so, i was lucky enough to land in State College during the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. check out the website for a basic idea. they already have next year's dates. when i was planning this trip, anyone from Pennsylvania mentioned the Arts Fest. Greenvillians, imagine the Pirate Fest on a much larger scale. i did my usual Internet time at Schlow and then set out walking through all the vendors.
[Allen Street]total time: 10am-8pm. oh, i saw everybody. of course, i couldn't spend any money (because there was so much i liked), but i talked with a lot of people too. raises my hopes for my post-college artistic life. along the way i met a past student of Bob Ebendorf, one of ECUs metal design profs, who gave me a note for him and Victoria Sexton, an artist who often has pieces at the gallery i worked at in Greenville, Emerge. small world.
if you don't know about Penn State, campus runs alongside the Loop, the downtown area contained by two one-way streets, Beaver Street and College Avenue. Allen Street is a road that crosses the Loop directly in front of Old Main, the first major building. Allen is packed with activities between Beaver and College, expanding into food vendors in front of the library (Schlow) and artists past that. the rest of the artists extend the other direction into campus. when they say 'Arts' Fest, they mean ARTS. there are dance and music performances as well, with many different locations for all four days.
if you don't know about Penn State, campus runs alongside the Loop, the downtown area contained by two one-way streets, Beaver Street and College Avenue. Allen Street is a road that crosses the Loop directly in front of Old Main, the first major building. Allen is packed with activities between Beaver and College, expanding into food vendors in front of the library (Schlow) and artists past that. the rest of the artists extend the other direction into campus. when they say 'Arts' Fest, they mean ARTS. there are dance and music performances as well, with many different locations for all four days.
[the Allen St. stage with Fieldstone]i had started with the booths by the library and then worked my way down Allen to the ones on campus with a break for lunch at a pizza joint. the whole area was packed all day. note the photos i have of a guy preaching on the Corner. he's not quite as vulgar as the guy who comes to ECU, though. =)
[crowd crossing College Ave.]
[the gate in front of Old Main and vendors]it was definitely an experience. i collected a lot of business cards. don't know if i'll check all of them out online, but it's nice to see new stuff. you should check it out in person if you ever get the chance. the Arts Fest has been around since 1967 and it shows in all the planning and work that is exhibited.
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