Converge Gallery increases Williamsport artistic diversity

Qiana Hill
Staff Writer

Williamsport is a small town with very few choice activities you can participate in. With all the nightlife excitement that the town offers from the Community Arts Center, the Digiplex Movie Theater, and the Bullfrog Brewery, Williamsport now has something to offer more on the soft side of small city life. The Converge Art Gallery (formerly the Grey Art Gallery) is a new gallery, the purpose of which is to bring a different kind of culture to the small town.

The gallery is located at 140 W. Fourth St., just past the Clothier men’s clothing store. Converge is run by Casey Gleghorn, who is the co-owner and director. He says he brought Converge to Williamsport because he wanted to get the masses involved in art. Opened in July of 2011, the gallery was created out of Gleghorn’s desire to bring to light an art market in Williamsport that hadn’t been discovered. The gallery shows a variety of art from figurative to abstract. Gleghorn doesn’t like to say that the gallery is only prone to one specific type of art. He likes to keep it open because anything could speak to him.

“What makes art work is the presentation,” Gleghorn said.

The current exhibit on the ground floor is by a narrative painter, Joann Landis. Her pieces are about local stories. Her pieces include a sense of spirituality and Landis’s version of magic. Upstairs, there are pieces from Hannah Gibbs who is an abstract artist and Lyco’s very own Howard Tran who is a sculptor. I visited there recently and I found the gallery to be charming yet exciting.

Galleries are places where you can find yourself in the art. It is just like finding yourself in the lyrics to your favorite song or finding out your calling in a specific activity. There is so much you can take away from one piece of art, the direction of the brush stroke, the type of colors or paint used or the contrasts of light and dark within the picture. All of that can resonate with someone who may have never ever seen a piece of art in their life.

Art is about expression and release. It doesn’t matter why or what it means because it can mean anything. Art is open for interpretation and while some art is intended to have certain meanings, most artists just want people to be able to look at their art and say that they understand. However that understanding may come about, artists just want to be appreciated for their expression. With a new gallery and a whole new perspective of art coming to Williamsport, everyone can experience a whole new wave of artistic expression as well.

Gleghorn says that he wants to hold Williamsport to a higher progressive standard of art by involving the community. He likes to work with local artists and tries to highlight them often.

Gleghorn also would like to see more student involvement from the surrounding colleges, Lycoming included. Art majors can head down to the gallery to inquire about possible future opportunities.

But the gallery isn’t just for art majors to inquire about. Every second Friday the gallery hosts a spoken word night at 7 p.m. and is sponsored by Alabaster Coffee. Comedians, lyricists, and poets are welcome to participate.  

While the gallery is a small one, it was brought here to give Williamsport some new angles of diversity. The art itself is diverse from the styles to the artists.

The gallery’s winter hours are Wednesdays and Thursdays, 11:00 am – 7:00 pm, Fridays, 11:00 am - 9:00 pm, and Saturdays, 11:00 am – 7:00 pm. You can also make appointments by calling 570-435-7080. If you want to check out some of the art before you get there, you can also check out their website at www.convergegallery.com.