Former resident shows her works in Hershey
HERSHEY — "Art + Inspiration," a juried community art exhibit at a new museum in Hershey, features two works by Marcie Otterson, a former Butler resident and Butler Eagle employee. Otterson now lives in Enola.
"Art + Inspiration" is the inaugural exhibit continuing through Nov. 8 at the The Hershey Story, The Museum on Chocolate Avenue.
Works submitted for the museum's first exhibit each tell a story about the artists' personal inspiration.
As an employee in the gift shop and admissions at The Hershey Gardens, Otterson said she was inspired by "watching the visitors enjoy the beauty of the Hershey Gardens."
"I see people coming in and out all the time and it's kind of that childlike wonder thing, sometimes a little mischievous too," she said.
Her two pieces in the show are titled "The Tulip Picker" and "Hold Still."
"It's so beautiful here. We had a wonderful bed of pink tulips so that's where I saw children and adults with the flowers."
The child in "The Tulip Picker" was a figment of Otterson's imagination, she said, but in the "Hold Still" drawing, the subject was modeled after a friend's grandchild.
Otterson said she usually draws from a photograph, "then I can alter what I have to," she said.
For example, the little girl holding the butterfly was actually holding a cup.
The exhibit features 44 works from 21 artists and includes paintings, sculpture, photography and jewelry.
The Hershey Story, The Museum on Chocolate Avenue, is a new museum that guides visitors on an inspirational journey through Milton S. Hershey's lifetime and beyond. The Hershey Story is open daily year-round.
The Hershey Story is a nonprofit operating division of The M.S. Hershey Foundation and is funded in part with general operating support grants from the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission.
Admission is free. Visit the Web site www.HersheyStory.org for more information.
