The "Pop Art Visits Landis Run Intermediate School In Lancaster, Pennsylvania" Story

Mr. Jim Dine, leader in the "Pop Art" movement.

It was an ordinary day.  Waiting in the hall at the Landis Run Intermed- iate School for classes to change so I can visit the art room and take candids for their school yearbook.  The building was constructed five years ago and still carries a very modern look which features wide hallways, stone benches in the hallways and many showcases and bulletin boards to display student artwork and writings.  Colorful artwork hanging on the walls near the art room drew my attention so I grabbed my camera and began to take a few photos of the exhibit.  

A sample of Dine's artwork which influenced
the students at Landis Run Intermediate School.

Next to the art display was a photo and biography telling about an artist who was the inspiration for the art display.  Story about Jim Dine whose artwork was considered part of the birth of American "Pop Art."  He and other artists such as Robert Dowd, Edward Rischa and Andy Warhol began an art movement in a time of social unrest which shocked America and the art world.  The Pop Art movement fundamentally altered the nature of modern art.  Jim was born in 1935 in Cincinnati, Ohio.  He studied at the University of  Cincinnati and the Boston School of Fine and Applied Arts.  He received his Fine Arts degree from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio and moved to New York two years later.  

Student artwork from Landis Run.

Dine is known for incorpora- ting images of everyday objects in his art such as hands, tools, brushes, etc.  From the early 1970s his oil paintings, prints and drawings became increasingly figurative.  He said he grew up with tools and came from a family of people who sold tools and he was always enchanted by these objects made by anonymous hands.  

Another sample of artwork feature "Pop Art."

The artwork hanging in the display near the art room carry the inspiration of Mr. Dine.  A great way to teach art and make it more meaningful for the 5th and 6th grade students in the art classes at Landis Run.  A few years ago the school district cut back instruction time for the arts, but have recently returned some of that time at the encouragement of the parents in the district.  The artwork I have included with this story shows Dine's influence on the artistic thinking of the young children of the Intermediate School.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary day.