05/16/2018
The National Soaring Museum is currently exhibiting works of C. Frederick Lawrenson. Fred grew up in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, a small town in the northeast corner of the state. He attended Mansfield State College from 1967 to 1971 majoring in art education. Fred has spent much of his life teaching art, coaching basketball and painting in northern Tioga County, a rural area in the mountains of north central Pennsylvania.
“A Question of Balance”
“Evening Watch”
His paintings have placed in several regional juried exhibits including 3 popular vote awards. In addition, two of his paintings were selected for publication on full color calendars distributed throughout northern Pennsylvania in the late 1980’s. In 2003 Fred was juried into the World Nature Artist Group AKA Artists for Conservation and he is also a juried Pennsylvania Wilds artisan. His painting “Origins” was selected to the Paint America top 100 for 2007 and was on a national tour with the other selections throughout 2008. He again made the Paint America top 100 in 2010 with his painting “Tanglewood Touchdown” which was on tour throughout 2011. Since then, he has written and illustrated 2 children’s books. “Shalock and The Cloud of Bad dreams” (2010) and “In Search of the Great Wild Kawkins” (2012). Both books were national finalists in the USA Best Books competition, for children’s soft cover fiction picture books, sponsored by USA Book News. In 2016 Fred published a coffee table book featuring 56 of his paintings with the stories behind them plus some drawings and preliminary sketches titled “All the Difference”. Samples of his work and books may also be viewed at www.asaphwaterseditions.com. His originals are acrylic on masonite sealed with gesso. Some of Fred’s books will be available for purchase at the National Soaring Museum gift shop during his exhibit.
Admission to the nature art exhibit is included in the regular museum admission of $7.50 for adults, $6.50 for seniors and $4.50 for children ages 7-18. Children ages 6 and under are admitted free. The museum, which is located at 51 Soaring Hill Dr., Harris Hill, Elmira, NY, is open every day of the week from 10-5.
Located atop Harris Hill in Elmira, the soaring museum is open year ‘round. Here you can explore the history of soaring where soaring in America began, with one of the largest collections of historical and vintage gliders and sailplanes in the world.
In addition to the museum, there is a large playground, amusement park, swimming pool and picnic area on the Harris Hill campus, including the Harris Hill Soaring Corporation Flight Center, where visitors can purchase a 20-minute sailplane flight over the Chemung Valley. Flights are available during the spring, summer and fall, weather permitting.
The museum itself houses not only a significant collection of sailplanes, but also presents a vast array of soaring trophies, memorabilia, photography and special exhibits. A trip through the National Soaring Museum tells the entire history of early soaring in America.
For more information, visit the museum website at www.soaringmuseum.org.
