining her poetry, Savage said, “I’m using language, but still getting at things that can’t be said. I’m trying to find a language that doesn’t exist, but still attempting to get there.”

The majority of Savage’s poems were accompanied by paintings of apples, trilliums, and landscapes done by local artist Rob Evans and his children, Lucas and Quinn. Savage drew parallels between what she was doing with words and what the Evans family was doing with art. “I am drawn to artists who are working with the same ideas,” said Savage, “artists who look at the world unfolding and what it leaves behind.”

Christine Longenecker, the current poet laureate of Lancaster, works at the YWCA on Lime Street in Lancaster. She published her first collection of poetry “How Trees Feel” in 2011. Fulfilling her duties as poet laureate, Longenecker will  teach a women’s writing class at the local prison this year.

Unlike the other laureates, Longencker didn’t read from her notes; she had all her poems memorized. Her poems were also different from those of the others. They told stories, had a more conversational tone, employed tricky rhyme schemes, and were laced with humor. An example of this was her poem “A Family Tree,” a story told from the perspective of a tree witnessing the tension between the members of a family who live on a farm. The poem received thunderous applause from the crowd.

Longenecker noted that it was her parents who influenced her at an early age to write. “They gave me the foundation to appreciate words,” said Longenecker. “They impressed upon me all along that it wasn’t so much the words as it was the spirit behind the words.”

In addition to her parents, Longenecker stressed the importance of the mentors she’s had in her life. One of them was Jon Landis Ruth, a teacher of Mennonite history who not only helped Longenecker find direction in her life but also found her a publisher for her poetry collection. “He told me that sometimes we don’t seek a position in life, but the position seeks us,” recalled Longenecker. “I didn’t set out to be a poet or anything else I ended up doing. It was more the directions that felt right and found me.”

Regarding her development as a poet, Longenecker discussed the importance of another mentor, Robert Frost. “He has been a mentor of mine since high school,” said Longenecker. “Somehow a dead person can be a mentor, and I have learned so much about poetry from him, and about life.”
Longenecker will be returning to the Ware Center with her husband Rick for “Two Roads Converge,” an event where she’ll read the works of Robert Frost along with her own poetry, demonstrating the parallels between them.

Lancaster’s poet laureates from left to right: Daina Savage, Barbara Buckman Strasko, and Christine Longenecker.

The Literary Guild will accept applications for the post of poet laureate for next year beginning in February. The fourth laureate will be appointed in September of 2014.

To read some of Brakso’s, Savage’s, and Longenecker’s poetry, visit http://lancasterpoetry.com. For more information on Lancaster’s Literary Guild,  its  future events, and Lancaster’s poet laureate program, visit http://www.litguild.org/.
For information about upcoming events at the Ware Center, visit http://www.millersville.edu/muarts/venues/ware-center/.

Local artist makes creative impact in Lancaster City

By DEBORAH HOSTETTER

Part of Hess’ West Africa Painting Project, completed in a record 2 ½ days.

It takes exceptional ability to view or imagine a scene and then recreate it idealistically on canvas. Liz Hess has that ability. This local artist’s distinguished gallery is located right on Lancaster City’s popular Prince Street, where any passerby can gaze through the display window at a fine selection of signature paintings. Known for the “red umbrella,” trademark, Hess’ gallery won Lancaster Newspaper’s 12^th Annual Readers Choice Award in 2012, showing how art critics and casual observers alike can appreciate the quality of her work.

Hess didn’t always live in Lancaster; she was five when her parents moved to the US from Honduras, where they had previously worked as missionaries. After settling in the USA, the young Hess went to Locust Grove Elementary School. It was during this period that her parents had her attend private art lessons. They noticed her burgeoning talents long before; in her mother’s words, “Liz could paint and draw far beyond her age even before she knew how to write her name.”

Hess’s parents also encouraged her gift by supplying her with art supplies and lessons. Her mother’s job permitted her to bring home reams of blank paper, which Hess would spread on the floor and spend hours covering with artwork. Later on, she had an inspiring high school art teacher who was able to help Hess develop her gift more extensively.

A pivotal moment occurred at age 18, when she entered two small paintings in a large annual art show held in the center of Lancaster City. Among the various other works by far more advanced participants, Hess’ paintings placed first. This experience, more than any other up to that point, showed that she had strong potential to become a career artist.

However, Hess did not jump into the world of art straight off. After getting seriously involved in a Bible study as a young adult she moved to Sweden, where she spent eight years as a missions worker. Painting some on the side, Hess spent her days mostly at the mission base completing discipleship ministry while absorbing the beautiful Swedish scenery. After settling in the US again, she decided to continue traveling to Europe every few years to continue gleaning artistic inspiration.

