August 9, 2016 - ChaddsFordLive.com

Art Watch: Six-way creativity

Lisa Sabol fused glass art at Galer Estate Winery on Friday

Tonight, Tuesday August 9th, at 7 p.m. in West Chester, visit Church Street Gallery for a fascinating discussion with 6 artists from their current Summer Group Show at 12 South Church Street, that goes through the end of August. Artists Robert Bohne, Terry DeAngelo, Sandra Severson, John Suplee, Jessica Turgoose, and Maxine Manges will all be joining in the lively discussion about art and their passion for creating.

Each of these exhibiting artists utilize a variety of different styles and media, but each is very accomplished in their field. This is a great opportunity to hear the creative voice from different perspectives, and hopefully there will be time to ask questions and mingle a bit as well. The event is supported by Galer Estate Winery which will be providing the award-winning local wine for the event.

If you do not make this discussion event, remember to check out the show before it leaves Church Street Gallery. This group show is a wonderful opportunity to discover the new works of these fine artists, many of whom do not show often in Chester County.

This Friday, August 12, 3 to 7 p.m., fused glass artist Lisa Sabol will have a pop up art show at Galer Estate Winery at 700 Folly Hill Road in Kennett Square. Most Fridays, the winery has pop up art shows featuring the work of different local artists, which makes for an extra fun Friday at Galer Estate.

At Wilson Vineyard Gallery at 4374 Forge Road in Oxford, the gallery is full of local art including paintings by Sally Wilson, as well as jewelry by Cindy Losco. Both Wilson Vineyard and Galer Estate Winery also offer art classes every month, just check out their websites to find the exact days and times.
This weekend in Londonderry Township, the Street Road Artists Space welcomes conceptual artist and photographer Maria Moller for an exhibition entitled “24 Hour Liminal” that is a photographic portrait of the artist’s stays at the nearby Christiana Motel. The opening reception for the show is August 13th from 3 to 7 p.m. It continues through October 8th.

The curator describes the show as an exploration of “what is left behind after check-out in the intimate but transitory space of a motel room. At Street Road, a 20 minute drive from the motel, 24 Hour Liminal imprints the gallery space with these images of anonymous but repetitively-inhabited rooms, reflecting on the narrowly bordered intersections of privacy, intimacy, security, transit, and home.” Included in this exhibition will be the opportunity for visitors to try on their own solo motel experience in a recreated motel room at The Street Road Artists Space.

Street Road Artists Space is always shaking it up and exploring socially conscious interactive art forms that urge us to look at the everyday in a new way. This latest installation of a motel room, combined with images reflecting on a motel space will certainly draw more attention to this iconic American resting place.

About Lele Galer

Lele Galer is an artist who has chaired numerous art shows, taught art history and studio art, public art and has chaired, written and taught the Art in Action Art Appreciation series for the UCFD schools for the past 12 years. She worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and wrote for the Associated Press in Rome. She has been dedicated to Art History and art education for most of her adult life. Lele and her husband Brad own Galer Estate Winery in Kennett Square.

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Committee recommends delayed high school start time

School & Education

Directors of the Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board plan to vote on the creation of a new permanent Wellness Committee next week. The board agreed to put it to a vote during its Aug. 8 work session after being briefed on the recommendations of the temporary committee.

That temporary committee comprised 33 members, including Superintendent of Schools John Sanville, three current board members, several teachers, administrators and parents. Rudy Reif, the assistant principal at Unionville High School chaired the committee and briefed the board.

Reif said the recommendations include forming a standing Wellness Committee to be modeled after the Curriculum Council, which meets quarterly to discuss curriculum issues. Once formed, the committee would develop its mission, vision and goals.

Sanville said the committee would “morph into a wellness council.”

Chief among the other recommendations is that the district move to a delayed start time for high school students. Included in that recommendation would be to have an earnest investigation for a delayed start time and to have Board Vice President Jeff Hellrung and Assistant Superintendent Ken Batchelor co-chair a Delayed School Start Committee.

Several groups within Chester County School districts have been examining studies on later start times for high school students and are in favor of making that move. Hellrung has already said he favors making the change.

Board member Michael Rock said he is strongly in favor of establishing a permanent Wellness Committee, and equally in favor of the later start time.

He said he had found a study from England that measured the difference in test scores between boys and girls.

“By shifting from no morning classes to only afternoon classes almost eliminated the test gap difference,” he said.

That extreme a change has not been suggested, however. What is under consideration is having high school start an hour later.

Rock added that he would like to see the committee include something on diversity.

