![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787441318_824_REG-L-VeachGoggleWorks1186.jpg\")
The Moshannon Creek between Centre and Clearfield counties in central Pennsylvania runs yellow with acid mine drainage from abandoned coal mines. (Courtesy of Sally Veach)<\/p>\nSally Veach views her art as an act of atonement.<\/p>\n
In the 19th century, her fourth great-uncle sold land in Centre and Clearfield counties to coal companies that mined underground until the seams played out in the mid-20th century.<\/p>\n
The mines were abandoned, and the acid drainage from the flooded mines has leached into the water of the Moshannon Creek, turning it yellow.<\/p>\n
The Moshannon Creek between Centre and Clearfield counties in central Pennsylvania runs yellow with acid mine drainage from abandoned coal mines. (Courtesy of Sally Veach)<\/p>\n
The Moshannon Creek Watershed Association was formed to try to mitigate the damage, Veach said as she put the finishing touches on her exhibit at the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts in Reading.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re doing passive and active treatment to restore the watershed,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re getting grants to build the treatment plants, but they need day-to-day operational support. So I decided to do this personal project of atonement.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 10 drawings comprise the exhibit \u201cYellow Boy: Ancestral Reckoning on the Red Moshannon,\u201d a part of her larger exhibit \u201cHubris and the Sublime,\u201d which will open Aug. 21 with an artist\u2019s reception from 6 to 8 p.m. at the GoggleWorks, 201 Washington St. The exhibit runs through Oct. 12.<\/p>\n
Veach, who lives and works in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, created the drawings using iron oxide pigments derived from mine drainage in eastern Pennsylvania along with pieces of coal she picked up from land once owned by her ancestors.<\/p>\n
She will donate 100% of the proceeds from the sale of the drawings to the watershed association.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt all ties in with my overarching interest as an artist in the natural world and our place in it,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t even like to say our place in it because what we do within the natural world and the fact that we\u2019re part of nature, but also stand apart from nature, is very interesting to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
The title of this section of her exhibit is derived from the 18th century British and Welsh slang for the gold guinea coin, a term the immigrants brought to the mines in the 19th century, when it was used to refer to the waste sludge, Veach said.<\/p>\n
Her drawings steeped in the ochre of the mines depict the shadows of what a healthy stream would look like with vibrant brook trout, stoneflies, mayflies and caddisflies.<\/p>\n
![\"Sally](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787441319_69_REG-L-VeachGoggleWorks1192.jpg\")
Sally Veach\u2019s \u201cRed Mo #9 \/Gilded Age Stonefly\u201d is a painting on display at the GoggleWorks that was created with pigments from acid mine drainage from abandoned coal mines. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
Overlaid on the drawings are images from 19th century textile designs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese patterns all happened in the Gilded Age,\u201d she said. \u201cLike even Reading. I drive around Reading and think this is Gilded Age, and a time capsule. It\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her drawings are done on handmade paper. The works were float mounted for the exhibit.<\/p>\n
She sees her drawings much like those living time capsules, with the pigments and lines drawn with coal changing with the passage of time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt becomes a time-based piece as well,\u201d Veach said. \u201cIt\u2019s curious what will happen over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although wishing to atone for the environmental damage that the coal mining reaped, she doesn\u2019t judge her ancestor\u2019s role in it.<\/p>\n
![\"Sally](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787441319_573_REG-L-VeachGoggleWorks1189.jpg\")
Sally Veach\u2019s \u201cRed Mo #1\/Brook Trout\u201d is a painting on display at the GoggleWorks that was created with pigments from acid mine drainage from abandoned coal mines. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
Both the grandfathers of one of the watershed association\u2019s members were coal miners, Veach said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s proud of them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe says the coal mining was like this. This much was good,\u201d she said, extending her arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis much is bad,\u201d she said, narrowing the space. \u201cThat\u2019s how he feels. They were able to come from eastern Europe and make a living.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of thoughts that keep swimming around.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like the brook trout and the mayflies and the stoneflies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re a nice symbol,\u201d she said, \u201cof maybe doing something good in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sally Veach views her art as an act of atonement. In the 19th century, her fourth great-uncle sold…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,182,139,858,28,736,128,130,129,289,6056],"class_list":["post-270398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-ontap","tag-pennsylvania","tag-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-things-to-do","tag-top-stories-rhr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270398","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=270398"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/270398\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=270398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=270398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=270398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}