{"id":320929,"date":"2025-10-21T10:31:26","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T10:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/320929\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T10:31:26","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T10:31:26","slug":"lebanon-man-creates-farm-scene-on-liberty-bell-for-america250-celebration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/320929\/","title":{"rendered":"Lebanon man creates farm scene on Liberty Bell for America250 celebration"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re celebrating Lebanon County\u2019s role in American history. Read more here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"America250<\/a><\/p>\n

Jim Rudegeair is a life-long artist who doesn\u2019t create paintings for profit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He enjoys painting as a hobby and an outlet for his emotional health.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think with art it is about seeing things like in a picture, you know, or I\u2019ll just be driving and will see something and think, \u2018Well, that\u2019d be a nice painting. That would be cool,\u2019\u201d Rudegeair said. \u201cSo it\u2019s kind of that and why I do symbolism, too. \u2018Cause that just gets feelings out of you, you know, and I want to sort of make a journal out of it in paint.\u201d<\/p>\n

The North Lebanon Township resident is now creating a different kind of painting, something he\u2019s never done before in the 60 years he\u2019s been an artist. For one, he\u2019s used to painting still life and landscapes on flat surfaces, typically canvases or even pieces of wood.<\/p>\n

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\t\tThis supplied photo of Jeff and Sue Werner\u2019s sunflower farm near Lickdale depicts half of the Liberty Bell artwork that celebrates the county\u2019s rich agricultural heritage that predates the nation\u2019s founding in 1776. The other half of the bell will be painted with the barn that\u2019s located at Union Canal Park in North Lebanon Township. This scene is painted on the wall in the lobby of Visit Lebanon Valley in North Cornwall Township. (Photo credit to Marshall Kramer of Level Eleven)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe surface itself is different\u00a0plus the size of it, and so it\u2019s 3 foot-by-3 foot and a nine-foot surface area I\u2019m painting,\u201d Rudegeair said of his current medium, which has a round surface. \u201cYou sort of have to adapt to it. I just sit in my chair and go in circles around the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rudegeair is painting an agricultural scene of sunflower fields on the state-required Liberty Bell that\u2019s part of the nationwide 250th anniversary celebration of the country\u2019s birthday on July 4, 2026.\u00a0Lebanon County, like the rest of America, will have special celebrations on the anniversary date next summer.<\/p>\n

One side of the bell shows a scene of the fields of Jeff and Sue Werner\u2019s sunflower farm near Lickdale while the opposite side shows the Union Canal tunnel, also with fields of sunflowers in front of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to paint a lot of sunflowers, so I have to make it look like, perspective wise, the sunflowers are up front, the big ones, and then they fade into the background. That\u2019s the trick,\u201d Rudegeair said. \u201cSo up front, I gotta put a lot of detail into the sunflowers but as you go back, it\u2019s less detailed because if it\u2019s too much detail, it will look fake. You want it (the sunflowers) to fade into the background.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\tLebanon artist Jim Rudegeair says the devil is in the details when it comes to creating a piece of artwork that is life-like. Here, he is adding detail to sunflowers at his garage studio in North Lebanon Township. \t\t\t<\/p>\n

The bell, when completed, will reside at Visit Lebanon Valley from sometime in December through the end of next year \u2013 throughout the semiquincentennial anniversary year,\u00a0according to Jen Kuzo, executive director of Visit Lebanon Valley.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst Energy actually was the sponsor for all the bells across the state and the program is called Bells Across Pennsylvania, and we are the host for this (bell),\u201d said Kuzo, who also noted it\u2019s different from the one loaned for the celebration by Lebanon County coroner Dr. Jeffrey Yocum. \u201cThis is a fiberglass bell so the difference between the two is that Doc Yocum has the wooden bell that was carved and this is a fiberglass bell and it will be housed here at Visit Lebanon Valley until Dec. 31, 2026.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kuzo noted that the state required each county to display one of its sponsored bells to be part of its Liberty Bell trail, with each county having its own version of the bell exhibited in a public place through the end of next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a great opportunity to bring more people into the office so that we can indeed educate people about agritourism in the Lebanon Valley and the history, the rich history of the wooden nickel trail and all the historic spots in the Lebanon Valley that we\u2019ll be promoting throughout the year.\u201d Kuzo said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more:\u00a0THIS WILL BE ADDED ONCE THE WOODEN NICKEL STORY RUNS<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\t\tOne side of the Liberty Bell also contains the barn from Union Canal Tunnel Park, along with sunflowers, which encompass the entire 3-by-3 foot bell. <\/p>\n

