MIFFLINTOWN — Across Pennsylvania, counties are getting ready to celebrate America’s 250th birthday with an impressive statewide art installation.

Bells Across PA will see 67 fiberglass Liberty Bells placed in each county, designed with images of the people, places and things that make each county so special.

The Liberty Bell is not only an iconic symbol of America, but it’s also an enduring symbol of Pennsylvania.

And starting this summer, each and every county in the state will have a unique bell of its own. Juniata County’s bell is currently being worked on by artist Hannah Tamanini, a Mifflintown native and substitute teacher for the Juniata County School District.

“It was definitely an unexpected honor,” said the 24-year-old Tamanini of having her design selected as the winning entry. “This project was a lot different from what I would normally do.

“The 3-D shape of a bell is not easy to paint on,” Tamanini added. “For being a young, trying-to-get-out-there artist, this is a great opportunity to get my work out there and get known a little bit more.”

In a few weeks, her name might be ringing through the county.

Save the date! Juniata County’s Liberty Bell unveiling is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 28, at the historic Pomeroy-Academia Covered Bridge, located at 70 Mill Road in Port Royal.

A young artist born and raised in Juniata County, Tamanini started her artistic journey by taking as many art classes as she could at East Juniata High School before furthering her education at Edinboro University (now PennWest University). As a dual major, she received a bachelor’s in art education and a bachelor’s of fine arts in illustration.

“I am currently trying to build my art presence while working as a substitute teacher and a waitress at the Bread of Life Restaurant (in McAlisterville),” Tamanini added. “I’ve been surrounded by the beauty of Pennsylvania’s landscapes all my life, so I am excited to have the opportunity to portray my vision of the county I’ve grown up in.”

Her bell is titled, “Beauty of the Standing Stone.” Those landscapes served as the inspiration for her design, which features the Pomeroy-Academia Covered Bridge and was chosen from three artists who submitted ideas to a panel of sponsors.

“I was very pleasantly surprised and honored to be chosen,” Tamanini said.

Only a handful of people have seen the finished product.

Jessica Eaton Guyer is not one of them. The curator for the Tuscarora Academy Museum and volunteer with the Juniata County Historical Society, she is Juniata County’s representative on the Pennsylvania Commission for the United States’ semi quincentennial celebration, which is commemorating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States in 2026. Guyer wants to be surprised like most people at the unveiling.

“I have the design she submitted that got her chosen as our artist, so I generally know what to expect with the bridge, fields and other PA symbols,” Guyer said. “I think overall I’ll just be very happy for her to have this honor, and I’m sure it will be outstanding to see in person.”

Although her final design is painted on a 3-foot by 3-foot fiberglass replica of the Liberty Bell, she started the project by creating a 3-inch by 3-inch version of the bell using polymer clay.

After painting her design on the miniature bell, she used a projector to cast her design on the fiberglass bell, adjusting the scale of the smaller bell to the larger surface.

“It gave me a good start of drawing the bridge and some of the trees,” explained Tamanini, who created a digital sketch to work from. “From there, I was able to kind of eyeball where everything else went and keep it pretty well proportionate.”

The most difficult part of painting came with the bell’s odd shape where it curved. “The fence posts were vertical, and I wanted them to look correct on a curved surface like that,” she said.

Overall, it took Tamanini a couple weeks to complete the bell. The only work to be done now is to have it sprayed with a clear coating to seal the acrylic paint and protect it.

While sketches had imagery from drives through the Juniata County countryside, there were parts of it that came from work she had painted previously — watercolor and pencil artwork as well as a series of postcards.

This included the farm buildings in the backgrounds to the purple-colored mountains. There’s also a great deal of symbolism in her design, from historic landmarks like the bridge to the Mountain Laurel, the official state flower; Eastern Hemlock, the state tree; and the Ruffed Grouse, the state bird.

“I enjoyed having little details like that since agriculture and nature are so important to this area,” said Tamanini, who spent time researching the county while working on her design.

She discovered that the name “Juniata,” a Seneca name, originally meant “standing stone.”

Tamanini is counting down the days until the bell is unveiled. “I was nervous to find out if I was chosen,” she said. “Then I was nervous to have the final clear coat to be put over it. Now that the actual day is almost here, I’m going to be nervous to have everyone see it.”

And join in the celebration to ring in America’s birthday.