(April 20, 2016, Allentown, PA) As part of the Allentown School District Foundation’s Renaissance Artist-in-Residency program, the Lehigh County Heritage Museum will be displaying portraits created by Ritter Elementary School 5th graders. Artist-in-Residence, Rosemary Geseck, incorporated various aspects of art along the way, including the portraits of Peter Grim being displayed at the museum. The student’s finished artwork captures the face of Peter Grim, one of the early colonialists who settled in Whitehall in the 1700’s.
Peter Grim (aka Actor George Miller) visited with students at Ritter in Colonial costume during the nine-week program. Miller dramatically portrayed the conditions of Colonial life, and shared the opportunities and burdens of coming to a new land with new customs and laws.
The exhibit is FREE and open to the public. Peter Grim (George Miller) will be at the exhibit in costume providing an opportunity for the public to interact with an 18th century mill owner. The student artwork will be on display through May 24.
About Peter Grim
Colonial storekeeper, farmer and grist mill operator, Whitehall, Pennsylvania.
Peter was born in 1770 to a family who had settled on a large farm in Upper Macungie Township, then known as Millerstown. After his successful proprietorship of a general store and farming business, he purchased property in Whitehall Township (Mickley Road area), where he farmed the land and rebuilt an existing wooden grist and saw mill, operated by water power. In 1807 he tore down the old log mill, and built the solid stone grist mill which stands to this day.
As the mill prospered, Peter designed and built the handsome brick homestead across the road from his mill in 1834, replacing the log home that had stood there. He was successful as a business man, and was considered to be an honest, reliable and true friend of the community, generously teaching and sharing his farming and grist mill knowledge with others. He also served in the Pennsylvania Militia during the War of 1812.
Peter passed away in his home in 1837. Upon the death of his only daughter Elizabeth in 1871, the Grim Homestead and Grist Mill were sold to Reuben Helfrich. From that time forward, it became known as the Helfrich Springs Grist Mill.
George B. Miller Artist/Actor Statement
No one would argue the importance of teaching literacy or fractions, but study after study has proven that the arts are more than fluff. Study after study shows that participation in the arts greatly improves academic performance and significantly affects standardized test scores. Students who are exposed to the arts are also more involved in community service, and are less likely to drop out of school.
Over more than 30 years of working as an actor and director of live theatre, I have witnessed firsthand how experiencing theatre and historic portrayals makes for smarter, braver and more socially adept human beings. Bringing historical characters to life through interpretive performance and storytelling connects the written word and living personalities to the heart of the listener.
In creating my interactive portrayal of Peter Grim, owner of the Helfrich Spring’s Grist Mill, I shared Colonial life as seen through the eyes of an 18th Century grist mill operator and shopkeeper. Students heard about the complexities of math, bookkeeping, and running a general store, as well as family life and the hard work of building and running a successful stone gristmill serving the local farmers.
I spoke with them in the Pennsylvania Dutch language, as well as high German, the first language of Peter’s parents. The Ritter students learned to recite an old German poem Die Katz liegt im Schnee…., and I led them in a robust rendition of a favorite Pennsylvania Dutch song, Schnitzelbank. The classes also read the lovely story of the “Little Winter Bird in the Forest ” with myself/Peter Grim.
Through this language presentation, the students explored the difficulty of communicating in an unfamiliar language, as they initially struggled to understand what Peter was saying. Hopefully this will help students become more aware of their own present day communicating skills, learning to discover and resolve barriers in communicating.
I believe that live character portrayals serve to jumpstart the imagination, lengthen the attention span, and encourage students to openly participate in live conversation with people of other ages, countries and backgrounds. I also believe that if parents cannot take their children to the theatre, that bringing theatre and live historical interpretation to them in the schools is vital.
What was new for me was the pleasure of offering a historic interpretation in the context of a visual arts residency. It was wonderful to watch the students explore and gain confidence in their own creativity under the sure direction of teaching artist Rosemary Geseck. Serving as a portrait model for the students, it was deeply rewarding for me to see Peter Grim through their eyes.
This residency has been a truly exhilarating experience for me, and hopefully for the talented students of Ritter Elementary School as well!
About Allentown School District Foundation
With a vision for enriched education for Allentown School District students, the ASD Foundation mission is to encourage, promote and support innovative educational experiences for students in the Allentown School District. If you would like to learn more, please contact the foundation at 484-765-4093 or williamssu@allentownsd.org. The mailing address is P.O. Box 328, 31 South Penn Street, Allentown PA 18105. www.allentownsd.org/asdf.
Information provided by:
Kimberly Golden Benner
Director of Communications
Allentown School District