For America250, Pennsylvania\u2019s \u201cLiberty Bell Trail\u201d is a statewide initiative called \u201cBells Across PA\u201d that places artistic Liberty Bell replicas in all 67 counties. There is not a continuous trail, but rather a network of historical and cultural stops that encourages visitors to explore the commonwealth\u2019s diverse history. The effort is organized by America250PA<\/a>, Pennsylvania\u2019s official semiquincentennial commission.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As of early October, Rudegeair was 50 to 60 percent finished with the project, with a self-imposed finish date of mid-November. He said he is in the toughest part of the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I said, the devil\u2019s in the details. So I have to do that and then I have to get into the fields and then the barns. I have to put the detail into the barns and then I have to do the trees and that all has to be just right,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then an auto body business is going to clear coat it. So it will shine plus make its colors vibrant. Most importantly, that will protect it from the weather and whatnot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rudegeair said that painting so many details into a piece of art that is dominated by sunflower plants can test an artist\u2019s nerves.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\t\tJim Rudegeair has used a stool that rotates around the bell, which is a new process for an artist who is used to painting on flat surfaces. This photo gives a broader view of the barn and adjacent tree that is Union Canal Tunnel Park. The other side of the bell is a scene. from Jeff and Sue Werner\u2019s sunflower farm in Lickdale.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is sort of the nerve-wracking part of it but this is what needs to be done. There\u2019s shadows with the barn \u2019cause I didn\u2019t put those highlights in yet and so many other details of the barn, and then the trees, the actual trees, the top\u2019s all being lighter to make it look like the sun\u2019s coming down on it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He also explained what the first half of the creative process entailed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to put the first layer down, so I started back here at the sky and I worked to the front and then I came into the sunflowers but then I had to start doing the detail backwards, so it is halfway finished,\u201d he said on the day LebTown visited his 10-by-10 garage studio at his home in the 1000 block of Cider Lane, Lebanon. \u201cThese are a thousand sunflowers that I\u2019ll try to make. And I\u2019m used to working in detail. I don\u2019t generally work like this (in a circular motion). So it\u2019s challenging, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

He also needed, at the very start of the job, to see what he would be painting. He visited Visit Lebanon Valley because the wall in the lobby contains a picture of the Werner farm when their sunflowers were in full bloom.<\/p>\n

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\t\tA close-up view of the Werner farm near Lickdale. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey have on the wall\u00a0 a giant picture of a farm, a farm that has sunflower fields. So I took that farm here, that\u2019s on this side, and the barn on that other side is the one that they reconstructed out at the old (Union Canal) tunnel. So it is a joined painting. When it\u2019s on the circumference bell, it (the two scenes) has to join. It has to come together. So again, that\u2019s one of the challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fact that an agricultural scene dominates the bell is not lost on Rudegeair nor Kuzo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s (agriculture) such a big part of our identity. With developments chewing away at all the farms and stuff, I think it\u2019s important to keep it represented, keep it in the forefront \u2019cause the farmers, man, without them, we\u2019re doomed,\u201d said Rudegeair, who also highlighted the importance of food security. \u201cWhat if we had to start importing corn and depending on other countries for grain? That would be a bad feeling. That\u2019s not good. So I think, you know, keeping farms as farms is more important rather than having big ugly warehouses that are an eyesore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think looking towards the future, you always have to honor the past \u2013 and the two are intertwined. I think it\u2019s important to see where you\u2019ve come from as far as looking towards the future. I think it\u2019s important to honor that,\u201d Kuzo said. \u201cAnd thank God for preserved farms and thank God for our peaceful drives to work through the farmlands and, you know, the fields that we have because that\u2019s what sets us apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\tJim Rudegeair said his self-imposed deadline is to have the county\u2019s second Liberty Bell finished by mid-November so it can receive a clear coating to heighten the color and protect it from the elements. When finished, this bell will be unveiled at a special ceremony in December and then reside at Visit Lebanon Valley throughout 2026.<\/p>\n

Rudegeair said one of his influences and favorite painters is Vincent Van Gogh.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what inspired me, I think, were Post-Impressionists,\u201d Rudegeair said. \u201cI would say, you know, this is maybe a more Impressionist kind of painting, if I were to categorize it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kuzo said there\u2019s a plan to unveil the finished bell at an event in December.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe artist believes that he will be done with the oil painting and the finished coat will be on it by early December. At that point we will have a bell ceremony to unveil it here at the (tourism) office,\u201d Kuzo said. \u201cI\u2019d like to have a high school band and something fun to incorporate all of that excitement of that unveiling. And then we\u2019ll have it on display here in our office for the whole year.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t\tA still life painted by Jim Rudegeair earlier this year. Two of his favorite scenes are still life pieces of art and landscape paintings. <\/p>\n

Questions about this story? Suggestions for a future LebTown article? Reach our newsroom using this contact form and we\u2019ll do our best to get back to you.<\/p>\n

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