Pa.'s Bigger, Better Farm Show Complex: Long Overdue, Well Worth The Wait About 1,000 people attended the ribbon-cutting ceremonies in the Exhibit Hall at the newly constructed and vastly renovated Farm Show Complex in mid-December. They included farmers, FFA members, agribusiness owners, educators, and legislators many of whom will benefit from the millions spent to showcase Pennsylvania’s number 1 industry. Photo by Andy Andrews, editor Officials Honor Contractors DAVE LEFEVER Lancaster Farming Staff HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) It took a lot of teamwork to build the new Farm Show Complex.' A total of 54 major firms, plus numerous subcontractors, joined together to design, excavate, Artwork Heralds Agriculture At The Pennsylvania Farm Show MICHELLE KUNJAPPU Lancaster Farming Staff GLADWYNE (Montgomery Co.) Visitors will not miss the large farm scene displayed prom inently in the New Foyer at the Farm Show this year. A mural, made up of 20 panels 8 feet wide by 10 feet high, will sound loud and clear the message of the Farm Show: the impor tance of agriculture. “Pennsylvania is fantastic for an artist. There is a great oppor tunity to portray the history of farming techniques, because they’re still being used,” said the mural’s artist, Max Mason, Wyn newood. “That gave me the idea to show the span from the past to the future,” which appears on the mural from the left to the right. “Because it (the mural) is so loqg, you have a narrative quality with it,” he said. build, plumb, wire, and equip the new complex. On the day of the ribbon-cut ting ceremony Dec. 17, Secretary of Agriculture Sam Hayes and Secretary of General Services Kelly Logan joined Farm Show Director Dennis Grumbine in honoring this formidable design One part of that narrative is the winter scene on the left side that warms to spring, summer in the center of the mural, and fi nally autumn’s harvest scenes on the right. A further aspect of the narra tive is the early-morning scene, which grows to full daylight in the center and setting sun on the right. The center of the mural, with a young woman leading a cow and a farm family in the background, highlights man’s relationship with each other, with animals, and with cultivated plants, according to Mason. “There’s always something in teresting to discover since it’s so big. There is a lot of things going on simultaneously,” he said. The cast concrete animals painted on the brick walls on ei ther end of the mural are a de sign taken directly from the out- Se< and construction team, managed by Reynolds Building Partners of Harrisburg. Hayes praised the group for what they have accomplished “miraculously in the last few months.” (Turn to Page E 4) side of the original Farm Show building. These concrete animals transition into the landscape as they are not only on the brick wall but also are seen among the trees at the edges of the mural. “I borrowed heavily from what was already existing on the build ing,” he said. “I felt it was impor tant to respect that and also to have a sense of continuity.” Although the mural does bor row from history, it is very much contemporary, as evidenced by the farmer talking on a cell phone on the tractor and the 2003 Farm Show hat worn by an other character. The mural’s river, patterned after the Susquehanna, is charac terized by “the wide, slow-mov ing quality that the Susquehanna has,” he said. The river leads the eye back to the parallel ridges of (Turn to Page E 33) nua ANDY ANDREWS But before you gaze on up- Editor grades and new construction HARRISBURG (Dauphin amounting to about $9O million Co.) Take a look at the new, before you wonder about just improved version of Farm Show _ _ _ . here in Pennsylvania’s capital. (Tum *° pa ® e Editor’s note: Written by ceremony with hundreds and Pennsylvania Agriculture Secre- hundreds of aggies from across tary Samuel E. Hayes Jr. exclu- Pennsylvania. Steel. Concrete. sively for Lancaster Farming, Blocks. Bricks. Glass. All crafted this final “Building For The Fu- into new and upgraded venues. ture” column provides insights Approximately 25 acres and into the exciting new construe- more than 1 million square feet of tion recently completed at the exhibitor space. All under one Pennsylvania Farm Show Com- roof. On budget. On time. Ready plex in Harrisburg. Lancaster for the Pennsylvania Farm Show Farming offers its sincerest beginning next Saturday. thanks to Secretary Hayes for A massive expo hall of world r itarasa* *• -*»• Artist Max Mason stands with a completed panel of the mural that will hang in the New Foyer of the Farm Show Complex. Photo by Michelle Kunjappu
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