Designing Hamburg
By: Dan Roman - 05/10/2006

With modern technology, Historic Hamburg PA resident and Contemporary Figurative Artist Eric Armusik has the ability to recreate the past at the touch of his fingers. For the past six years, the 33-year-old artist and designer has worked with Our Town Foundation (OTF), Hamburg's state-sponsored downtown revitalization program, to give some of Hamburg's historic buildings a virtual makeover.
Almost since its inception, OTF has offered grants for owners of downtown buildings who want to spruce up the exterior of their buildings. Such façade grants have helped reshape the look of some downtown Hamburg buildings. Most notably, at the corner of State and South Fourth streets, three of the four corner buildings have taken advantage of the available grant money. Some of these business owners have their own vision for their building's exterior makeover. Others are less certain.

Deena Kershner, the program director for OTF, said there is help available for the less design-savvy."There is assistance for people who want to make renovations, but who are not sure what they want to do," Kershner said.Through Kershner, some of Hamburg's historic buildings have gone through Armusik's virtual redesigns. "If it's just a matter of picking a paint color, then the program's design committee can help," Kershner said. "But he [Armusik] does more detailed work."

As part of its charter, OTF has a standing design committee responsible for directing the overall look of the town with a goal of maintaining the historic character of the downtown area. They are the beauty gurus of the program. Kershner, however, has called on Armusik on several occasions to provide a mock up - or full-color model - of what a building will look like after it has undergone a façade renovation. To achieve this, Armusik starts with a digital photograph of the building in question and uses a computer program to color, shade, and landscape the building's exterior. Most recently, Armusik has applied this technique to the VFW building at State and Fourth streets. He is currently working on a mock up of the streetscape project that will begin in the next few months. "I try to mimic the architecture of the era," Armusik said. "This area has a folksy heritage. I try not to be too outrageous." Armusik often calls on his wife Rebekah when choosing color schemes to compliment surrounding structures and coincide with the desires of the OTF design committee. "You want the building to be noticed in a good way," Rebekah said. Together, the couple has spent years vacationing in, and studying the architecture, of historic towns and their buildings. After moving to Hamburg six years ago, the two renovated their own Victorian-era home in town. "This town has amazing potential with all these beautiful brick structures," Armusik said, pointing out the craftsmanship that is often hidden behind paint and siding. Armusik is uniquely qualified to judge such craftsmanship. He started working in carpentry beside his contractor father at the age of 10 and also holds a degree in fine art, having studied classical painting in Italy (see ericarmusik.com).

In a relatively short period of time, the Wilkes-Barre native has left an imprint on Hamburg. Armusik was responsible for the OTF logo that now graces t-shirts, road signs, and town banners. And as a loving ode to the town's historic architecture that drew him and his wife to the area, Armusik continues to refine his Web site, www.historichamburg.com, which shows the town's works in progress.
Armusik is an enthusiastic supporter of the goal of OTF to restore the commercial life of the downtown district while maintaining its historic character. "It's important to plant a seed and OTF is doing that," Armusik said. "This town is moving in a great direction."

©Berks-Mont Newspapers 2006 -  Article courtesy of the Hamburg Area Item