When Dan Bare was four, one of his favorite activities was to get his art supplies and draw the characters he saw in the cartoons in the Sunday paper. From these beginnings sprang a lifelong love of art, leading to both a pastime and a career in the field.


Enriching


Each Day, Together


H


is name is also very familiar to those in Lancaster’s large tennis community. After starring as the highest ranked player for Manheim Township all four years of high school, he went on to the same role at Kutztown University, where he


graduated. Later, he returned to Manheim Township as an art teacher and was the head boy’s tennis coach for nearly four decades, during which his players won more than 90 percent of their matches!


Now retired, Dan comes to Landis Adult Day Services (ADS) twice a week. Te team members look forward to his coming because they know they are in for a treat. He creates works of art for the group, including drawings of fantastic animals and poems that connect with the drawings. His creations even poke goodhearted fun at Director Christy Carpenter and her team.


“I draw for the sheer enjoyment of it,” says Dan. “Most of my work is realistic, but it is also fun to do some more abstract items.” In recent years he has taken traditional Pennsylvania Dutch “hex sign” designs and reinterpreted them with more modern motifs.


ADS Activities Coordinator Leone Wagner is a big fan of Dan’s work. “His obvious appreciation for nature is evident in his amazing art of wildlife and his beloved cats in whimsical play. His memories of classmates and times past spring from the blank cardstock we provide for him, which he transforms into people he remembers, colleagues, neighbors, and on it goes.”


“Sometimes he draws pictures and surrounds them with poems or silly rhymes that make us all laugh!” She goes on to note, “He has become well-known for his ability to see pictures of our homes and draw amazingly detailed versions that are well worth hanging on our walls!”


“He just dives into each day fully, and his art is his vehicle for doing that. Dan often comes to Adult Day Service with the greeting ‘Happy Unbirthday!’ Tat way, even if there is not a birthday, he makes each day seem special.”


Landis.org | FLOURISH | Summer 2021 • 15


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