Gallery Reception Held as LLB-Themed Art Exhibit Heads for Home

A "meet the artist" reception was held Monday for a colorful campus exhibit that celebrates popular culture and this year's 75th anniversary of Little League Baseball. "Collective Pop," featuring the work of Charles Fazzino and Lycoming County school students, continues in The Gallery at Penn College through Sunday. Hours for the gallery, on the third floor of Madigan Library, are 1-4 p.m. Sundays, 2-7 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays (closed Saturdays and Mondays).

– Photos by Cindy Davis Meixel, writer/photo editor, and Dalaney T. Vartenisian, student photographer

A high-flying creation by fifth-graders at Donald E. Schick Elementary School in Loyalsock Township wishes Little League a happy 75th birthday.

Logan Rakestraw stands next to the piece he created last year with fellow fifth-graders at Ward L. Myers Elementary School in Muncy. Rakestraw's image can be seen in the artwork in the far right (green shirt next to the baseball) of the first row.

Gallery visitors enjoy discovering the intricacies of Fazzino's "Pop Culture" creations.

Keener and Gilmour converse with an aspiring young artist.

On hand for the reception was a winning team of community leaders including, from left, Jennifer D. Wilson, president and CEO of the First Community Foundation Partnership of Pennsylvania; Stephen D. Keener, Little League president and CEO; and Davie Jane Gilmour, Penn College president and chairman of the Little League International Board of Directors.

Wilson welcomes reception attendees near a striking stack of student-decorated baseball bats.

Jackie Thomas, a retired art teacher, FCFPA volunteer and a judge for the "Little League in the Community" art submissions, offers insights to the reception crowd.

The artist shares his enthusiasm for works created by area young people.

Individual awardees honored at the reception with Fazzino originals are, from left: Kelsey Roberts, 15, from Montgomery Area School District, second prize; and first-prize winners Melissa Rosenberger, age 18, Montgomery Area School District and Schai Bilger, age 17, Williamsport Area School District. The contest's grand-prize winner, 17-year-old Oliver Tsai, South Williamsport Area School District, was unable to attend the reception. His work is seen at far left.

Fazzino admires the sparkling artistry of the exhibit's title wall along with Lenore G. Penfield, right, executive director of the gallery (and director of facilities utilization and college events), and Penny Griffin Lutz, gallery manager, and her daughter, Cecilia, foreground. The title wall was created by gallery attendant Anthony P. Levan ('14, graphic design).

Not all works in "Collective Pop" are focused on baseball. The pieces span the range of pop culture, including this ode to the magic of Manhattan.

Decorated baseballs in glass cases are among the exhibit's delights.