Good Spirits event celebrates nature and local artists

STATE COLLEGE — The Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania will host its sixth annual Good Spirits fundraiser, featuring art, nature, entertainment, wine-tasting and more, from 3 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17. This year’s nature-themed event will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Hall on Waupelani Drive. In keeping with the event’s theme, the Art Alliance has teamed up with Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center, which will bring a display of birds of prey from its Raptor Center.

Guests will find local artists demonstrating various kinds of art on the lawn, as well as hands-on art activities for all ages and live music by Eric Ian Farmer and Adi Martinez. Food will be provided by Wegmans, and Big Spring Spirits will offer a cocktail tasting. A silent auction will feature nature-inspired artwork, including hand-painted birdhouses.

All proceeds will benefit the Art Alliance, a nonprofit community organization that promotes the arts by hosting artist exhibitions and providing workshops, classes and camps. 

This yearly event is the only fundraiser the Art Alliance holds, and it’s crucial to the organization, according to executive director Marie Doll.

“Most of our earned income comes from membership dues, fees for classes and from grants. That’s not enough to support our mission, so this fundraiser is really important for our budget,” she said.

For most of its 49 years, the Art Alliance has been housed in its own building at 818 Pike St. in Lemont, where classes for adults and teens are taught. In between class sessions, the classroom space is rearranged in order to host an exhibition seven or eight times a year. The organization rents office space and a separate classroom space for kids’ programs in the building next door.

“We are maxed out in our Lemont building,” said Doll. “Our hope is to someday have a big art center with separate spaces for classes and exhibitions so that they can run concurrently. That’s our dream.”

In October, the Art Alliance took a big step by opening a downtown gallery in the Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza on Fraser Street in State College. There, the group hosts a different show each month.

“We’ve wanted to be downtown for a long time,” said Doll. “It’s important to us to be close to the university. We felt it would give us more visibility and reach a new audience, which it has done.”

Doll hopes to continue the Art Alliance’s growth with support from the local community.

Tickets for Good Spirits are $35 in advance and $40 at the door. All ages are welcome to attend, and tickets can be ordered through the website at www.artalliancepa.org or purchased in person at 824 Pike St. in Lemont.

For more information, call (814) 234-2740.