Hazleton’s creative community spans all genres of the artistic spectrum. When you know where to search, it’s possible to discover local artists and business people morphing the boundaries of artistic norms. Michael Delmonico is one these rare people, questioning the traditional and experimenting with the unusual. Over the course of his photographic career, he has embraced surrealism. At only 23, Delmonico has his own business, Delmonico Photography, in which he is commissioned to create a wide range of work, including surreal creations. Additionally, he has worked weddings, World War II reenactments, and he shoots for a Jim Thorpe podcast at a local theater.

Although art was always a present force in his life, and he sketched as a child, Delmonico ’s passion for photography began in high school. Unafraid of the challenge, he pursued it head on into his college career. He graduated from Luzerne County Community College in 2014 with an associate’s degree in photography. His teachers taught him the necessary basics to the art, but his true outlet for expression flourished while he was out in the world beyond the classroom.

Delmonico has a unique outlook on his creative pursuit. His goal is to discover what he can and cannot achieve. When he finds a technique, tool, or style intriguing, he welcomes the test. This unconventional approach led to his becoming known as a surreal artist. After college, he dove straight into surreal techniques, tampering with exposure, color, and lighting to create enchantingly fantastic and off-kilter scenes. Recently, he has been working on a project titled “Lost Transmissions,” in which he superimposes electronics on top on human heads. This project was inspired by the quote he came up with, “We are all transmissions endlessly floating through space, waiting to be picked up and translated.”

One of Michael’s favorite photography gadgets is his wide-angle lens, allowing him to produce expansive first person images, which he admits, has created some of his most loved works. Right after acquiring his wide angle-lens, he had traveled to Philly during the 4th of July celebration, and was able to take the most magnificent shots of the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Peter and Paul—“It blew my mind,” he remembers.

The same lens produced a breath taking scene looking over the Lehigh Valley Gorge atop of Mount Pisgah in Jim Thorpe.

“I went there with my friend when it was raining. We got there after it rained, and we’re above the cloud line. It’s a super-wide image of the sky, the gorge, the clouds right in front of us. It’s pretty cool.”

Through a friend involved in the Art League and its music events, Delmonico became interested in Hazleton’s AYE. The encouragement of others inspired him to enter his work into the Expo, and even since then Michael has participated and truly enjoyed it. At this year’s Art Youth Expo on Saturday, April 8th, he is hosting an event titled “Back to the 90s” at Shop2 from noon to 3 pm where he will be taking retro photos with a Polaroid camera with a laser beam backdrop. It’s an amazing opportunity to peer into the creative mind of Michael, in person.

Of course, Delmonico has many creative pursuits in the works, including a filming company.

Photography has been a gateway of adventure and discovery for Michael, and from his journey’s he’s shared this advice to aspiring artists, instead of focusing on perfection “notice how you can get better.” His ultimate pursuit is happiness, “it’s what I do when I’m bored. It’s what I like to do, so why not have it be my hobby as well as my profession?”

Wise words for everyone from an artist following his passions.

If you look closely, you will notice that Hazleton is filled with individuals with the vision to improve our city, enrich our community, and inspire the world through art.

Revi Ren is one of the artistic minds in Hazleton doing just that through teaching, galvanizing the spoken word, and inspiring movement. Sometimes simply known as Ren, her pathway to change is rooted in the classroom, but her creative reach spans the community, as she is an active member of Hazleton POWER, as well as one of the coordinators for the Open Mic Night for AYE7’s First FridAYE, as well as the second annual collaborative poetry jam, which was a huge success during AYE6.

It is impossible not to feel Revi’s creative energy as it radiates from her. The rhythm when she speaks, the way she holds herself, and her ideas – all make it clear that she is a born artist. Originally from New York City, Ren’s inspirational spark ignited when she was only five years old playing teacher with her friends. From there, music and poetry were her earliest media of expression. Over the years, her love for music and poetry evolved into songwriting, freestyling, and dancing.

She revealed that during times of sadness, such as the complexity of young adulthood, writing became a form of catharsis. Transforming it into a discipline; she was fixated on writing down synonyms for words and discovering rhythms.

In college, Ren experienced her first real taste of the visual arts. She studied sociology during most of her university career, but in her final year she dabbled in political science and the arts, specifically drawing and photography. Her photography later became another avenue for her expression, featuring a wide range of black and white city scenes.

Her art naturally spilled into her teaching career. “I write and I teach. Those are the things that manifested into who I am,” she says.

In New York, she taught workshops integrating her many artistic passions. When she moved to Hazleton, her desire to share poetry and music in the classroom followed when she began teaching in West Hazleton. Her unique approach to engaging her students is her superpower.

Walking into her sixth grade classroom, she began, “yo, what’s good How you doin’ today? We’re gonna learn some things, we’re gonna learn it some way,” using rhythm, tempo, and rhyme, all key aspects of poetry and music, she told them.

And, they were enchanted by this new style of learning.

Revi, even at her young age, has so much wisdom to share with Hazleton’s community. She attributed her source of motivation to people who share and communicate that they are inspired.

Finally, Revi shared this message to aspiring artists, “You are enough exactly where you are. Forgive yourself if you get overwhelmed.”

Ren has encouraged artists to continually explore their passions and allow themselves time to recharge from the fast pace of the “default world—“ Through this approach you can map out your own unique trail to success, she believes.

Ren’s current goal is to provide platforms for local artists and educators of all disciplines by coordinating events for them to share their creative visions with the community. Currently, she is spearheading an Earth Day event in downtown Hazleton on April 22nd in accordance with Hazleton POWER’s graffiti painting and the Great PA cleanup. She is organizing community service activities, running recycling and food drives, and setting up artistic crafts using recycled materials. All of this is to promote volunteerism, celebrate our city, provide education into environmentalism, and encourage a stronger knit community.

If you’d like to contact Revi, email her at: rattlethebattle@gmail.com