Arts Festival Names New Executive Director

For the first time in nearly two decades, the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts has a new leader.

The festival’s board of directors has appointed Pamela Snyder Etters as executive director, effective Feb. 10, according to a news release on Tuesday. She succeeds Rick Bryant, who retired in January after 18 years in the role and more than 35 years with the organization as a volunteer and staff member.

Etters comes to the Arts Festival from Blair County, where she led Citizens for the Arts in Pennsylvania for the last two years and previously served as executive director of the Altoona Symphony Orchestra for nearly nine years.

“On behalf of the entire board and the hundreds of volunteers who support the Arts Festival, we are excited and ready to assist Pam as she leads our great staff towards a bright future and new ideas for our beloved festival,” Carolyn Donaldson, president of the festival’s Board of Directors, said in a statement. “With her expertise, I am confident Pam will build on the impressive legacy of former Executive Director Rick Bryant.”

Etters’ last two leadership roles were highlighted by “gains in organizational and financial management” for both organizations, according to the board.

“As an artist herself, Pam combines her experience in arts-related nonprofit leadership with her belief in the arts as a platform for youth empowerment and social connection,” the news release stated.

She is the founder and lead muralist within the Murals Talk Foundation, uses mural construction to build bridges over cultural, social and economic gaps for youth. 

Etters also is the head women’s soccer coach at Penn State Altoona and has been involved in community and cultural associations, including Arts Altoona, the City of Altoona Beautification Committee, Explore Altoona and the Blair 9/11 Committee. 

“There are no words to adequately express the amount of enthusiasm with which I enter my new role as Executive Director with the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts,” Etters said. “Rick Bryant has left me some big shoes to fill, but I am excited to work with the staff and board to uphold the strong traditions of the festival while navigating the need to adapt to modern societal preferences.”

Founded in 1967, the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts annually draws hundreds of local and national artists, along with more than 100,000 visitors, to downtown State College each summer. The 2023 festival is set for July 12-16.

In addition to the namesake summer festival, Etters will be responsible for overseeing the organization’s First Night State College, a family-friendly New Year’s celebration held annually on Dec. 31 downtown.