“I know our district is not very diverse, but the world in which our kids are going to go out to at the college and university level, at the employment level is increasingly diverse,” Rock said. “I wonder if we should do something with our students to prepare them to cope with that increasingly diverse world.”

He noted that one of the recommendations said the district should reach out to churches, but Rock said that should also include synagogues, mosques and Quaker meetinghouses.

“We need to broaden our perspective on this. I would really like to see us do something around wellness on diversity.” He said.

Board member Elise Anderson, a member of the Wellness Committee, said the recommendations of the committee can “elevate the level of success we foster in the children in the district.”

Reif said there are a number of other recommendations from the committee. A full list from his presentation may be found on the district’s website here.

Among those other recommendations are promoting grit and resilience, emotional intelligence, unlocking individual potential and creating an atmosphere “where our kids feel safe — where they can trust.”

Other recommendations include parent and professional development.

Sanville added that as part of a speaker series for parents, the district is having a community read on “How to Raise an Adult,” by author Julie Lythcott-Haims. The author is a former dean at Stanford University.

Sanville said she’d be at Unionville High School on Feb. 23. She’ll talk to students during the day and have a presentation for parents that evening.

The board’s next regular meeting will be Monday, Aug. 15 in the district office.

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.

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Pop-up gala joins fight to save orchard

Local News

BIW_214036586495835436_n — Brandywine in White, an elegant pop-up dinner event on Saturday, Aug. 27, will raise funds to help preserve Barnard's, a beloved orchard in Newlin Township.

As the area’s open space continues to shrink and conservancies fight an uphill battle, a Pennsbury Township resident is offering an assist.

The preservation of Barnard's Orchard will benefit from Brandywine in White on Saturday, Aug. 27. — The preservation of Barnard’s Orchard in Newlin Township will benefit from Brandywine in White on Saturday, Aug. 27.

Vince Moro said he has been distressed by recent headlines showing that development is continuing to swallow up open space in the area. For example, Toll Brothers not only plans to put 91 homes on the 86-acre Tigue tract off Route 52 in East Bradford Township, but it also envisions more than 300 on the Crebilly property at Routes 202 and 926 in Westtown Township.

So when Moro heard that The Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County was working with the Barnard family to place an agricultural conservation easement on its beloved orchard in Newlin Township, the project seemed like a perfect match for Brandywine in White, an elegant, pop-up gala that raises funds for area nonprofits and will be held on Saturday, Aug. 27.

Gwen Lacy, TLC’s executive director, said the conservancy needs to raise the remaining $27,000 of the project’s $901,000 cost before the fall to qualify for matching grants. She said if the conservancy reaches its goal, Barnard’s Orchard and “its 74 beautiful and productive acres” would be saved permanently from development.

Gwen Lacey, executive director of The Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County, says she has received extensive feedback from area residents about the importance of preserving Barnard's Orchard. — Gwen Lacey, executive director of The Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County, says she has received extensive feedback from area residents about the importance of preserving Barnard’s Orchard.

Lacy said the conservancy has received numerous calls and messages from area residents about their fond memories of the orchard, from picking apples and pumpkins to visiting on school tours.

“It restores our faith to see the impact this fourth-generation, family-owned orchard, circa 1862, has had on the community, and we are so grateful to work with the family to ensure that it remains in active agriculture for generation to come,” Lacy said. “Barnard’s Orchards humbly represents the stalwart agricultural spirit of this area, and we are privileged to play a part in conserving it.

Moro, who’s organizing the Brandywine in White fundraiser with his girlfriend Elizabeth Roche, said he hoped a great turnout for would help close the funding gap. “We’re really excited to do this,” he said, crediting Roche with the idea to make the orchard project the event’s beneficiary.

He said the Brandywine in White concept received its inspiration from French En Blanc dinners, which involve a gourmet meal in elegant surroundings with a like-minded crowd interested in benefiting nonprofits. He said tried to attend a Philadelphia version of the event – Diner en Blanc – several years ago, and it was sold out.

With encouragement from friends, Moro decided to create his own. And once the format was perfected, it spawned sister events, such as Brandywine in Black and Rehoboth in White.

For Brandywine in White, guests dress in white, pack elaborate picnic hampers and table settings – including anything needed to create chic white ambiance – and head to a mystery location that is disclosed a few days before the event. Tables and chairs are provided.

Guests enjoy the 2015 Brandywine in White event.

The only destination hint that Moro provides is that the venue won’t necessitate a long drive. Previous locations have included Chadds Peak Farm in Pennsbury Township and Rockford Park in Wilmington.

Past events have supported Friends of Wilmington Parks with a $2,000 donation and the Brandywine River Museum of Art’s Young Friends of the Brandywine program, which received a $4,000 check.

