Messiah Homepage News Archive

Messiah’s Harrisburg Institute, in partnership with the Messiah College Department of Visual Arts’ Student Art League, will be on ongoing participant in the City of Harrisburg’s “First Friday Gallery Walk,” when from 6-9 p.m. on the first Friday of every month, local city galleries open their doors for free public art showings in various downtown locations. The Harrisburg Institute, located at 28 Dewberry St., opened its first exhibit on Sept. 4. New monthly exhibits of Messiah student and alumni art will run through the end of the academic year. The Harrisburg Institute’s inaugural exhibit features the work of Messiah College student artists Ammon Perry, Dana Scannapieco, Kelly Sefter, and Eli Smith.

On Sept. 14, author Tracy Kidder shared with an audience of 1,200 Messiah students, faculty and surrounding community members, his experience with researching and writing his enormously influential book, “Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World.” The College selected “Mountains Beyond Mountains” as the 2009 common reading book for Messiah’s first-year students, so Kidder’s Centennial keynote lecture also served as Messiah’s Common Reading Convocation.

“Mountains Beyond Mountains,” captures two global health crises, tuberculosis and AIDS, through the eyes of a single-minded physician bent on improving the health of some of the poorest people on the planet. The story of Dr. Paul Farmer, a major force in revolutionizing international health, is a gripping and inspiring account of one man’s efforts to establish clinics and hospitals - his compassion for the poor, his inner circle of true believers and, ultimately, his success in helping stem the tide of new HIV and TB infections in Haiti. Following his lecture, Mr. Kidder conducted a public book signing and spoke individually with students and guests at a reception in Larsen Student Union, sponsored by Messiah’s Student Programs Office.

View a slideshow of photos from the event.