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On Tuesday evening, the public was given its first chance to see proposed artwork that would be installed in front of Lancaster's Amtrak station as part of the station's ongoing renovation.
Proposals from the three finalists were displayed amid the near-chaos of the concourse of Clipper Magazine Stadium, as the Lancaster Barnstormers played the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs.
Kerry Sherrin Wright, founder of the nonprofit Poetry Paths project, and Tashya Leaman Dalen, the program director, stopped passersby to ask them what they thought of the proposals.
Sadie Parmer paused from her broom and dustpan to look over the displays.
"I like the rings," she declared. "It shows the connection to the people."
The rings, proposed by Alastair Noble and Kathy Bruce of Easton, uses a ringed quilt theme to bring poetry and artwork to the green space in front of the McGovern Avenue train station.
The pathways would have poetry etched in granite, and a center archway would have words cut into metal that people could read on the ground on sunny days.
"It shows the changes in Lancaster and in Lancaster County, how it's never ending," Parmer said.
Le Hinton, of East Hempfield, also quickly made his recommendation. Hinton had an obvious bias. His is one of the poems selected for "A river of ideas — a river of poems," the proposal by James Fuhrman, of Glenmoore, and poetry consultant Anne Kaier.
Hinton said he was contacted by Kaier after she found a book of his poetry in a local bookstore.
His poem was included along with one from Rebecca Gonzales, of York, and Dean Young, a native of Columbia.
The local poets' work would be engraved in stainless steel that would sit atop a low wall along pathways in the green space. The metal would have an uneven finish, intended to be reminiscent of flowing water.
Along with the local writers, the wall would include lines from Shakespeare's "The Tempest," Homer's "Odyssey," as well as poetry by Langston Hughes and Basho.
"It's exciting," Hinton said of having his work included among some of the most famous poets in history. Yet, he added, "Poetry — the actual work — is really the thing."
The third finalist, picked from 50 artist submissions, is for a "Poetry Typewriter," a large sculpture which would be placed near the center of the green. Stepping stones would be shaped as pages, with each page etched with a sonnet. The proposal was submitted by James Simon Sculpture of Pittsburgh, with sonnets written by Pittsburgh writers Terrance Hayes and Nancy Krygowski.
The last sonnet would be written by them based on ideas submitted by Lancaster residents. Typewriters would be placed at public places, such as cafes, where people would have the opportunity to write their ideas.
The finalists will be shown again Thursday, noon-3 p.m., at Franklin & Marshall College's Philadelphia Alumni Writers House, 633 College Ave., and from 4-6 p.m. at the Amtrak station, 53 McGovern Ave.
And on Friday from 5 to 7 p.m., at the Pennsylvania College of Art & Design, 204 N. Prince St., during First Friday activities.
A seven-member panel will consider the public responses before making a decision next month. The $75,000 project is being funded through a foundation grant and private donations.