Brandywine in White, which will boast an apple theme this year, will take place rain or shine on Saturday, Aug. 27, from 5:30 to 10 p.m. The location will be disclosed by email to ticket-holders at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 25, about 48 hours before the event begins.

Guests can make arrangements to be seated at a community table or plan a table for two, four, six, or eight friends, family or co-workers, Moro said. The evening will include music, dancing, and a prize for the best decorated table.

Tickets are $30 per person, with discounts for tables of eight. For ticket information, click here.

A prize is given to the best decorated table at Brandywine in White, a pop-up gala that benefits area nonprofits.

Moro said guests could also make a monetary contribution to TLC; however, because Brandywine in White is a community group that supports nonprofits, it cannot accept donations. He said postage-paid envelopes would be provided so that guests could mail checks designated for support of the orchard project to TLC. A limited number of sponsorship opportunities are also available with great benefits for a business, Moro said. To learn more, email info@brandywineinwhite.org.

In an effort to raise more funds as well as enhance the festive atmosphere of the event, Roche said Chinese lanterns would be sold for $20 each and floating candles for $10. “Yes, the venue will have some sort of water feature,” said Moro.

To learn more about The Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County, visit http://tlcforscc.org. More information about Brandywine in White, including suggestions for attire and food, can be found at https://www.facebook.com/BrandywineinWhite/?fref=nf.

About CFLive Staff

See Contributors Page https://chaddsfordlive.com/writers/

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Public hearing scheduled on pipeline project

Local News

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will hold a public hearing on Sunoco Logistics’ Mariner East II pipeline project on Wednesday, Aug. 10, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Sykes Student Union building at West Chester University.

“Many of my constituents and residents throughout Chester County have real and valid concerns about this project and its impact on their homes, property values, health, safety, environment, and quality of life,” said state Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19, in a press release. “More and more pipelines are being slated for our area and it’s important that we make our voices heard and receive transparent and complete answers when it comes to questions about to where and how they are situated. After all, that’s the purpose of the public hearing process.”

Sunoco recently upgraded its existing Mariner East I pipeline to transport natural gas liquids from Ohio and the Pittsburgh area to its Marcus Hook Facility in Delaware County. Most of the Mariner East II project, also known as the Pennsylvania Pipeline Project, is proposed to follow the same corridor as Mariner East I and will traverse 17 counties in the southern tier of Pennsylvania, the release said.

In Chester County, the proposed pipeline will impact West Nantmeal, Wallace, Upper Uwchlan, West Whiteland, West Goshen, East Goshen, Westtown, and Thornbury townships.

Because these pipelines will convey liquefied natural gas, they are regulated by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), which falls under the U.S. Department of Transportation. This project requires multiple permits from DEP, including permits for earth disturbances of five acres or more (Chapter 102), and permits for proposed activities located in, along, across or projecting into a watercourse, floodway or body of water, including wetlands (Chapter 105).

During the hearing, each speaker will have the opportunity to present up to three minutes of verbal testimony. To ensure that all speakers have a fair and equal opportunity to present their testimony, relinquishing of time to other speakers will be prohibited, and groups are asked to designate one speaker. All presenters should bring at least one copy of their comments and exhibits for submission to DEP, according to the release.

Comments submitted electronically and at the upcoming hearings should focus on the relevant permits, not the overall pipeline. Permit information for the Chester and Delaware County region can be found here. Questions and official public comments may be submitted to RA-EPWW-SERO@pa.gov.

Those wishing to offer testimony at the hearing can pre-register by calling or emailing: Virginia Cain, community relations coordinator at 484-250-5808 or by email at vicain@pa.gov. The department will also accept written testimony by email or by sending comments to: RA-EPWW-SERO@pa.gov or mailing to Domenic Rocco, Program Manager, Waterways and Wetlands, 2 E. Main St., Norristown, 19401. Written comments will be accepted until Aug. 24.

The Sykes Student Union is located at 110 W. Rosedale Avenue in West Chester. For more information contact Dinniman’s office at 610-692-2112, or e-mail acirucci@pasenate.com.

About Press Release

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Residential road closures

Local News, Local News Chadds Ford, Local News Kennett, Local News Pennsbury

Cossart Road in Pennsbury Township will be closed to through traffic this week, from Tuesday, Aug. 9 through Thursday, Aug. 11 between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., for replacement of storm pipe. for replacement of storm pipe. Residents will still be able to get in and out, according to Township manager Kathy Howley.

Also closed is Bullock Road in Chadds Ford Township. A section of that road is being repaved as part of the township’s road program. When Bullock could be re-open to through traffic any the end of the week.