Shorts

The Johnstown Area Heritage Association will host “Johnstown FolkFest ’95” from Friday through Sunday, September 1-3 [1995], in the community’s historic district of Cambria City. The Labor Day weekend event will fea­ture ethnic entertainment, tours of historic buildings, and cultural crafts. For more information, write: Johnstown Area Heritage Association, P. O. Box 1889, Johnstown, PA 15907; or telephone (814) 539-1889 or toll free (800) 237-8590.

On Wednesday, August 16 [1995], Gerhard Salomon will give a talk entitled “History of the Lehigh Valley Transit” as part of the noontime “brown bag” programs series sponsored by the Lehigh County Historical Society. The program will be held in the Old Courthouse, administered by the society. Additional details may be obtained by writing: Lehigh County Historical Society, Old Courthouse, Lehigh County Museum, Hamilton and Fifth Sts., Allentown, PA 18101; or by telephoning (610) 435-4664. Admission is free.

Continuing through Monday, September 4 [1995], at the Brandywine River Museum is an exciting selection of unexpected works by Newell Convers Wyeth, patriarch of one of Pennsylvania’s most famous family of painters. “N. C. Wyeth: Experiment and Invention, 1925-1935,” features two dozen paintings by the twentieth century American master, many of which have not been publicly exhibited since 1935. Renowned as an illustrator, N. C. Wyeth is little known for his masterful non-illustrative works. The works showcased in this exhibition reveal Wyeth’s experimentation with a wide variety of styles and subject matter in reaction to constraints imposed on il­lustrators of his day. To obtain additional information, write: Brandywine River Museum, P. O. Box 141, Chadds Ford, PA 19317; or telephone (610) 388-2700. Admission is charged.

“Woven Memories: Coverlets at the Baldwin-Reynolds House” will be on view at the Crawford County historic house museum from Tuesday, August 8 [1995], through Sunday, August 27 [1995]. Organized by the Crawford County Historical Society, which administers the 1843 mansion, “Woven Memories” will showcase coverlets and hand-woven blankets made between 1810 and 1900. Examples have been selected from the collections of the Baldwin-Reynolds House Museum, as well as lent by private collectors. For more information, write: Baldwin-Reynolds House Museum, Crawford County Historical Society, 848 North Main St., Meadville, PA 16335; or telephone (814) 724-6080. Admission is charged.

On view at the North Museum of Natural History and Science, located on the campus of Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, is an exhibition en­titled “River Views of Lancaster County.” A pictorial essay – both past and present – of the county’s waterways, the exhibit is accompanied by essays and drawings by children on how rivers were and are being used. For more details, write: North Museum of Natural History and Science, Franklin and Marshall College, College and Buchanan Aves., Lancaster, PA 17604-3003; or telephone (717) 291-4159. Admission is free, but donations are welcome.

A comprehensive exhibition of paintings created during the 1920s by Guy Pene du Bois (1884-1958) will open at the Westmoreland Museum of Art on Sunday, September 3 [1995]. A student of William Merritt Chase and Robert Henri, the artist was a profound observer of society; his paintings of the urbane “Smart Set” of the period are simultaneously sympathetic and critical, and provide rare insights into the Roaring Twenties. “Guy Pene du Bois: The Twenties at Home and Abroad” will continue through Sunday, October 29 [1995]. For more information, write: Westmoreland Museum of Art, 221 North Main St., Greensburg, PA 15601; or telephone (412) 834-6770. There is no charge for admission.

Longwood Gardens is staging its spectacular Festival of Fountains daily through Saturday, September 30 [1995]. In add­ition to its popular main fountain garden – which shoots water as high as one hundred and fifty feet during full play – Longwood Gardens features an Italian Water Garden, which boasts eigh­teen tiled pools, carved limestone statuary, and hundreds of fountainheads which spray water continually. In fact, more than seventeen hundred fountains are located on the grounds. Fifty special performances will be conducted throughout the summer months. For a complete schedule of events, write: Longwood Gardens, P. O. Box 501, Kennett Square, PA 19348-0501; or tele­phone (610) 388-1000. Admission is charged.

Establishment Day will be celebrated on Sunday, August 6 [1995], by Hopewell Furnace with a dozen craftspeople who will demonstrate early nineteenth century occupations and traditional crafts. Administered by the National Park Service, Hopewell Furnace will also conduct its annual charcoal-burning demonstration. For additional details, write: Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, 2 Mark Bird Ln., Elverson, PA 19520; or telephone (610) 582-8773. Admission is charged.

