York’s Arts District all lit up: Surely this is York County, Pa., at its best
Ah, all kinds of activity recently in York, Pa.’s, growing Arts District, as York Daily Record photographer Kate Penn shows here. The thing that brought out the numbers most recently was YorkArts’ Le petite Monster Drawing Rally. There, artists created work from a scratch start in 25 minutes as part of the public phase of YorkArts’ $1.3 million capital campaign. Surely, this is York County, Pa., at its best. (Below, see the time-lapse video of noted artist and furniture designer Peter Danko creating his art.) Also of interest: The art and soul of York County from the air.
As YorkTownSquare readers know, we closely follow York County’s arts community.
Our great artists – Lewis Miller, William Wagner, Stephen Etnier – have done much in documenting York County life and telling the county’s story in their day. Some in the present-day art community are doing the same, so it’s important to watch their work.
And YorkTownSquare also writes about nationally or regionally prominent artisans and personalities.
Peter Danko was one of the Monster Drawing Rally participants in that category.
York artist Peter Danko created a painting in 25 minutes, condensed to 28 seconds in this time-lapse video. YorkArts described its 25th-anniversary event this way: “In our mini (le petit) version, 25 artists will work simultaneously during two 25 minute shifts, creating art pieces that can be purchased for $25 each.”
We haven’t written about Peter Danko, so we’ll tell a bit about his work.
In a 2012 description of Danko’s work, YorkArts gave this summary:
“A true York County treasure, Peter Danko is an artist, designer, & inventor specializing in environmentally-friendly products. His works are in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Cooper-Hewitt Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.”
Peter Danko’s website focuses on his work in green design.
Here’s a description:
His designs, lectures, and writing center on making the transition to living in harmony with nature. He believes the materials that best tell this story are those that can be seen by the casual eye to be green. His personal challenge is to make beautiful objects with materials that Obviously Manifest Green (OMG). He believes it is the job of architects and designers to incorporate OMG materials that tell the story of a comfortable future. A future that has beauty, romance, and fun. Only the design community can move people from the status quo to choose that which makes a more environmentally balanced world.
Furniture, for example, as art?
Check out Peter Danko’s website, and you’ll see how that can be done.
Peter Danko sketches a neighboring arts at YorkArts. See a YDR photo gallery, includes photos in this post, of the artists at work.
Also of interest:
Check out these stories and photos and art pieces in YorkTownSquare.com’s archives. These stories connect, in full or in part, with York County artists.