TUNKHANNOCK — Kitson Arts Alliance and the Dietrich Theater in Tunkhannock invite the community to come and celebrate Northeastern Pennsylvania’s unique history captured in a special exhibit and reception from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 25 at the Dietrich Theater.
Photos of our railroad history by Oren B. Helbok, paintings by Sue Hand from her Coal Breaker Communities, Faded Memories Series, and digital images of trains by former Steamtown Historic Site photographer Kenny Ganz fill the three galleries of the Dietrich Theater. Jay Smar and the music that tells the stories of NEPA coal miners will fill the Dietrich’s Evans Theater. All are invited to this free exhibit and reception and concert.
Born in the Bronx in 1965, photographer Oren B. Helbok missed the age of steam on our nation’s railroads, but that does not stop him from trying to relive it where and when possible. Although he ran away from a steam locomotive the first time he saw one at age 2, he quickly reversed course, and since 1972 he has photographed and ridden steam trains from coast to coast.
Artist Sue Hand is inspired by another aspect of NEPA history. The anthracite coal of Northeastern Pennsylvania was the fuel that fired America’s Industrial Revolution. Coal breakers were the coal processing plants for anthracite for crushing, sorting, sizing, and weighing coal for market. Some breakers were built when coal was discovered near an already settled town such as Plymouth or Nanticoke. Other breakers were built in a wide open space where coal had been discovered and a settlement, like Wanamie, grew up around the breaker. “
Onscreen in the Sherwood Gallery are the digital images of photographer Kenny Ganz. Although Scranton native Ganz grew up in Miami Beach Florida, he returned to the NEPA in 1986 to work for the National Park Service at Steamtown National Historic Site to photographically document the development of the park. He served as an interpretative Ranger, park photographer and volunteer coordinator until retirement in December 2017. During his tenure at Steamtown National Historic Site, he designed and implemented several interpretive exhibits in the museum complex. Kenny’s lifelong interest in transportation especially railroads, has afforded him the opportunity to document the changing railroad scene for the past forty years. Aside from teaching photography at Miami-Dade College, Kenny previously was a photographer for The Dade County Aviation Department in Miami Florida. He has served on the board of directors of the Anthracite Heritage Museum and Temple Hesed in Scranton.
The Trains and Breakers exhibit will be on display through Sept. 28 at the Dietrich. It can be viewed during scheduled movie times or by appointment. For information about the exhibit, call the Dietrich Theater at 570-996-1500.
