Lebanon countians can help create a mosaic for America’s 250th anniversary

The Lebanon County Committee for American250PA is celebrating America’s 250th anniversary in 2026 by inviting the community to take part in a mosaic art project.

Read More: County America250 Commission plans for Semiquincentennial celebrations

Visit Lebanon Valley received a $10,000 grant from American250PA’s first semiquincentennial grant round for the project, which they’re calling “Our Country, Our County, Our Mosaic.” With a match from Lebanon Federal Credit Union, they brought in artist Linda Billet, who will assemble the tiles into an installation at the Lebanon County Expo Center.

There will be multiple events throughout the next several months where people can come out and design their own tile. Participants choose a larger tile and use a small amount of glue to put smaller pieces on top in whatever design they choose.

At Lebanon Federal Credit Union, people created designs of flowers, a sun, their initials, a pretzel, and more.

Billet said the only rules are that the design cannot hang over the sides, and all pieces need to be adhered to the base piece.

“I just tell them, try to represent yourself,” she said. “It could be a design, it could be a representation, a thing, and I just tell them to have fun.”

Later, she will put the tiles through the kiln. The hard edges will be smoothed out, and the glued pieces will fuse to the base.

Billet had a photo of what the finished product would look like in the expo center. Fitting with the theme of celebrating America, it will be three panels with an American flag and fireworks in the background. Each panel will be 3 feet by 5 feet, so the entire installation will be 9 feet wide.

For now, she said they’re starting with the white parts of the design. Once they have enough of those, they will move on to the other colors.

Billet said community involvement in the arts is important.

“There is a growing evidence base that’s increasingly robust that shows that the arts can create a healthier community,” she said. “Art supports help and wellbeing, and this is a great example because of all of the representation across the county.”

Using a mosaic to create the finished piece allows for many people to get involved and be represented in the final creation.

“I’ve been doing these community projects, and I mostly work with kids, and everybody wants to do what they want to do, and it’s obviously going to be more fun that way. In this, they can do whatever they want on their tile. I think that’s what makes this a cool project,” she said. “We’re doing many of these workshops across the county, and for me, the more people who contribute a tile, the more our finished product represents.”

Billet said there isn’t a set date for when the mosaic will be revealed, but they’re aiming for December or January.

Claire de Boer, one of the project managers, said the unveiling will offer some “really empowering” experiences for everyone who created a tile. People will clamor toward the art piece, looking closely for the tile they made, and pointing out cool designs from others.

De Boer said the unveiling will offer some “really empowering” experiences for everyone who created a tile. People will clamour toward the art piece, looking closely for the tile they made and pointing out cool designs from others.

Future workshops:

• April 27: Earth Day at Lawn Fire Hall from 1 to 3 p.m.
• May 10: Cornwall parking lot of Lebanon Valley Rail Trail from 10 a.m. to noon.
• May 10: Cornwall Iron Furnace from 1 to 3 p.m.
• May 31: Clarence Schock Environmental Center from 10 a.m. to noon.
• June 3: Chautauqua Summer Program in Mount Gretna’s Hall of Philosophy at 6 p.m.

But de Boer said this list isn’t finite. They want to get as many people involved as possible and are open to adding workshops to the list if organizations are interested in hosting, though it will depend on availability and timing.

“We just really want to give everybody in the county a chance to participate, so we’re trying to have really accessible locations for our workshops,” de Boer said. “We want to continue to have them in places where people who aren’t usually able to do something like this get to do it. If somebody wants to host a workshop, we’re not strict-strict about our list, so we could fit in another one.”