More than a few locals would not find Coatesville beautiful enough to inspire art - but someone did. There's an exhibition at a University of Pennsylvania gallery of artist John Moore. For everyone who can't afford to come up and see me, see the selections:
http://www.design.upenn.edu/people/moore_john
I discovered this in Sunday's Philly Inquirer. (you can google that too) The painting "A Fine Fall Day" has the most interest to me because the right-hand street is ours, and our house is lost in the forest of roofs at the top right before the 'field'.
The art reviewer in the Inquirer must have never been to Coatesville. What he calls 'fields' are cemeteries! My inlaws are buried in the foreground cemetery, and Bob's Grandpa Frantz (and a few old neighbors) are buried on the opposite hill. They have excellent views, far from the steel mills which used to control life in this town.
The large building at the left is the S. Horace Scott Middle School (was the high school when Bob graduated). The colorful building at center houses public health clinics on the 1st and 4th floors, and senior citizen apartments on the 2nd and 3rd floors; each function has separate entrances and elevators. It wasn't there when we moved in two and a third years ago.
PS. The exhibit is entitled "Thirteen Miles from Paradise". Coatesville is, literally; Paradise is a farm community in Lancaster County, 13 miles west on US 30. Plus, working in a steel mill sure isn't 'paradise'. Coatesville has the distinction of being the only city incorporated in Chester County. The other 'cities' in this county , including the county seat of West Chester, are called boroughs.
How fascinating to see art that you recognize so thoroughly. I suppose the closest experience to that I have had is watching a movie set in LA that had a montage of "real" LA residents during the opening credits. Since the movie was dealing with swing dancing sub-culture, I actually recognized several of the people in the montage. It was rather bizarre, and cool! Funny that you should be 13 miles from Paradise... I think we're much further. :D
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