‘We’ve missed it.’ Local, national artists celebrate return of Arts Fest’s sidewalk sale
For the first time since 2019, hundreds of local and national artists returned to Happy Valley this week for this year’s Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. The in-person event took two years off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Throughout downtown State College, creators set up shop to sell original works and share their love of all things art with visitors passing by. Although each artist brings something new to the table, sidewalk sale exhibitors can all agree on one thing: It’s great to be back.
“I’m so happy to be able to talk with people and show off all my art that’s been secluded in my house for the past few years,” said Alexander Ramos. “This is my first time out to a big event again. I was disappointed that the festival fell through the last two years.”
Ramos’ booth on Allen Street at this week’s festival focuses on still life paintings — works of art that look realistic enough to warrant signs noting that they’re not photography. A painter outside of his work at Penn State, Ramos first came to Arts Fest in 2019 and was immediately hooked.
Ramos says greeting festivalgoers and introducing them to his art is a priceless component of each Arts Fest trip.
“This is a great place to get out there and get seen,” he said. “Interacting with the people who come by is an added bonus.”
Ramos is far from the first Arts Fest vendor to get his feet wet in 2019, only to miss out on the next few due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Over on Fairmount Avenue, designer Carson Cashman has set up shop to literally drum up business for his booth selling custom percussion instruments.
“We had a really great time in 2019,” said Cashman, a Pittsburgh native. “The crowds are just nonstop and full of lively, interested people. I’ve never felt like there aren’t people at my booth or nearby looking at my stuff. It’s a great atmosphere for vendors.”
Cashman’s booth represents his business, Louson Drums. Alongside his woodworker father, Cashman makes and sells specialized cajón drums that are more portable and versatile than traditional instruments. Thanks to a few patents, including an external snare, Cashman says his products are unique within the percussion community.
At his booth on Thursday, Cashman said business picked up on just the festival’s first day. He says he anticipated returning to State College ever since his first Arts Fest in 2019.
“(Business) was huge the first time. We had a really, really big festival,” he said. “We probably sold more than 80 drums over the first few days. Business has already been great this time, and we’re happy to be back. People are looking for something new, and we’ve got it.”
Not all artists in Happy Valley this weekend are hoping to cash in on their work. Some, including street painter Abby Cramer, prefer to create works that all can enjoy while they walk past. On East Nittany Avenue on Thursday, she began working on a re-creation of Vladimir Kush’s “Departure of the Winged Ship.”
Cramer, now an art teacher in Bucks County, attended State College Area High School and studied at Penn State. She said she was happy to make the trip across the state to create alongside her peers.
“It’s really nice to be back in a festival atmosphere after the last two years,” said Cramer, who has attended nearly ever Arts Fest since 1999. “We did a virtual one in 2020, and in 2021, a few artists collaborated, but nothing on a large scale like this. It all wasn’t quite the same.”
Cramer was far from the only Arts Fest veteran lining the borough’s streets on Thursday. In fact, one local photographer can proudly say he’s attended every festival since the annual event began in 1967.
Once again set up in a booth on Allen Street, Bellefonte-based photographer Dick Brown chatted with countless passersby as longtime friends and new customers browsed his collection. Brown, 86, says Arts Fest presents an annual opportunity to connect with the community.
“It’s fun when people remember me and come back,” he said. “The people really make this place special, and festivals let me see them each year.”
After retiring from a decades-long career with the Centre Daily Times, Brown began traveling to art exhibitions and festivals all across the country, eventually slowing down in recent years. He makes a point of returning to Arts Fest each year to continue supporting an event that helped him succeed many years before.
“If I ever had to lay out a plan for my life, I knew I wanted to fly and be a photographer. I’ve gotten to do both,” Brown said. “At 86, I can say I’ve had the best life anybody could ever want, and these festivals were a part of it.”
If Thursday afternoon’s crowds were any indication, the draw for Arts Fest is strong — especially after a two-year hiatus. Pen and ink artist Douglas Fulks traveled more than 1,000 miles from his Kansas City, Missouri, home to capitalize on the event’s anticipation. His booth features hand-drawn prints of more than 100 stadiums he’s visited across the country, including Penn State’s own Beaver Stadium.
Fulks says a long absence made this year’s Arts Fest all the more important.
“(Arts Fest) means everything to everybody. This is like breathing for people,” said Fulks, who’s now attended nearly a dozen Arts Fests. “A celebration of art is an enhancement of life, and we’ve missed it. Every show that I’ve been able to pick up after the pandemic has been greeted with more enthusiasm than normal.”
%202.JPG)