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In 1984, John F.
Sauers of Darlington started his large 4’ by 8’ painting, “Deer Creek
in Early Spring from the Garono Farm,” and completed it in 2004. In
2005 he donated it to the Harford Land Trust (HLT) and the Deer Creek
Watershed Association (DCWA) to support their missions to protect the
natural, agricultural, scenic and cultural assets of this county. John
Sauers stipulated that the two organizations find a permanent public
home where it could receive the widest possible public exposure to
communicate the values of their land conservation work.
Harford Community College has received this donation which can be seen
in the main reading room of the College’s new Library. Speaking for the
Land Trust, David P. Miller said, “The College, through Ellen A.
Menefee of the Art Department and Mary A. Leavens, Director for College
& Alumni Development gave us enthusiastic and efficient
cooperation, and we are thrilled with this public space it is providing
in the Library’s Main Reading Room.”
One of the unique features of Mr. Sauers’ painting is the fact that
the Harford Technical High School designed and constructed a
black-walnut frame to display this work. With the enthusiastic guidance
of Michael E. Svezzese, Jr., instructor, two 2006 seniors, Bradley Ward
and Robert Becoat, designed, shaped and finished the frame. (They and
other students were already busy helping to construct, at the Technical
High School, a transportable housing unit for Habitat For Humanity.)
Their mentor commented to the Trust, “This is a great opportunity for
our students to complete an impressive product for a public purpose and
also to have evidence of their skills in their professional portfolios
as they are seeking employment in the economy.”
photo: HLT
In 2004,
John Sauers, characterizing the Deer Creek valley as “Harford County’s
Central Park,” recommended to HLT and DCWA that they “exploit” this
painting as a method of raising donations to support the organizations’
land conservation projects. Toward that end, Christopher Heard,
professor of photography at Harford Community College, prepared a high
quality color photograph of this painting to be printed in a smaller
scale suitable for framing and signed by the artist to be given to
donors of $250 or more to the Harford Land Trust and/or the Deer Creek
Watershed Association.
John F. Sauers was born and raised in Harford County and has lived
here for most of his life. For thirty-five years he was a graphic
artist and designer for the Baltimore Gas & Electric Company (BGE).
In his spare time he created hundreds of paintings of this county’s
landscape. In November 2004, as part of the annual Deer Creek Trail
Ride organized by HLT and DCWA, John Sauers displayed sixty of his
works of Harford County’s past and present scenic and cultural assets.
(Many of the houses and farm structures he depicted no longer exist.)
An energetic and colorful narrator, Mr. Sauers with a remarkable memory
has a rich story about each one of his scenes.
Upon retiring from BGE, John Sauers and his wife, Jeanette moved to
southwestern Virginia, started their second career, and became immersed
in that area’s burgeoning regional and national art community. After a
rigorous regional competition, John Sauers won a four-year term as the
resident artist of the William King Regional Art Center in Abingdon,
Virginia which has more than 30,000 visitors per year. After a second
competition John Sauers received an unprecedented second term as the
resident artist at the William King Center, which since that time has
become a certified art museum. There, he continued to paint full time
and to share “his love of art and expertise with students young and
old.” Examples of Mr. Sauers’ work are available at www.wkrac.org and
www.newlightgallery.com. After sixteen years in that creative region,
Mr. and Mrs. Sauers moved back to the Berkley area of Darlington.
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