The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, P.O. Box 1023, State College, PA 16804 25 June 2014 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Rick Bryant, Executive Director E-mail: rbryant@arts-festival.com The 48 th annual Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts will take place Wednesday, July 9 through Sunday, July 13 on the streets of downtown State College and the adjacent Penn State campus. Founded by the State College Chamber of Commerce and Penn State s College of Arts and Architecture, the Festival attracts about 100,000 visitors each summer. The Festival features the nationally recognized Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition, a juried gallery exhibition, Children and Youth Day, the Downtown State College Italian Street Painting Festival, educational opportunities, music, dance and theatrical performances in a variety of outdoor and indoor venues. The 2014 Arts Festival commences with Children and Youth Day on Wednesday, July 9, which features programs and events designed especially for the young and young at heart. From 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. the Children & Youth Sidewalk Sale, sponsored by Penn State Federal Credit Union, will be held on South Allen Street. An estimated 175 young Central Pennsylvania artists are expected to showcase their original works. Other Children and Youth Day activities include free arts and crafts workshops on the Old Main Lawn and in State College s Sidney Friedman Park. Musical and dance performances tailored to the young will take place at various stages around town thanks to ten local student ensembles and performing arts schools. However, for some, the highlight of the day will come at 4:00 p.m. with the 2014 Children and Youth Day Grand Procession. Over 300 children (accompanied by some parents) will carry small, medium and large papier-mâché puppets, masks and drums. The procession will begin on the Old Main lawn and travel through downtown State College as it makes its way to Sidney Friedman Park.
The Pat Farrell Community Sing-Along will be on Wednesday, July 9 at 7:30 p.m. in the State College Presbyterian Church. Young and old, those who can sing and those who can t are invited to join former Director of Choral Activities at Penn State and Music Director of the State College Choral Society Douglas Miller and Essence of Joy Director Tony Leach as we all come together to make some joyful noise. The event is free. On Thursday, July 10 at 10:00 a.m. the award winning Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition will open. Sidewalk Sale hours are 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, and noon to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. The works of more than 300 exhibitors comprise one of the nation s best juried fine art and craft shows. A panel of five jurors will award over $17,000 in prize money to winning exhibitors during a ceremony at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 12, at the Allen Street Stage. For the second year, the Arts Festival allows you to take home a bit of Pennsylvania agriculture with selected Pennsylvania artisanal food products. Four Pennsylvania artisanal food producers will be selling their products at the intersection of Foster Avenue and South Allen Street. Hours of the artisanal food area will be the same as those for the Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition, 10:00 to 8:00 July 10-12, noon to 5:00, July 13. Participating food merchants include: Gemelli Bakery, Tait Farm Foods, Razz s Shagbark Hickory Syrup, and Red Hawk Premium Peppers. An annual favorite, the CPFA Silent Auction will be returning this year as well. The 2014 Silent Auction will be in its traditional spot on the 100 block of South Allen Street. The Silent Auction opens on Thursday, July 10 at noon. It is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Sunday hours are from noon to 5 p.m. It s a great place to see a sampling of all the great fine art and craft in the Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition. Proceeds of the Silent Auction help to defray the costs of the Festival. The Festival s Seeing America: Centre County in Photographs exhibit is at The Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania, 824 Pike Street, Lemont. The photos of Centre County taken in the last 18 months were selected by juror Barbara Houghton. She is a working and teaching photographer who is known for her narrative fine art images and installation pieces that include her photographs with video and objects. The exhibit is open from June 30 through July 13. The 2014 Downtown State College Italian Street Painting Festival honors the 16 th century Italian tradition of using special chalks to paint on the street. Look for the Italian Street Painting Festival on the 100 block of Heister Street in downtown State College. A variety of local visual artists will create 6-foot by 4-foot paintings. For a $5 fee, Young Artists Alley gives children the opportunity to create a 1-foot-square street painting. Artists work July 10 through the 12. The Italian Street Painting Festival is sponsored by Downtown State College.
