Kutztown Church to Celebrate Life of Professor Henry W. Sharadin

Sharadin served on the faculty of Keystone State Normal School for more than 30 years.

Kutztown, PA (09/27/2017) — St. Paul's United Church of Christ will celebrate dedication Sunday on Oct. 8 at 2 p.m. The church will dedicate improvements made over the past few years and gifts made by members of the congregation. St. Paul's is located at 47 South Whiteoak St., Kutztown. Speaking at the event will be Jerry Silberman, KU vice president for Administration and Finance. An open house will immediately follow the dedication.

Among those items being dedicated is a newly restored mural created more than 60 years ago by the late Henry W. Sharadin. The nine-foot by 14-foot mural was originally installed in the church's former Sunday school building which has since been demolished. The mural was broken into eight pieces in order to remove it from the building. It has been restored by local artist Johnathan Bond, Kempton, and installed in the church's new Sharadin Lounge.

Born in 1872, Sharadin was an 1891 graduate of Keystone State Normal School. After Keystone he received degrees in art from both the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Arts, Philadelphia, and the Metropolitan Art School, New York City.

After several years of operating a gallery in Reading, Sharadin came back to Keystone in 1907 and served on the faculty for more than 30 years, retiring in 1939 from what was then Kutztown State Teachers College. He taught art for the Allentown School District from 1916 - 1919, his only departure from KSNS during his teaching career.

In 1924, Keystone State Normal School was granted authority to institute a three-year course designed to prepare and certify art supervisors. Sharadin became the first chair of what is now the Department of Art Education and Crafts.

Sharadin died in April, 1966, at the age of 93. The Sharadin Arts Building on the campus of Kutztown University is named in his honor.

For more information contact John Keiser, consistory president, St. Paul's United Church of Christ, at 610-683-3130.

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