By: Carrie Heath, July 25, 2023
The Gmeiner Art & Cultural Center is pleased to announce a retrospective exhibit of Josh Crane’s pen and ink artwork in the Atrium Gallery for August titled, “Post Its.” The
exhibit will open on Saturday, August 5 th at noon. However, the reception for this and the Main Gallery exhibit will be held on Sunday, August 13 th from 2-4PM, so that the artists’ families may attend. The reception is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be provided.
Joshua Samuel Crane was born Jan. 3 rd , 1988, at Corning Hospital. He was the 8 th child of Gloria and David Crane. Throughout his life he lived in Tioga, Antrim, Covington,
Wellsboro, and Corning. Josh liked to be around people, which might have something to do with being from a large family. He was also spiritual and interested in theology like
his father before him. This was a main motivating factor in creating his art. He was very astute and learned many subjects without a formal education. He was a self-learner
who read many books on psychology, classical literature, history and the many art forms. His love for people was deep and serious, based in theologies such as Tibetan
Buddhism and Christianity. Joshua was also spritely and athletic. Working out with friends was something that gave Josh a feeling of physically bettering himself. He was an avid skateboarder, which he also turned into a way of displaying art and entertaining the public.
Josh loved artists such as Alex Grey, Salvador Dali and Van Gogh. One of his favorite pieces of art was the tryptic “The Garden of Earthly Delights” by Hieronymus Bosch.
Artists that pushed their craft and had something to say were of high value to him. Mediums he worked with included chalk pastels, pen and ink, oil paints and tattoo. He
also spray-painted and tagged many buildings and trash cans with the name Rumi. Rumi was his street signature and a poet that he liked to promote. This was also a
game of hide and seek with the police as they had a hard time figuring out who was “vandalizing the town.” He did not see this as a form of vandalism though. Josh was trying to promote a higher form of thinking by making the locals look up the name. He did not think he was lessening the value of things; instead, he felt he was adding to their
value and aesthetic.
Joshua would also create sidewalk art with chalk. He would put hours into this work knowing it would end up sun-bleached, washed away and stepped on by the public.
Sometimes this performative act was to help a friend who had a business; other times he would do it in the idea of the transitory nature of material life. This is in the same vein
as the sand mandalas made by Buddhists, that they would destroy after making. On the opposite end of the spectrum, he also was a tattooist, which meant leaving a
permanent mark on a person’s skin to display throughout their life. No surface was off limits to the message he was compelled to send. Big, small, elaborate or simple, he was
going to share his thoughts intended to spread healing and love to the world.
Joshua passed on June 28, 2022, at the age of 34. He had endless potential and that “What if?” factor about him that will stay with us all. A philosopher he shared a quote
from not long before he died was Marcus Aurelius, who once said “Each of us lives only now, this brief instant. The rest has been lived already, or it is impossible to see.” In life
Josh was more interested in putting his work in coffee houses than galleries as he felt he could affect the everyday man that doesn’t necessarily think about actively seeking
out the arts. But Josh’s family agreed to share his art with the audience at the Gmeiner to help us push the envelope of what is considered “worthy” of a gallery. We hope that
you will come to see this display to appreciate Josh’s vision and honor his memory.
This exhibit is appropriate for all ages, and there will be a scavenger hunt activity for children. The Gmeiner is located at 134 Main Street, Wellsboro, behind the Green Free
Library. We are open from 12-6PM Tuesday through Sunday and admission to the gallery is always free.