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s e r v I n g tay l or , ol D f or g e , moosIc & surrounDIng areas trIborobanner.com | september 21, 2017
An area fire company received a grant to install some fences |PagE 2
Making art Out Of COal Art teacher’s exhibit looks at region’s history
By Josh McAuliffe
refreshments and live entertainment by the Coal Town Rounders. special to The Triboro Banner For more information on the exhibit, visit Yanashot’s website, sculptureyaDenis A. Yanashot grew up hearing many a tale about the region’s coal mining nashot.net, or his Facebook page, facebook.com/Yanashotsculpture. past. A north Scranton native, Yanashot was That legacy served as the primary inspiration for the Riverside Junior-Senior well steeped in mining lore from an early age, whether he was listening to anecdotes High School art teacher’s new exhibition, from family members or playing with his “Anthra-Sight: A Sculptural Narrative of friends on the remains of the old Marvine the Anthracite Industry of Northeastern Colliery. Pennsylvania.” The subject never left him as Currently on display at the he grew up and evolved as an University of Scranton’s Hope artist, eventually shifting his Horn Gallery, the exhibit feafocus from airbrush painting to tures 26 mixed-media sculptures sculpture, both stone and mixed through which Yanashot aims media. to create an aesthetic history of “Every time I went by those NEPA’s coal industry. Yanashot (mining) areas, I thought, ‘There created the sculptures using has to be something artistic I can anthracite coal silt, burnt culm Artist Denis A. do with this,’” said Yanashot, now ash, metal, industrial tools and Yanashot a resident of Scranton’s Green other relics. Ridge section. The exhibit will remain on He started the project in 2015 and display until Friday, Oct. 6, when a closcontinued working on it through most of ing reception will be held in conjunction last year. Along the way, he did extensive with that month’s First Friday art walk in downtown Scranton. The event will feature historical research on anthracite mining in NEPA. “I never did that many pieces in one year,” he said of the sculptures, which were all created in his 30-by-35-foot home studio, aka his “little sanctuary.”
One piece led to another. The show’s biggest sculpture, “December 9, 1914,” depicts an elevator malfunction at the old Diamond Mine in Scranton that claimed the lives of 13 miners. Another piece, titled “Nip Goin’ Home,” shows a dead miner’s corpse on a cart headed to the man’s home. For “Marvine Sunset,” one of the show’s most colorful pieces, Yanashot used the red, orange, lavender and yellow oxide hues from burnt culm ash to achieve a mosaic effect. The culm ash, “The Coal Baron” along with some metal used in the sculpture, came directly from the Marvine site. “I sort of look at it from the perspective of, I’m taking something that already had life and reincarnating it as art. You can make it useful for an art medium,” he said. Beyond its artistic merits, Yanashot hopes the exhibit gives people a better appreciation for the sacrifices the miners made – and the monumental impact they had not only on this region, but on the na-
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The local Cub Scout pack paid a visit to an area school |PagE 9 tion as a whole. “Because they were the reason most communities of Northeastern Pennsylvania came into existence and prospered; but also because deep-mined anthracite coal fueled the Industrial Revolution of America,” he said. “I think it’s important to carry on the history of this industry. Miners who worked in the mines, they were the heart of it all. They deserve some kind of credit.” If you go What: “AnthraSight: A Sculptural Narrative of the Anthracite Industry of northeastern Pennsylvania,” featuring sculptures by Denis
A. Yanashot. Where: Hope Horn Gallery, located inside the University of Scranton’s Hyland Hall, downtown Scranton When: On display through Friday, Oct. 6 Details: For gallery hours of operation, call 570-941-4214. For more on the exhibit, visit Yanashot’s website, sculptureyanashot.net, or his Facebook page, facebook.com/Yanashotsculpture. 1313 Wyoming Ave., Exeter
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