Art: Bruce Johnson
Pennsylvania-born artist Bruce Johnson earned a BFA from Philadelphia College of Art in 1966. He served as an Army illustrator in Heidelburg, Germany, designing underground briefing rooms and creating magazine artwork. Later, his career spanned work for WITF-TV, Harrisburg, to executive art director for Armstrong World Industries, Lancaster, before pursuing a career as a fine artist. He traveled to England, Germany, China, Russia, France, Switzerland, Thailand, Indonesia, and other countries to paint watercolors and exhibit in 64 one-man shows. Bruce’s prints and originals are represented in private and corporate collections worldwide. His work includes bronze sculptures, silk-screens, original lithographs, and offset prints. After the Susquehanna Art Museum held a retrospective show of his work, Stackpole Publishing Company released “It’s A Fine Line,” a book encompassing his pen and ink drawings from 25 years. He currently resides in Delaware.
Creative Writing: Evelyn M. Potochny, DO
Evy Potochny is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. She serves as Blood Banking/Transfusion Medicine Fellowship Director, Associate Residency Program Director for Anatomic & Clinical Pathology, and Medical Director of Apheresis and the Stem Cell Collection Program. For the last two years, she facilitated Student Writers Group workshops offered through the College of Medicine and Department of Humanities.
Photography: Jay Ressler
Award-winning Fine Art Photographer Jay Ressler has an eye that can capture the soul of a Havana backstreet as beautifully as the sip of a hungry hummingbird. Also known as an encaustic and oil painter creating composite images, Jay increasingly extends his multi-layered approach to loosely rendered paintings inspired by details of some of his surreal photographs. His encaustic creations use ancient techniques beginning with cooking his own recipes of beeswax and resin. He studied advanced digital photography at Pittsburgh Filmmakers and graduated from Albright College, Reading, with a degree in psychology. He serves as president of the Berks Art Alliance and Art Plus Gallery Board of Directors, West Reading. Together with his artist-wife Martha, the couple nurtures a small forest of native trees they planted on their farm near Hamburg.
Theme: Andrew S. Freiberg, MD
Andrew S. Freiberg, MD, serves as a board-certified Pediatric Hematologist/Oncologist and an Associate Professor of pediatrics at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. He focuses on teaching medical students, serves as a long-time society advisor coach, and since 2014, leads the Global Health Scholars Program site for Macha Mission Hospital in rural Zambia. He received his medical degree from the University of California, Los Angeles. He completed his pediatric residency at Kaiser Foundation Hospital, San Francisco. He then completed a hematology/oncology fellowship at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, before moving to Hershey. In his own words, “I have been here at Penn State College of Medicine since 1992, so when I celebrated my 25th anniversary, the college was exactly twice that old. My focus has always been to break down barriers between patient and doctor, adult and child, and between teacher and student, so I strive to have students with me as much as possible, especially in the clinic. Wild Onions is a perfect way to bring us all closer together. I consider it an honor to be selected as the theme judge for 2023.”