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LEWISTOWN - Jennifer Hartzler always dreamed of having her oil paintings known nationally. Hartzler would be thrilled to have her work recognized internationally.
But extraterrestrially? Well, the notion of that just seems out of this world to the Mifflin County High School art teacher. She's counting down to the liftoff as three of her pieces are set to be launched into outer space.
Hartzler's work is headed to the moon in time capsules.
The paintings, "Sacred Resource" and "Princess Redefined," from the 2018 exhibit "Miniatures" are on a Peregrine One time capsule going to Oceanus Procellarum.
"Sacred Resource" is a painting of an African-American girl, while "Princess Redefined" is a portrait of a toddler diagnosed with down's syndrome. The Barbie dolls around her head create a tension about how we should examine society's standards of beauty and its impact on young girls. This painting was sold to a collector in the Netherlands.
Her work, "Cassiopeia" from the 2022 exhibit "Mujer" is included in the Polaris time capsule bound for the Lunar South Pole. The model of "Cassiopea" was one of Natalie Bachman, one of Hartzler's former art students who went on to minor in art at Shippensburg University.
"I painted her because she had a very fun spirit, she was beautiful and kind," Hartzler said. "One day, she had a jean jacket on with a bunch of patches on the back with shooting stars, cosmic imagery, etc., and I just snapped a photo with her in it."
For the "Mujer" show, artists were supposed to paint another female artist. Bachman bought the piece, although "I'm sure she doesn't know it's going to the Moon," Hartzler joked.
"For me, this is one of the biggest things I've ever done," Hartzler said. "Mostly because of the other artists involved. I've been watching them for years. It's neat to be lumped in with them."
Actual paintings are not headed to space; photographs of Hartzler's work as well as that of other artists who were chosen have been loaded onto a flash drive.
Dr. Samuel Peralta, owner of Incandence Corp. of Toronto, Canada, is privately funding the time capsule part of the project. He is working with NASA, which is funding the lunar landers. The Peregrine One launch is scheduled for this year on May 3, while the Polaris launch will follow in November 2024.
Peralta put together the time capsules for astronauts to view and read during future lunar visits.
Peralta has had one successful launch so far, with the Artemis 1 on Nov. 16, 2022. It's been three years since he started the project, and he's watched it literally take off.
"I have over 30,000 artists onboard," Peralta said. "But very likely a few works going up in 2023 and those same works and more works going up in 2024. The 2024 launch includes a back-up of all works on the first three launches and new work.
"I'm very excited," he added. "It is the first mission to put work of women artists on the Moon."
Peralta said representatives from every state in the United States, along with every province and territory in Canada and more than 150 countries around the world are included.
"It's also possibly the most globally expansive art project launched into space," Peralta added. "We have writers, artists, musicians and filmmakers. It started small, with just my works - and my mom's - who is an artist. But my works include anthologies that I've edited, so that means all those authors go up with me. Then I thought, what if I could share the joy I feel with other writers, other artists - and that's how it grew."
Hartzler is just honored to have her work along for the ride. She never imagined when she entered her work in juried shows in Denver that they would eventually lead to them being selected for the time capsules. The gallery where the work appeared cataloged all of the art in the show, which was then tabbed by Peralta.
"For the past couple of years, I've been part of an art group out of Chicago," Hartzler said of PoetsArtists, which has helped to increase the exposure for her paintings.
She and her husband, Cheston, live in Belleville and have two children, Ella, 13, and Oliver, 9.
"They think it's really cool," Hartzler said. "For me, it's literally out of this world."
To view more of Hartzler's work visit www.jenniferhartzlerart.com. To learn more about the Lunar Codex project, visit www.lunarcodex.com.