Leola, PA

Christine Welch

http://www.christinewelchphotography.com

Several years ago, Welch discovered a 1929 Williamsport Chamber of Commerce booklet, The Susquehanna Trail, produced to entice tourists to travel on a “trail” (once followed by the Iroquois to their council fires) that ran from Washington D.C., through Lycoming County, to Niagara Falls.  Readers were encouraged to enjoy the attractions found along A Ribbon of Concrete thru The American Beautyland–thru Charming Valleys, Inspiring Hills and Majestic Mountains–the Road of Never-Ending Delight.  It occurred to Welch that this auto trail symbolized ideas central to the American psyche, the history of our democratic experiment and our fascination with natural wonder.

The Pennsylvania Convention Center acquired three (3) photographs from Welch’s “The Susquehanna Trail, Road of Never-Ending Delight” series.  This trail is the route between Welch’s home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and her grandparent’s home in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.  The experience of riding in the backseat of her parent’s car watching the world run past her projected on the side window, has, to a large degree informed her understanding of the landscape and inspired her work for more than twenty years.