Commerce Bank helps VanGo! stay on road

Commerce Bank has announced its fourth year of support of the VanGo! art museum on wheels mobile art exhibit, presented by the Susquehanna Art Museum.

Commerce donated $5,000 this year.

Developed in 1992, VanGo! is to provide exposure to original works of art for people who otherwise lack such opportunities. Susquehanna Art Museum’s belief is that an art educational experience of quality should expose viewers to the primary source, rather than reproductions.

“The outreach delivered by VanGo! is a wonderful match of Commerce Bank’s commitment to education and the arts,” says Commerce Bank Chairman, President and CEO Gary L. Nalbandian.

“It is gratifying to know that more children and adults will benefit from this cultural resource because of our contribution, and, we are proud to continue our support.”

Thousands view van

Wendy Sweigart, director of outreach education for VanGo!, says “contributors like Commerce Bank keep the wheels of VanGo! turning. During the past year, nearly 21,000 individuals saw the traveling exhibit.”

The specially refurbished bus is temperature controlled to properly maintain conditions for preserving art.

The vibrantly painted bus features a larger-than-life likeness of painter Vincent Van Gogh and serves 10 south-central Pennsylvania counties but has also traveled to Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Scranton.

VanGo! follows the school year, exhibiting from September through July. The museum also travels to community festivals, business centers and retirement facilities.

The exhibit changes every year, and artists from around the world who have exhibited in galleries and museums are chosen to participate.

The 2005-06 exhibit, “Rolling Rainbow: Color Matters,” features artists who create crafts, photography, sculpture, drawings and paintings that emphasize the use of color.

Schools visited

Educational components include an all-school assembly and an interdisciplinary teacher’s manual that includes “quickstep” art activities and museum etiquette work sheets. All components are intended to provide a hosting school’s teacher a means to incorporate art into their curriculum.

Manuals can be downloaded from website http://www.sqart.org.

To arrange for VanGo! to visit a school or other institution, call Wendy Sweigart at 233-8668 or wsweigart@sqart.org.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.