The Yocum Institute for Arts Education will present the 2014 Coggins Award to local artist Rich Houck on Thursday at the Stirling Guest Hotel, 1120 Centre Ave.

Houck has been heavily involved at the institute for many years as an outstanding faculty member who also teaches at Alvernia University.

His work with young and older students inspires their creative spirits.

He is a past judge of the annual Junior/Senior High School Art Exhibit.

Houck was nominated by members of the artistic community in Berks County for the Coggins Award for not only his talent but his giving spirit.

Houck holds a bachelor of fine arts degree in painting and a certification for art education K-12 from the University of the Arts, Philadelphia. He studied under Warren Rohrer and Steve Jaffee.

He has more than 15 years of teaching experience. H0uck was a founding artist at the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts and had a personal studio there.

He is a lifelong artist and a native of Berks County. He has studied in Philadelphia and Rome. He has resided and worked in Manhattan, Lancaster and Rose Valley, Delaware County, and is well-traveled in the U.S. and internationally.
He is a husband and father who returned to Berks to raise and be near family.

Houck has been recognized as an inventive and versatile artist in a variety of media. Over the past 20 years, he has exhibited in solo and group shows throughout the United States and in Rome.

The public is invited to attend the 2014 Coggins Award presentation and reception at Stirling Guest Hotel.

The Coggins Award, established in 2006, recognizes artists who embrace the values that the late artist Jack Coggins exhibited: creativity, innovation and service to the institute and the community.

Tickets to the event are $45 for members of the institute and $50 for nonmembers. Proceeds from this event will benefit the visual-arts department. To purchase tickets for the event or make a contribution in honor of Rich Houck, please call the institute at 610-376-1576, ext. 203.

An exhibition of oil paintings by Reading artist Jill Skaist is viewing through Oct. 30 at the Jewish Cultural Center in Wyomissing. The artist is displaying about two dozen works that encompass four decades of production.

A life member of the Art Students League, Skaist also studied at the School of Visual Arts, both in New York City, while receiving her degrees in art history and fine arts from the University of Pennsylvania. She was born in Berks County and moved to New York City, returning to Reading 36 years later to help her parents. Since that move, she has been her about 10 years.

The earlier paintings, such as an untitled work from 1981, have a comical, almost satirical look to them that distorts her subject’s faces into semimanic characterizations of line, color and composition. Many are concocted from her imagination.

Her later pieces are informed with fluid brushwork, solidly drawn features and an occasional story line embedded with text, such as the socially reflective “An Apple.” This small but complex work depicts a woman flirtatiously eating an apple on the left side of the painting. A young boy in rags can be seen with an open hand. The words “seduction” and “starvation” are written between them.

Acknowledging an artist from Reading’s past, a closeup portrait of William Baziotes shows the acclaimed painter in a contemplative pose in black and sepia, a hand placed at his right cheek. Another piece, “It was disturbing because she was wearing a pair of rubber gloves,” tells a story about a fragment of conversation overheard publicly. Other pieces reference topics of aging, civil war and gossip, investing each with conviction and personal meaning.

She has a strong color sense that joins well with her drawing style to provide the content and continuity among the 40 years of painting. These unusual yet socially charged narratives, analogies and portraits of people are both serious and playful in their approach.

Some of the greatest achievements in professional rock climber Craig DeMartino’s life came after he nearly lost it. As a gold-medal-winning amputee climber, DeMartino has drawn the attention of the climbing community for years. And now, television producers are interested. The Exeter Township native and Kutztown University graduate will tell his story of perseverance and the stories of others like him in a television series starting this weekend.

DeMartino, 49, will host “Fight to Survive,” premiering Saturday at 1:30 p.m. on the Outdoor Channel.

The first episode, titled “After the Fall,” begins the series by telling De-Martino’s own harrowing story of survival.

In July 2002, DeMartino fell 100 feet in a devastating climbing accident that left his body in shambles.

The fall pulverized his second lumbar (L2) vertebra and broke his neck, multiple ribs, his right heel and his ankles. The tibia and fibula of his right leg burst through the skin, slicing his tibial artery, spraying blood on the rocks under him.

“Before the accident, I was a big planner, and I thought I could control everything, until that illusion of security was gone,” DeMartino said. “I didn’t understand that it really was an illusion until I was broken down. It was a big perspective shift.”

Undergoing numerous surgeries, months of recovery and therapy, DeMartino found himself climbing outdoors with a cast on his leg only nine months after the accident.

Facing an intensely painful nerve disorder in his right leg and accepting that it would never fully heal, DeMartino decided to have the leg amputated below the knee in December 2013.

But losing a limb did not stop him from his habit of ascending hard climbs. Rather, it drove him to climb harder.

“Relearning to climb actually was really fun,” DeMartino said. “Before the accident, I could just force my way up a climb. Now, I have to be very conscious of the movement and technique because of my limitations. I’m a better technical climber than I’ve ever been.”