From Saturday, July 15 [1995], through Sunday, July 23 [1995], the Westmoreland County Historical Society will offer its ninth annual Heritage Quilt Show at the historic Klingensmith House at Old Hanna’s Town. This year’s show will include forty examples. Old Hanna’s Town, operated by the historical society, is located three miles north of Greensburg. Additional information is available by writing: Westmoreland County Historical Society, 951 Old Salem Rd., Greensburg, PA 15601; or by telephoning (412) 836-1800.

“Healing the Body and the Mind: The African American Sports Tradition in Philadelphia” will remain on view at the Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum through December 30 [1995]. A comprehensive and extensive historical exhibition, “Healing the Body and the Mind” examines and highlights the role of sports in American society by focusing on Philadelphia’s African American communities from 1890 to 1970. For more information, write: Afro-American Historical and Cultural Museum, 701 Arch St., Philadelphia, PA 19106; or telephone (215) 574-0380. There is a fee for admission.

Opening Sunday, July 1 [1995], at the Erie Art Museum is an exhibition entitled “Ornithology,” which consists of an elaborate wooden framework structure incorporating a number of audio speakers and several video monitors triggered by viewer interaction. The theme of the exhibit is devoted to the extinction of many species of birds as a result of human incursions into avian habitats. The exhibit features artist Michael Pestel’s mixed media installation, organized by Carnegie Mellon University’s Hewlett Gallery, also titled “Ornithology.” The exhibition will run through Sunday, September 3. For more information, write: Erie Art Museum, 411 State St., Erie, PA 16501; or telephone (814) 459-5477. There is a charge for admission.

On Saturday, September 2 [1995], the 1803 House in Emmaus will host its sixteenth annual Memory Day and Crafts Fair. Craftspersons will demonstrate traditional skills throughout the day at the restored Georgian-style stone farmhouse. For more information, write: 1803 House, 55 South Keystone Ave., Emmaus, PA 18049; or telephone (610) 967-8911. Admission is charged, but donations are welcome.

A child of two former slaves, Coatesville resident Ida Ella Jones (1874- 1959), who took only three art lessons, began painting at the age of seventy-two. A self-taught African American artist whose drawings and paintings reveal a spirited and passionate relationship to her daily life, Jones painted the world she knew – the family homestead and farm, brilliant flowers in her garden, the people she admired, her son’s truck­ – with directness and delicacy. “To Everything a Season: The Life and Art of Ida Ella Jones,” on view at the Chester County Historical Society in West Chester through Saturday, September 2 [1995], features more than forty paintings and drawings, historical photographs, letters, and manuscripts that explore the integral relationship between art and community and family life so vividly captured in her work. To obtain more information, write: Chester County Historical Society, 225 North High St., West Chester, PA 19380-2691; or telephone (610) 692-4800. Admission is charged.

On Sunday, July 16 [1995], Whiskey Rebellion Day will be hosted by the Oliver Miller Homestead, located in Allegheny County’s South Park. Three sons of Oliver Miller became involved in the insurrection when General John Neville guided United States Marshall David Lenox to the home of William Miller on July 15, 1794, to fine him for not registering his still with the federal government. Whiskey Rebellion Day will explore the events that led up to the insurrection, which prompted President George Washington to order a force of twelve thousand soldiers to quell the disturbance. For more information, write: Oliver Miller Homestead, 4830 Glen Allen Dr., Pittsburgh, PA 15236-2037; or telephone (412) 835-1554 or 885-4429. Admission is not charged, but donations are accepted.

Nearly eighty exhibitors will take part in the Country Fair at Crook Farm, Seaward Avenue, Bradford, McKean County, on Saturday and Sunday, August 26-27 [1995]. Participants will demonstrate traditional crafts and skills, including spinning, weaving, quilting, caning, and blacksmithing. Crook Farm is operated by the Bradford Landmark Society, established in 1969. To obtain more details, write: Bradford Landmark Society, 45 East Corydon St., Bradford, PA 16701; or telephone (814) 362-3906. Admission will be charged.

An exhibition entitled “Prisons in the Civil War,” opening on Thursday, July 6 [1995], at the Civil War Library and Museum in Philadelphia, will continue through Sunday, December 31 [1995]. Additional information is available by writing: Civil War Library and Museum, 1805 Pine St., Philadelphia, PA 19103; or by telephoning (215) 735-8196. There is a charge for admission.

“Art of the State: Pennsylvania ’95,” a popular juried exhibition of paintings, works on paper, photography, sculpture, and crafts created by Pennsylvania artists, will remain on view at The State Museum of Pennsylvania through Sunday, July 30 [1995]. For more information, write: The State Museum of Pennsylvania, P. O. Box 1026, Harrisburg, PA 17108-1026; or telephone (717) 787-4979. Admission is free.