West Scranton High School hosts immersive art show with live music on March 31
From a press release:
As things open up again after two long years, the arts are growing and thriving with students at West Scranton High School.
Under the direction of art educator Ryan Hnat, students from his photography classes have created immersive art installations that patrons can walk through and interact with. These “Instagramable” and engaging photography spaces will be accompanied by live music from West Side students inside the auditorium under the direction of Robert Lozada and Bridget Yerke.
This special exhibition at WSHS (1201 Luzerne St., Scranton) will be open to the public for one night only on Thursday, March 31 from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Parents, friends, and the community at large are invited to come and explore the art show. Parking can be found in the rear of the school, and the entrance to the auditorium can be found in the back as well.
As visitors enter the space, they will hear music while traversing a set of stairs into another dimension of lights, shapes, and sounds that provide an escape from reality. Hnat hopes the presentation will inspire more creative installations.
“The inspiration for this exhibition has come from the art group Meow Wolf based out of Santa Fe, New Mexico,” he said. “Be ready to be surprised and wowed!”
This event is free to the public and has been made possible by Northeast Art Project, which is responsible for many public murals and special projects throughout the city of Scranton and Northeastern Pennsylvania.
The culmination of years of creativity, NEAP supports a team of artists that work in all types of media. Founder, artist, and art teacher Ryan Hnat started Hnat Designs, a paint contracting and design business, in 2011 while he was finishing a master of fine arts degree at Marywood University. While attending Marywood, he met his wife, Amy Hnat, who was completing her masters in interior architecture. Together, their projects expanded into a series of art exhibitions in downtown Scranton, with the Independent Artists Collective transitioning to the apARTment Gallery in the Hill Section of Scranton.
In 2016, they co-founded Electric City Escape Rooms in the Scranton Electric Building and the NEPA Art Fair. These business experiences brought together many creative energies, propelling the Hnats into other directions and leading to the establishment of Northeast Art Project in 2019 with the core value of making and growing public art opportunities in the region.
Learn more about local art and the early formation of the Northeast Art Project from Hnat in Episode 37 of the NEPA Scene Podcast:
