TUNKHANNOCK — Neil Young may have been right — rock ‘n’ roll may never die — but the artists who create it eventually do.
Those musicians, living and dead, have inspired a new multi-disciplinary event at the Dietrich Theater called “Rock and Roll in Art & Music,” held from 2 to 5 p.m. Jan. 29, in multiple rooms at the theater’s 60 E. Tioga St., Tunkhannock location. The free event features two musical acts — The Sperazza Duo and Bob Zamber — as well as musically-inspired art from a number of artists, including Falls resident Erika Gibson-Bertram.
Gibson-Bertram began drawing when she was young, but put her artistic aspirations aside when she became a mother. She kept art in her life by drawing storybook characters on snack packs in her son’s school lunch and, shortly after, began exploring portrait painting in her free time. Gibson-Bertram said she grew up in a musical household, so musicians were a natural subject for her. Her portraits of Adele, Whitney Houston and Stevie Nicks are among those on display at the Dietrich Theater, as well as a collection of portraits inspired by Prince’s passing.
“When we lost Prince (last) year that was kind of my outlet,” Gibson-Bertram said. “He was a big part of my childhood, my teenage years and my young adulthood. That’s why I kind of channeled my grief through that, so to speak.”
The artists of Rock and Roll in Art & Music were brought together by Kitson Arts Alliance, a Tunkhannock-based non-profit that recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. Patrick Robinson, 49, said he co-founded Kitson Arts Alliance to combine his passion for local art — be it music, poetry, visual art or the culinary arts— with his experience as a successful antiques dealer.
“It’s basically to network and promote just about any type of artisan you could imagine,” Robinson said. “I’ve always made it a passion to either share, market or sell local artist’s artistic abilities if they want to turn their art into a business. It’s really also a way for the art industry to be combined with the antiques and collectibles industry.”
This is the first event Kitson Arts Alliance has organized in conjunction with the Dietrich Theater. Theater Program Coordinator Margie Young said the two organizations share the same mission: support local artists.
“Patrick has introduced us to artists that we have not displayed as of yet and we’re delighted to bring in local artists that need exposure,” Young said.