The fifth annual BookFestPa will take place on Saturday, July 12 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Schlow Centre Region Library and the library s BookFest tent. This year s featured authors include Scott Weidensaul, Rebecca Hirsch, and Rebecca Thornburgh. There will be more than a dozen local authors in the BookFest tent. For more information go to bookfestpa.org. The Festival presents sacred music this year by the Academy of Sacred Music. The Academy of Sacred Music Choral Institute is a workshop for singers and conductors. Under the direction of Robert Long, the 2014 Choral Institute performance focuses on The Creation: A Rock Cantata by David Bobrowitz and Steven Porter. The concert will also feature selections from Gioachino Rossini s Petite Messe Solennelle with soloists. The Choral Institute Choir will perform at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 12 in the State College Presbyterian Church. The Festival is eager to welcome back Ensemble Galilei, performing First Person: Seeing America. The ensemble will take the stage Saturday, July 12 at 2:30 p.m. at the State Theatre, with narration by Adrian LaTourelle and Kimiko Gelman. Ensemble Galilei has an encore performance later that evening at 8:00 p.m. in the same location. With images from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the poetry and prose of some of America s greatest writers, the group is excited to present an ambitious piece for the audience. (CPFA button required). The Festival is excited to present The Blind Spots, an original rock band from Ithaca, NY. The band is composed of five artists, featuring Maddy Walsh, a lead vocal phenomenon. Her electrifying vocals paired with her energetic stage presence lead many to compare her with Janis Joplin. Maddy s style makes for a dynamic performance. They will perform at 10:00 p.m. on Friday, July 11 at the Festival Shell Stage. The Blind Spots are sponsored by Black Walnut Body Works Ltd. While most performances are free, some require a festival button. Buttons, which cost $10.00 for adults and are free for children under the age of twelve, are good for the entire festival. They grant admission on a space available basis to all indoor events. Buttons are available at each performance venue, at many locations on the Festival route, in downtown State College stores, and online at arts-festival.com. Daily highlights include: Wednesday, July 9 - Children & Youth Day: Children s Workshops & Activities 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. (Old Main Lawn, Sidney Friedman Park, and State College Municipal Building) Grand Procession 4:00 p.m. (Old Main Lawn) Pat Farrell Community Sing Along 7:30 p.m. (State College Presbyterian Church) Sponsored by Foxdale Village Retirement Community
Thursday: Naked Blue 3:30 p.m. (Allen Street Stage) Joe Baione Trio 6:30 p.m. (Sidney Friedman Park Stage) The Feinberg Brothers 7:00 p.m. (Festival Shell Stage) Virgil Harden & Appalachian Countdown 9:00 p.m. (Sidney Friedman Park Stage) Friday: Saturday: Sunday: Zumba with Teresa Soler 10:00 a.m. (Sidney Friedman Park Stage) Alice in Concert 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. (Penn State Downtown Theatre) Hoochie Coochie Men 6:00 p.m. (Sidney Friedman Park Stage) Essence of Joy 7:00 p.m. (State College Presbyterian Church) Christine Lavin & Don White 8:00 p.m. (State Theatre) The Blind Spots 10:00 p.m. (Festival Shell Stage) River Bottom Quartet 1:00 p.m. (St. Andrew s Episcopal Church) Ensemble Galilei 2:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. (State Theatre) Chris Bell Band 7:30 p.m. (Festival Shell Stage) Eric Himan Trio 10:00 p.m. (Allen Street Stage) The Sue Crowe Memorial 39 th Annual Arts Festival 5K 10K & 10 mile Road Race 8:15 a.m., registration 7:00 a.m. 8:00 a.m. (Medlar Field at Lubrano Park) Kids Fun Run 11:00 a.m., registration 9:30-10:30 a.m. (Meldar Field at Lubrano Park) AAA Blues Band 12:30 p.m. (Allen Street Stage) Bellefonte Community Band 1:30 p.m. (Sidney Friedman Park Stage) Summit Hill Bluegrass 1:30 p.m. (Festival Shell Stage) The Nittany Valley Running Club s 39 th annual 10K 5K & 10 mile run will take place Sunday, July 13 at 8:15 a.m. The Kids Fun Run will start at 11 a.m., the races are runs of a quarter mile through one mile for kids ages 12 and under. For registration and additional race information, please visit nvrun.com. Leave parking and traffic worries to others by parking in the Jordan East parking lot, next to the Bryce Jordan Center and Beaver Stadium. For $5.00 a car, visitors may park and take a free bus operated by the Centre Area Transportation Authority. This bus will take you to a complementary bus service that travels to the heart of the Festival and returns you at your convenience. Bus service from the Bryce Jordan Center/Beaver Stadium will stop in the Festival zone at the Downtown State College Italian Street Painting Festival, at the corner of College and Heister, and a second stop at the corner of College Avenue and South Allen Street.
The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Additional funding is provided through a grant made by possible by the Central Pennsylvania Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Centre County Commissioners. Please visit our frequently updated website at arts-festival.com for additional information and a full schedule of events. The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts P.O. Box 1023 State College, PA 16804 (814) 237-3682 www.arts-festival.com www.firstnightstatecollege.com www.bookfestpa.org