Gettysburg goes from war and battles to fine art

Art and history converge in Gettysburg.

The 10-day Gettysburg Festival kicked off last week at various locations around the historic town, celebrating American arts, culture and cuisine.

This weekend's 15th-annual “History Meets the Arts” show, a popular feature of the festival, is held at the Lord Nelson's Gallery. The exhibit include works of Pittsburgh artists Robert Griffing and John Buxton.

George Lauer, owner of Lord Nelson's Gallery, where their pieces will be shown, says Griffing and Buxton's images help teach art lovers about the time when fights for independence were in their infancy.

“People will think, ‘I'm not interested in the Civil War' or ‘Oh, it's just pictures of soldiers and cannons.' But it covers such a spectrum,” says Beth Kirby, the festival's executive director. “Even if they aren't history buffs or fine-art aficionados, they'll still be able to come away with something.”

As a child, Griffing collected arrowheads and always was intrigued with Native American culture. Now, as an adult artist living in Gibsonia, he fuses his boyhood interest with his artistic talents, focusing largely on images from the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars. Among the works he submitted for this year's festival is a piece called “Eyes on the River,” which depicts a trio of American Indians surveying land along a flowing riverfront.

Buxton, of Hampton, worked as an illustrator for more than three decades, and admits he did not have an interest in history growing up.

Still, he specializes in 18th-century paintings. He says he is drawn to Civil War-era images by the attention to detail.

“I love the fact that so much of our history took place right in my backyard,” Buxton says. “This is the stuff that developed the country into what it is today.”

Chris Ramirez is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at cramirez@tribweb.com or 412-380-5682.