Arts Fest enters uncharted territory for vendors, staff, customers. Here’s what to know
The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts is ready to operate solely online for the first time in its 54-year history.
The experience will intrinsically be new for everyone involved, but that doesn’t mean it’s expected to be a complicated process. All would-be attendees need is internet access.
After all, there’s a reason the nonprofit’s collectible 2020 poster simply reads, “Happening Wherever You Are.”
Options offered on the festival’s website include:
- A “Virtual Sidewalk Sale,” where potential customers can peruse arts and crafts produced by more than 150 artists from more than 35 states
- Online banner and street painting exhibitions
- A fine art exhibition of drawings, paintings, mixed-media, photography, hand-pulled prints, watercolors, pastels, fiber, paper and digital art
- Livestreams of musical performances, artists demonstrations, studio tours and dance classes on Facebook and YouTube
- BookFest
- Artisanal food and beverages for sale
Arts Fest staff diligently worked for nearly three months to bring as many of the festival’s signature events online as possible.
Organizers announced in mid-April the in-person festival was canceled to mitigate the potential spread of the new coronavirus. The announcement “was like getting hit by a ton of bricks,” Executive Director Rick Bryant said Monday.
But he and his staff quickly pivoted to the online model, knowing the only other option — which wasn’t much of an option at all — was canceling the festival.
“We had no idea if artists would respond,” Bryant said. “... We took kind of a walk off a cliff.”
About 320 artists traditionally set up shop in Happy Valley for the festival, but one of this year’s requirements was exhibitors having a platform to facilitate online sales. That eliminated about 80 artists.
Bryant was unsure of how many remaining creators would participate in the festival — his initial goal was 100 — but once he received about 13 positive responses in the first hour, he knew the online model was feasible for artists.
“We thought we had a pretty decent website, so we were pretty far along in the process,” Bryant said. “So, what the hell? Let’s try it.”
Five longtime Arts Fest exhibitors who spoke with the Centre Daily Times said their financial fallout from cancellations of arts festivals throughout the country ranged from “devastating” to “well off.”
For some like Centre County artist Dick Brown — who has primarily sold mixed-media art featuring Amish photos at every Arts Fest — and Bucks County artist Bob Richey, festivals are not their primary source of income.
For others like Montgomery County artist Carol Heisler-Lawson, Dauphin County artist Pam Cummings and Berks County artist Jonathan Simons — who more heavily rely on sales from arts festivals — the loss has been more pronounced.
“This is how I earn my living — going to shows and selling my work,” said Heisler-Lawson, who has sold her quilts at Arts Fest for about 15 years. “I was not one who had a website previously that you could shop from. My work is very large-scale and it’s very hard to take a photograph of a bed-sized quilt and give the customer the feel and the color. It’s just not the same on the screen, so I, of course, had to adapt to the times.”
Cummings, a self-proclaimed “cavewoman” who has sold pottery at Arts Fest for about 13 years, joined Heisler-Lawson and Brown in either creating of revamping their website.
Brown openly questioned whether tactile items can be effectively sold online, while Cummings said she is “grateful” that Arts Fest and other festivals are pushing her to learn something new.
“I can make pots. I’ve been doing that for 30 years,” Cummings said. “But this might be the wave of the future, so I’m grateful they’re doing it.”
While Bryant and each exhibitor are bracing for some level of uncertainty, they all know they’re going to miss interacting with the 125,000 who often stroll through.
Richey graduated from Penn State 49 years ago. Cummings has “regulars” who pay in cash — leaving her to wonder what their names are — but has watched their children grow up over the years.
And for Simons, speaking with community members often gives him inspiration.
“I kind of live like a hermit in my shop making things and creating new pieces, and then I need the inspiration of building up to a show. And when the show goes away, it’s like ‘Ugh, now there’s nothing to make things for,’ ” Simons said. “... It’s really a full circle. The show is like the top of the circle and then it all starts again.”