DeMartino returned to the sport using a prosthetic leg and became a professional rock climber in 2008. Since then he has become one of the best paraclimbers (rock climbers with disabilities) in the world.

Climbing and sports magazines have told his story, and he became a motivational speaker six years ago.

The Outdoor Channel reached out to DeMartino earlier this year, asking to tell his story. Conversations continued back and forth between DeMatino and the show’s producers until they finally asked him if he would be interested in hosting the show.

“They took a chance with me,” DeMartino said. “The first couple episodes were definitely a learning experience.”

DeMartino said he was drawn to the opportunity of hosting the show because it gives viewers insights into the survivor mentality.

DeMartino met and interviewed the nine other survivors featured in the show’s first season from March to June.

“There are a lot of common threads,” DeMartino said. “I can connect with a guy that was floating in the ocean for days because we played the same mental games, just in different arenas.”

DeMartino is set to return as the host for the second season of “Fight to Survive.”

He said he hopes the series can promote the ideals he shares in his public speaking: the values of leadership, overcoming obstacles and living in the present.

“Whatever you are dealing with, it is only temporary,” DeMartino said. “For better or worse, your situation is going to change, and you have to be open to that. Once you do that, it is really freeing.”

About DeMartino: Reigning 2014 Paraclimbing national champion. Bronze medal in the 2014 Paraclimbing World Champion- ships held in Gijon, Spain. Bronze medal in the 2012 Paraclimbing World Champion- ships held in Palais de Bercy, France. Five gold medals in the Extremity Games, an extreme sports competition for athletes with disabilities. Along with climbers Jarem Frye and Pete Davis, DeMartino led the first all disabled ascent of El Capitan, a 3,000-foot granite monolith in Yosemite Valley in California’s Yosemite National Park in 2012. First amputee to ascend The Nose, a 2,900-foot climb on the southwest face of El Capitan, in 2010. First amputee to ascend El Capitan in a day in 2008.

Age: 49 Hometown: Exeter Township Education: Exeter High School, class of 1983. Kutztown University, majored in communications, design and photography, class of 1987. Lives in: Loveland, Colo. Profession: Climber, motivational speaker, photographer and television host. Family: Wife, Cyndy, and children Mayah, 16, and Will, 14.

Over the river and through the woods, up mountains and across the state he’ll ride.

Eight days and 920 miles of cycling will take Berks native Tyler Knabb through Pennsylvania as he pedals to raise money to fight childhood cancers.

Setting off from Baltimore today, the 2008 Exeter High graduate will cycle a heart-shaped route, weaving through nearly a dozen regional Penn State campuses along the way.

Tyler, a Johns Hopkins student taking Penn State courses online, will ride for The Hope Express, which supports THON, Penn State’s 46-hour dance marathon and yearlong fundraising eff ort to combat pediatric cancers. It’s a mission that hits home for the 24-year-old, who lost his mother, Carol, to cancer on his 14th birthday in 2003. A decade later, in August, Tyler’s close friend, Michael Chobot, passed away from leukemia at age 26. “I wanted to come up with something that would tie together my abilities and something I could share and give back,” Tyler said of the decision to ride across the state. “I would’ve done this anyway for my mom and Michael.” To make the ride more symbolic, Tyler plotted the heart-shaped route that will connect him to at least 11 Penn State campuses. He’ll ride for four days, take a day off to rest and then take part in the THON 5K in State College. After that, he’ll ride another four days before returning home to Baltimore. He’ll be joined at diff erent legs of the trip by family and friends. “It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Tyler said, acknowledging with a laugh, “It’ll be tough going through the Appalachians twice.” By last week, Tyler had raised more than $2,200 for The Hope Express, well on his way to his goal of $3,000.

“There’s absolutely nothing about this ride that has to do with me when it comes down to it,” he said. “I want it to be about who I’m helping. I hope it means a lot to other people, that they can feel proud about the things that they do and try to give back and motivate others.”

Gus, the Philadelphia Zoo’s resident male giraffe, knows when it’s snack time.

The minute he spots zookeeper Wendy Lenhart, the gangly giant ambles toward a feeding area overlooking the spacious enclosure he calls home.

Like a kid licking a lollipop, Gus wraps his 18-inch tongue around an acacia tree branch and strips away its luscious leaves.

Soon, Gus is joined by Stella, his mate, and their offspring, 3-year-old Abigail.

Lenhart, 34, a 1997 Exeter High School graduate, is accepted without hesitation by the giraffes.

In the two years she’s been their keeper, she has forged a relationship of trust and confidence that bridges the biological divide separating animals and humans.

In consultation with staff nutritionists and veterinarians, she oversees their feeding and health care. She also trains the giraffes to allow veterinarians to administer medical procedures.

