In Appreciation Of:Martha Sampson - Founder of the EMCA
In 1993, Martha had a vision of an arts council that would enhance the cultural lives
of residents in these beautiful Endless Mountains. She contacted a group of
individuals with mutual interests in the arts, and the EMCA was organized. It was
their intention to create a credible organization that would act as a conduit for all
existing and future visual and performing arts organizations in the area and "to
strengthen and support the visual and performing arts in our communities".
Council continues to improve the quality of life for area residents by
sponsoring various cultural activities for the enjoyment of individuals of every social
and economic background.
Martha was born in Clarks Summit and educated
in public schools. She attended Kutztown University, Penn State University, Alfred
University, and received
her MFA degree at Marywood University in 1988. She taught
Art and English in public and private schools in Pennsylvania and Florida. Martha
was a part-time
instructor at Marywood University, University of Scranton, and
Penn State University, Scranton Campus. Since retirement, she has taught painting and
drawing classes privately to students of all ages.
Martha's personal statement :
Drawing and painting have been my
favorite activities since childhood. A natural inclination toward visual expression led to the pursuit of advanced
training in these areas, and it has been my pleasure to share my developing skills and
aesthetic insight with students of all age levels and many backgrounds. Teaching has
provided income and personal satisfaction as well as life-enriching friendships of long
duration.
Constant independent study of
contemporary art and the treasures of the past has brought me through a long era of recording what my eyes have seen,
and developing skills to a more intellectual and interpretive mode of expression.
My favorite subject has always been people, closely followed by nature,
in the form of landscapes.
I am concerned with the aspects of
human life which are common, everyday experiences, rather than the extraordinary or
bizarre. I seek to express the beauty and personality of the subject. My work
fits perhaps into the classification of genre painting. To intensify drama and
emotional content, I stress color, value contrasts, and gesture.
Martha is married to Verlin E.
Sampson since 1974, has three sons by a
previous marriage, Robert, David, and John Longmore, and four grandchildren.
She and "Sam" reside on Root Hollow Lane in Tunkhannock,
where she tends to her garden, reads, and writes poetry.
Martha Fray Sampson, 80, of Tunkhannock,
died Tuesday, Oct. 28, 2008.
Born May 4, 1928, she was a graduate of
Clarks Summit High School and Kutztown
University, earning her masters in fine arts
degree from Marywood University in 1988.
She taught in several public schools in
Northeastern Pennsylvania and at a private
school in Florida. Later, she taught at Marywood
University, The University of Scranton, Penn
State Scranton and recently at the Endless
Mountains Council of the Arts in Tunkhannock, of
which she was the founder and first president.
Endless Mountains Council of the Arts
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