Union County library showcases Chris Pagano wildlife art in Lewisburg exhibit

Chris Pagano’s wildlife and nature artwork is filling Gallery 255 at the Public Library for Union County in Lewisburg through May 30, giving visitors a free stop inside one of the borough’s most familiar public spaces.

The exhibit, which began May 1, features work that celebrates the beauty of Mid-Atlantic wildlife and natural landscapes. That focus makes the show a natural fit for the library, where the gallery space is meant to bring in artists and organizations with artistic, cultural and intellectual work while also drawing attention to the library’s materials and services.

Pagano brings a long regional resume to the Lewisburg display. He studied fine arts and painting at Kutztown University and Texas Lutheran University, trained under Myrtle Waldspurger and Ruth Emerick, and has spent nearly 50 years in a career that included illustrating for Pennsylvania Game News. He has also earned awards in competitions throughout the eastern United States and exhibited across the Mid-Atlantic through solo shows, galleries and festivals.

The setting matters as much as the art. Gallery 255 sits at 255 Reitz Boulevard in the Brookpark Farm development just west of downtown Lewisburg, inside the Public Library for Union County, headquarters of the three-member Union County Library System. The system was established in 1997 by the Union County Commissioners and serves county residents through three independent libraries.

For visitors, the show is easy to work into an ordinary library trip. The Lewisburg branch is open Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., and Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. With the exhibit running the full month, residents have a wide window to see Pagano’s work without treating it like a one-night event.

That steady schedule gives Lewisburg a visible, low-cost arts stop that can reach students, families, library patrons and downtown visitors alike. It also underscores a broader point about Union County’s cultural life: some of the county’s most accessible art is showing up in places people already know, and this month that means the library is doing more than lending books.