“My job is to make sure they’re comfortable,” Lenhart said. “And to see that they get what they need.”

Fantastic journey

Larry A. and Arlene K. Lenhart wanted their daughter to have a secure future, so they insisted she major in agricultural education at Penn State’s main campus.

Truth be known, Lenhart’s heart was in the outdoor aspect of her minor, wildlife and fishing science.

After student teaching at Twin Valley High School, she realized she was more interested in the subject matter than the teaching.

Ironically, she began her career in the education department of the Philadelphia Zoo in fall 2001. After going to Salt Lake City for an internship in aviculture, the raising and care of birds, and spending a short stint at the San Antonio Zoo, she returned to Philadelphia as a bird keeper in 2002.

For eight years, she would tend the zoo’s macaws, Southern ground hornbill and a pair of storks named Will and Grace.

With Villanova University ornithologist Robert Curry, Lenhart did a field study of chickadees in Nolde Forest state park. Their research found that female chickadees in Nolde Forest preferred the song of Carolina males of the species when choosing a mate.

While birds remain an interest, Lenhart has tended the giraffes and the zoo’s family of 10 kangaroos for the past 2½ years.

“Taking care of these fantastic animals,” she said. “I feel like I’m making a difference.”

Gentle giraffe

Just like people, Lenhart said, giraffes have personalities.

Stella, who’s 12 years old and came to Philadelphia from the Cape May Zoo, is meticulous about clearing hay from her nostrils.

“She manages to get it out with her tongue,” Lenhart said, “or sometimes she just sneezes on you.”

Gus, who’s six years younger than his mate, is sort of laid-back. He came to Philadelphia from the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler, Texas.

Abigail, or Abby, who was born in Philadelphia, likes to uproot grass growing along a moat that borders their habitat. She doesn’t eat it, but tosses it about as if it were a toy.

There are nine species of giraffes, and Philadelphia’s are reticulated. That means they have white netting over a brown coat.

“It’s like you threw a white net over a brown giraffe,” Lenhart explained.

While no two markings are the same, Abby’s patterns are similar to her mother’s. Gus’ are lighter in color.

Giraffes have four stomachs and, like cows, have a ruminant digestive system.

They’re main diet is alfalfa hay and a special grain mixture. They snack on acacia, apples and carrots.

Between them, the giraffes consume a 50-pound bail of hay daily. Gus gets eight pounds of grain, and the others get five pounds each.

Competition for food on the African plain, where giraffes originated, accounts for the disproportionate shape of their long necks. While other species evolved as grazers, giraffes are browsers, meaning they eat foliage instead of grass.

“The shape of their mouth, their high neck and long tongue enable them to reach the branches of the acacia trees on the African plain,” Lenhart said.

Giraffes are in decline in the wild, she noted, but are not as endangered as rhinos.

Rescuing rhinos

Tony, the Philadelphia Zoo’s resident rhino, is one of Lenhart’s favorite animals.

Rhinos are an endangered species, mainly because of poaching. In some parts of the world, the rhino horn is considered an aphrodisiac.

“It’s so ridiculous,” she said. “Their horns are made of carotene, the same stuff that’s in your fingernails.”

As a board member of the American Association of Zoo Keepers, Lenhart is involved in efforts to save rhinos.

She coordinates Bowling for Rhino, a project of the association’s Philadelphia chapter. Since the mid-1990s, it has raised $130,000 for association preserves in Kenya, Java and Sumatra.

On May 5, she helped coordinate Cinco de Rhino, a walk/run from the Elmwood Park Zoo in Norristown to the Philadelphia Zoo to raise money for rhino preservation.

Scores of supporters, wearing imitation rhino horns, paraded between the two zoos.

Berks connections

Lenhart still has connections to Berks County, and cherishes growing up in the Reading area.

Her father, a retired utility worker, still lives in Exeter. Her mother, who had been a teaching aide at Amity Primary Center, died in 2008. A brother, Michael A. Lenhart, lives in Hereford Township.

Her grandfather, the late Elmer Lenhart of Mount Penn, was a well-known Berks County well driller.

“I loved my grandfather,” she said. “He was a real character.”

Lenhart lives in Brewerytown, a section of Philadelphia, and walks to work.

“It’s the job I always wanted,” she said, “and hope to enjoy for a long time to come.”

At 25, Joseph P. McDevitt has a clear vision of the life he hopes to build.

It is not based on wealth or fame or possessions, but on the satisfaction of doing well the craft he loves, and the peace that satisfaction provides.

A graduate of Exeter High School, McDevitt earlier this year acquired Fegley’s Violin Shop in Exeter Township, the former business of James E. Fegley, a well-known violin maker and restorer who died in 2001.

He never met his business predecessor, but McDevitt, who had worked for Fegley’s widow, Margie, before taking over and eventually buying the violin shop, plans to honor his name and his reputation for excellence.

