The Enduring Appeal of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts
By Holly Riddle
Is there any event that defines State College in the summer quite like the Arts Festival? The first event of its kind in Centre County, it has been a staple since 1967, drawing thousands upon thousands of attendees to downtown streets, where festivalgoers browse the abundance of high-quality artwork, sing and dance along to concerts, play with their children, grab a bite to eat and, altogether, just enjoy a perfect day of summer fun.
Over the last 60 years, The Arts Festival has weathered many challenges that have pulled other arts-focused festivals from existence. The COVID-19 pandemic was among its most significant tests. Organizers were forced to pivot sharply, a successful maneuver that exemplified both their resilience and the community’s stalwart support for the event. The festival has also adapted and evolved alongside the shifting downtown State College landscape, as well as changing attendee needs and wants.
No matter what challenges or evolution has come its way, though, The Arts Festival has always retained the magic that has defined it from the very first day — admittedly a magic that’s easy to take for granted if you’ve grown up attending the festival every summer. To get a glimpse behind the curtain, we spoke with three individuals who have played a role in making The Arts Festival a rousing success for a combined total of more than 100 years.
State College, You’ve Got a Hit on Your Hands
Former Executive Director Rick Bryant was 10 years old during the very first Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. While the event has colloquially become known simply as “Arts Fest,” it’s a term that Bryant himself avoids.
The impetus for the event, he says, was to bring business into downtown State College, after the students left for the season and there simply wasn’t much going on.
The State College Area Chamber of Commerce and Penn State’s College of Arts and Architecture scrappily put together that first festival in a matter of months.
“They got together like Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland in those old movies and said, ‘Hey, we can put on a show in the barn,’” Bryant describes. “It was a different era. … You could make it happen.”
Gov. Raymond Shafer opened the festival with a dramatic helicopter landing on the Old Main lawn. The festival lasted nine days and, while it did feature its characteristic wide range of artisans and performers, it was not a juried show and artist quality varied. Notably, one vendor was supposedly selling kittens.
“It was a success. Obviously, there was a critical mass of musicians, artists, audience members [and] volunteers — and boom. That show that Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland put on in the barn, sometimes it’s a hit,” Bryant says.
The event grew quickly. It switched to a juried show format in 1971. In the 1990s, it adopted the iconic $1 buttons that granted attendees access to certain venues, and First Night State College was also introduced.
As for Bryant’s personal experience, he first became involved with The Arts Festival as a volunteer in 1984. At that time, he worked for his father’s insurance agency, in an office building on South Allen Street that has since been demolished. The festival was taking place right outside the door, and having recently been away to college, Bryant wanted to get out into the community and “meet some people.” He joined a group volunteering to pick up trash and that was it. Bryant was hooked.
“It was a huge team activity. Everybody was in a good mood. You’re doing something that’s not your normal job. If you wear a tie and suit to work, somehow wearing shorts and gloves, picking up chicken-on-a-stick wrappers is fun,” he describes. “Then, a woman who worked across the hall from me said, ‘Oh, hey, there’s this other thing called being an ambassador. … You help out artists in the sidewalk sale, and you don’t [end up with] chicken-on-the-stick juice running down your leg. Maybe you should do that.’”
Bryant took her advice and worked as a sidewalk sale ambassador. Then, in the late 1990s, he left the insurance business to become the festival’s director of visual arts. His involvement with the festival continued to grow, and in 2005 he stepped into the executive director role.
Bryant isn’t the only one who found a lasting home at The Arts Festival. Like Bryant, Carol Baney, director of operations, and Doris Mack, performing arts consultant, have devoted decades to the festival and are both heading into their 31st year with the event.
Baney began her Arts Festival career as an administrative assistant in the 1990s and worked her way up. With a background in health care, she didn’t necessarily anticipate staying so long, but now she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“It’s like a very big family, between the artists that we see every year and the volunteers,” she says. “It’s like we put on a big party for the town and hope that people have a good time.”
Mack, meanwhile, was already working in the arts, specifically for Musikfest in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, when she applied for a job with The Arts Festival to move closer to family. She’s had a hand in the festival’s performing arts operations ever since.
When asked about the most significant changes that have occurred around The Arts Festival over the decades, Bryant, Baney, and Mack all pointed to a few similar themes: Technology has impacted the event itself, as well as attendees, and the arts are more readily accessible than ever.
“In 1967, there was no internet. State College didn’t have a four-lane highway coming to it. The airport was … in Philipsburg. We were a much more isolated community,” says Bryant. “Now, not only is the world at your doorstep, it’s in your pocket with your [cell phone].”
Mack likewise says, “There are so many more entertainment and arts opportunities now. I think 30 years ago, there was Penn’s Woods and Centre Stage, and us. Then People’s Choice started in Boalsburg. There wasn’t the stream of little festivals and events [that exist now].”
Still, events in other towns aren’t viewed as competition. Other arts-focused festivals in the county broaden opportunities for artists — a “rising tide lifts all boats” situation, according to Bryant — and they only add to locals’ summer fun.
That said, that doesn’t mean The Arts Festival doesn’t have some form of competition. In a world of shortening attention spans and scrolling, many arts organizations are reconsidering how they reach new generations. Along those lines, The Arts Festival introduced a mobile app in recent years, making it easier and faster to connect with attendees and share information.
Despite the changes and challenges of the last 60 years, much has remained the same. The Arts Festival’s substantial economic impact continues. It remains a gateway to the arts, exposing Centre Countians to new mediums and performers, often allowing for direct interaction with the artists themselves. The community that came together to pull off that first Arts Festival still rallies behind an event that, for many, marks the best days of the year.
Of course, the event still also relies on a massive amount of work via the hands of long-devoted staff members and volunteers.
That work is well worth it for many, as the magic of The Arts Festival makes itself known in small ways throughout its five days.
“It doesn’t have to be a stop-you-in-your-tracks moment. Seeing a kid with an ice cream cone, or taking a direct hit in the dumping buckets, or somebody saying, ‘Oh, look at the necklace my husband just bought me,’ — the festival is made with a million of those moments,” Bryant says.
He adds, “The world is a completely different place [than it was in 1967], but people still want to come out and be together, listen to music, window-shop, and have chicken-on-a-stick.”
Mack concurs: “You can’t envision State College in July without the Arts Festival.”
Attending This Year’s Arts Festival
The 60th Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts takes place July 8-12, with Children and Youth Day kicking things off on July 8 and the sidewalk sale and exhibition beginning July 9.
The festival will also celebrate its 60th birthday Thursday night with a party and free cupcakes on the Allen Street promenade. New this year, a Live Mural Exhibition will commemorate the country’s 250th anniversary.
Be sure to check out this year’s festival poster as well. In the past, these collectible posters were created by Lanny Sommese, and now his daughter Saige Sommese has taken over the tradition, introducing a fun, bold design to celebrate the event’s 60th anniversary. Posters are available for free throughout State College through July 12.
Additionally, Baney says, “We are glad that People’s Choice is back to Boalsburg and we’re going to offer a shuttle between the two shows… [It’s] great for our audience and their audience.”
When you attend this year’s festival, keep an eye out for Baney and Mack, hard at work keeping the show running, and for Bryant as well — he’s happily back to his roots, volunteering to pick up those pesky chicken-on-a-stick wrappers. T&G
Holly Riddle is a freelance writer for Town&Gown.