Once present in Lancaster, Hess started working herself into the art world by becoming an assistant to painters who owned a gallery in the city. With their help, she learned how to custom frame and assist clients and art students while picking up other tricks of the trade. After 12 years her employers retired and Hess had to decide whether she wanted to remain a part of Lancaster City’s art community or go elsewhere. She opted to stay, and opened her own gallery on Prince Street after successfully forming a partnership with another local artist.

Hess’s personal endeavors to enter the art scene fully triumphed; her work has been showcased in various locales such as the Dutch Apple Dinner Theater and Park City Mall. She has also been part of a variety of special commissions. Just to name a few,  she has presented work and run sessions at a prestigious art workshop in Mexico, painted a special African series for Eastern Mennonite Missions, painted the Emmental Valley in Switzerland as part of a commemoration of the Year of the Anabaptists, and showcased her work at the Bon-Ton in Park City Mall after being named feature artist for a local celebration of National Arts and Humanities month.

Hess encourages other beginners in hard to break into fields such as art and music to start out as she did: by taking a job, any job, in a studio or gallery and  shadowing other eminent artists and musicians. She sees this as the best way to learn the behind the scenes workings and figure out if said dreamer has what it takes to climb the highly competitive ladder and make a hit. She is also an advocate for the power of positive affirmation, recognizing the driving effect it had on her life.

Remarkably, Hess has remained humble despite her own outstanding success and notes the importance her faith in the “Master Painter” or God, has played in her endeavors. As many have seen, her paintings are in essence serene and tend to provoke a soothing and contemplative effect on the observer. Hess attributes this to her spiritual walk and experiences though she remains practical.

“My faith doesn’t always lead to inner peace,” she said, “but it means something to know you have someone taking you by the hand and that you’re never alone.” To paraphrase, many artists struggle with heavy darkness and inner turmoil which appears in some form through their artwork,  but not in Hess.’

“My work is different. What’s inside of me comes out in my paintings, which are inherently peaceful,” she stated.  Any observer would be wise to take lessons from this artiste virtuoso. Lancaster  City is indisbutably brightened by her presence.

MU Percussion Ensemble starts semester off with a bang!

By CHRIS NORTON

With a strong presence in the music program at Millersville University, the MU Percussion Ensemble has become a well-respected name among music lovers all throughout Lancaster. The tight-knit group comprises music majors and minors who have tirelessly worked for years, performing several concerts per year which cover very diverse genres in the musical spectrum. Director James Armstrong has now led the group for three years, bringing more opportunities every semester.

The MU Percussion Ensemble has performed alongside legends in the percussion world such as Tony Miceli, Gordon Stout, and John Peifer, while also taking part in the East Coast Percussion Ensemble Festival. Their talents as a whole have led some members to even pursue careers in the percussion field. Rich Klimowicz, Brian Doherty, and Matt Bracciante of the ensemble, created their own unique trio in the fall of 2011 entitled Portal Percussion, with an active presence in the community and around the region. They perform a wide range of contemporary and traditional works for all genres of percussion in several concerts each year, displaying their knowledge and talents that have been enhanced by joining the MU Percussion Ensemble. To learn more about Portal Percussion, you can visit their website at http://www.portalpercussion.com.

The MU Percussion Ensemble performs a concert onstage on April 21, 2013.

Recently, the ensemble has received more and more recognition from all over. With a continuously growing existence, the group has received invitations to such events as the first ever “Music for Everyone” Percussion Parade, taking place in downtown Lancaster on September 20^th. With such a specific area of focus, it is understandable how a small group of percussionists may struggle to make their presence known. However, the MU Percussion Ensemble valiantly pushes past the boundaries of a local group, and reaches goals beyond localities to establish themselves as professionals.

Director James Armstrong states, “Over the last several semesters, the Millersville University Percussion Ensemble has become one of the most sought after and active ensembles in the music department. The group has hosted and collaborated with several internationally recognized artists at events throughout the year. The group is also quite active within the community as part of the Music for Everyone program, and is highly active in the Percussive Arts Society.” These accomplishments have given the ensemble a very positive reputation, with a number of organizations reaching out for their talents.

Along with other ensembles on campus, the percussionists at Millersville University are trained extensively to exert their professionalism. Practice is absolutely vital to members in order to maintain their respected and admired image. Under the direction of James Armstrong, it is certain that no member would ever fall under the category of average. “After coming to Millersville University, my skills have greatly improved mostly because of Dr. Armstrong’s strict guidelines. I considered myself a decent percussionist, but I can now call myself a professional,” stated member Jason Goshert.

In the beginning, the MU Percussion Ensemble was created to allow percussionists on campus to join a group that would highlight their talents, as well as further them through social and individual practices. Today, the ensemble keeps its roots while expanding exponentially. The music program here at Millersville University has been vastly improved throughout the years, with the percussion ensemble playing an important role in that, performing in several music program concerts every year, not to exclude their individual shows. As one of the most important groups in the music program, the MU Percussion Ensemble shows no sign of slowing down, and continues to grow with more and more members every semester.