“I’d like to stay exactly where I am and carry on the Fegley name for another 40 or 50 years,” McDevitt said. “And then I’d like to fi nd someone else who could train and carry on the name.”

McDevitt, who studied violin making and repair at the North Bennet Street School in Boston, is trained in the classical fashion. He crafts musical instruments the way they have been made for hundreds of years, and each piece he fi nishes is a source of personal satisfaction and accomplishment.

“It’s all done by hand,” McDevitt said. “What bigger challenge or reward is there to build something beautiful that also sounds wonderful?”

During the intensive threeyear program in Boston, he

A 1990 article in the Reading Eagle chronicled the efforts of Exeter Township resident James E. Fegley, the owner of Fegley’s Violin Shop, to rebuild an old and valuable violin that had been run over by a car in 1989.

Fegley spent years working to repair the instrument, which was reputed to have been built by Pietro Guarnerius, a member of a famous family of violin makers from Cremona, Italy.

He was unable, however, to fi nish the job before his death in 2001.

When 25-year-old Joseph P. McDevitt earlier this year bought Fegley’s Violin Shop from Fegley’s widow, Margie, he inherited the broken violin, along with the rest of the store’s inventory.

As a show of camaraderie and respect for a man he never met but greatly admires, McDevitt decided to continue Fegley’s work to repair the instrument.

“I just kind of felt like I needed to continue the work he’d started,” McDevitt said. “I know I can put it back together, and I’ll work on it when I have the time. But, I think it’s going to take me a long time.”

That’s fi ne with him, as continuing and building on the business that Fegley started is more than a job to McDevitt; it’s a labor of love and his life’s work.

“I’m a strong believer that people are meant to do what they’re meant to do,” McDevitt said. “And this seems just right to me.”

Fegley’s Violin Shop is at 400 W. 37th St. in Exeter Township. It was established in 1979 by James E. Fegley, who ran it until his death in 2001. The business, which had been maintained since Fegley’s death by his widow, Margie, was purchased earlier this year by Joseph P. McDevitt, 25, who had worked in the shop while studying violin making and repair at the North Bennet Street School in Boston. McDevitt restores, repairs and sells violins and other instruments, and has an inventory of instruments for sale. He also buys some instruments that are no longer in use. The shop is run by appointment only. McDevitt can be reached by calling 610-779-0665 or at fegleyviolin@nullgmail.com. The shop also has a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/fegleyviolin. learned about violin making and repair from the ground up, and was given some unique opportunities for learning the craft.

His first repair project involved a cello that had been played at an inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln. Other instruments he worked on also were extremely valuable.

“I got to work on the ‘cheap’ stuff ,” McDevitt said. “I worked on instruments that were valued at between $150,000 and $200,000. People who had more experience did the ones that were worth more than that.”

In addition to learning the art of violin repair and refurbishment, McDevitt crafted six instruments during his three years in Boston, and has made many more instruments since then.

He also learned to play the violin during that time, a skill he had not acquired earlier, despite growing up in a musical household.

“My mom was a music teacher in the house, but I didn’t learn to play an instrument until I was in Boston,” McDevitt said. “I was a wrestler when I was in high school.”

Upon completing the program at North Bennett Street School in 2009, McDevitt was off ered an apprenticeship in Italy. He, however, had other plans.

“I was anxious to come home and get my life started here,” he said.

He had worked part time at the violin shop throughout the Boston years, and was off ered full-time work upon returning to Berks County. The shop, for which operations had been drastically reduced, began to get busier as customers got to know McDevitt and his work.

He and Margie, who discovered they are extremely compatible, worked together to rebuild the business and, eventually, McDevitt approached her about buying it.

Margie, 69, maintains an interest in the business, and she and McDevitt remain in close contact.

“Really, I think Margie and I both are lucky that this worked out the way it did,” McDevitt said. “When I think about it, so many things had to come together to make all of this possible. I’m never sure if this is the life I chose, or the life that chose me.”

In his fourth year of running the violin shop, McDevitt works constantly to continue improving his skills.

“I am my harshest critic,” he said. “But one of the reasons I like this work so much is because I keep learning and learning and getting better at what I do all the time.”

About half of his work time is dedicated to repairs and sales, while the rest is spent building fi ne instruments.

That time of building, the time when he shuts the shop door and loses himself in the old, storied craft of carving and piecing and securing together more than 70 pieces of wood for each instrument he makes, is McDevitt’s retreat; his Shangri-La.

It’s the time in which he fi nds peace, authenticity and the assurance that he is exactly where he is supposed to be.

“Sometimes I get up and I’m surprised to see that it’s dark outside,” he said. “This isn’t a 9-to-5 job for me. I feel like this is my life. It’s who I am. And you can’t take time off from who you are.”