Susquehanna Stories: Meet Rob Evans, curator of river art.

• Karen Hendricks/WITF
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Karen Hendricks hosts WITF’s Morning Edition, heard weekdays from 5-9am. She enjoys navigating the news of the day with listeners, weaving together WITF’s compelling regional coverage with NPR’s unbiased reporting from around the globe—while simultaneously being a reliable, friendly voice as your morning companion.
  
  Karen is an award-winning, lifelong journalist. Her work has garnered more than 20 state and national journalism awards. Her true passion is bringing stories of everyday heroes to light: Her story about a weekend warrior pulling trash out of the Susquehanna River, for the York Daily Record, earned a national first-place award from the Society for Features Journalism.
  
  A Philadelphia-area native and Lock Haven University graduate, Karen has called Central Pennsylvania home for 30+ years. She’s worked for media outlets throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region and Central Pennsylvania, including Harrisburg, Lancaster, York and Gettysburg.
  
  She considers her family and three adult children her brightest, best accomplishments. She and her husband enjoy exploring our national and state parks. She’s writing a memoir about running 50 races to benefit 50 causes when she was 50.

 Susquehanna River Art Collection

George Beck (1748-1812) "McCalls Ferry on the Susquehanna"

Rob Evans

Hear the story of Rob Evans, a lifelong artist based in York County with a passion for the Susquehanna River. He began collecting works of art depicting the Susquehanna River several years ago, and it’s grown to the point that he helped found the nonprofit Friends of the Susquehanna River Art Collection.

He explains how this collection of river-inspired art serves as a microcosm of American history. Additionally, it establishes the Susquehanna River as a key influence in the founding of the first authentic school of American art, the Hudson River School.

The Friends organization continues to grow: They’re acquiring a gallery space in Columbia, Lancaster County, that will serve as a permanent home for part of the collection. And the Friends are appointing Rob Evans’ daughter and artist Quinn Evans as the organization’s first executive director.

Meantime, part of the collection is also housed in the renovated farmhouse galleries at the Historic Hellam Nature Preserve owned by the Lancaster Conservancy.

The Susquehanna Scout, hosted by journalist Karen Hendricks, is a weekly podcast by WITF that explores the Susquehanna River and its ripple effects across Pennsylvania and beyond.