When Coal Was King

My work is my research. Thinking and learning are a part of my process. The lessons and challenges in one project are merely stepping stones for the next. My body of work becomes a long series that shows a connection between each piece, slowly growing and exploring. My ideas stem from my immediate surroundings. I am a reporter and my artwork is my article. I have been researching the coal mining and other related industries of Scranton, Pennsylvania and its surrounding areas. An area that helped build the industrial revolution in America’s early years, only to be neglected once the country did not need it anymore. A forgotten city, left in ruins, a shadow of its former self. I am to bring attention to this abandoned area. This is a universal condition that could reference many smaller cities and towns across the nation. There is a core population that still exists in Northeast Pennsylvania, that goes back generations; families that will never leave and take pride in their roots. They choose to stay in an area that is decaying, without helping to stop it. I am interested in those people and their choices