{"id":241927,"date":"2026-07-13T01:40:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T01:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/241927\/"},"modified":"2026-07-13T01:40:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T01:40:09","slug":"a-labor-of-love-arts-fest-celebrates-60-years-of-creativity-and-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/241927\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018A Labor of Love.’ Arts Fest Celebrates 60 Years of Creativity and Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts celebrated its 60th anniversary with new attractions, returning traditions and hundreds of artists filling downtown State College and Penn State\u2019s campus, continuing a summer tradition that has become one of the region\u2019s signature events.<\/p>\n

Held July 8-12, this year\u2019s festival featured more than 300 juried artists from across the country, live music on indoor and outdoor stages, children\u2019s activities, street painting, food vendors and exhibitions throughout downtown and campus.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since its founding in 1967, the festival has grown into one of the nation\u2019s top-ranked juried art fairs while drawing more than 125,000 visitors annually and serving as a major summer attraction for the region.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jennifer Shuey, the festival\u2019s director of development, says reaching the 60-year milestone offered an opportunity to celebrate the event\u2019s history while introducing something new to the table for visitors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the new elements that we added was a live mural exhibition, so that helped tie both our birthday and our festival back to the America 250 celebration and the four mural designs that we chose from the applications that we got, they were all based around the America 250 theme, and for something fun and new for people to experience and enjoy,\u201d Shuey said. \u201cWe\u2019ll see if it becomes a regular part of the festival.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Visitors browse paintings at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts on Sunday, July 12, 2026. Photo by Evan Halfen | StateCollege.com<\/p>\n

During festival weekend, it\u2019s all hands on deck for festival organizers and volunteers. Throughout the rest of the year, Shuey is meeting with businesses, families and individuals who provide the sponsorships and charitable donations that make the event possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes a community to make this event, and we\u2019re very appreciative of the support that they give us,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The festival continued to adapt to ongoing construction on Penn State\u2019s campus. Once again, this year, artists were relocated around the Sackett Building project, with organizers expanding exhibition space along Pollock Road while working to maintain a seamless connection between the downtown and campus portions of the show.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the second year of three that our footprint is a little bit different on campus because of construction on the Sackett building,\u201d Shuey said. \u201cTrying to make sure that the two halves of the festival are knitted together is something that\u2019s important to us. We have about half of our artists on campus and half on the town side\u2026The artists seem actually pretty pleased with the way that is working, so we\u2019re glad that everybody hangs with us through the changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The Extra Miles perform on the Allen Street stage on Sunday, July 12, 2026, during the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. Photo by Evan Halfen | StateCollege.com<\/p>\n

Adjusting to changes is part of the collaborative spirit of the festival.<\/p>\n

Like many previous festivals, this year\u2019s event included a brief interruption from summer weather on Friday afternoon when a strong storm temporarily disrupted festivities .\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t be an arts festival without some weather event, so we had ours on Friday, but then we were able to kind of patch things back together and Saturday and Sunday were both beautiful days at the festival,\u201d Shuey said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite the storm, organizers said artists reported a successful weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hearing anecdotally from the artists that they seemed to have a good year, which keeps the artists happy, which means helping them to be successful, is what keeps them coming back year after year, and they\u2019re really the bedrock of the whole event,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Festival-goers browse paintings by Morgan Pallas, of Lebanon, Pa., during the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts on Sunday, July 12, 2026. Photo by Evan Halfen | StateCollege.com<\/p>\n

Among those artists was Steve Szynal, owner of Steven Szynal Design, whose three-dimensional architectural artwork traces its origins back to his time as a Penn State architecture student.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMy business is mainly three-dimensional art, so I describe it as something sort of living between a flat rendering and a 3D architectural model or an architectural model,\u201d Szynal said. \u201cI started doing it here while I was at architecture school at Penn State in the 80s\u2026I\u2019ve been doing it for 40 years now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although he has attended Arts Fest as a visitor for four decades, this year marked his fourth exhibiting after purchasing a second home in State College.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me personally and my wife, it\u2019s been really great because we\u2019ve met tons of young alumni which is really cool, and people from our era who we never had met before and would probably never have met, even though we went to school at the same time because the university is so large,\u201d he said. \u201cThat has been really great.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Artist Steve Szynal discusses his three-dimensional artwork with visitors to his booth at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts on Sunday, July 12, 2026. Photo by Evan Halfen | StateCollege.com<\/p>\n

\"\"Some of artist Steve Szynal\u2019s Penn State and State College artwork on display at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts on Sunday July 12, 2026. Photo by Evan Halfen | StateCollege.com<\/p>\n

His Penn State-inspired and city landscape artwork has helped grow his business each year.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think for me personally, because I have a lot of Penn State stuff, I get strong attendance,\u201d Szynal said. \u201cAnd, I mean, the atmosphere is never bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preparing for the festival is a months-long process for artists as well as organizers. Szynal says he\u2019s been preparing for the festival since the new year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been working the last five months to get ready for this,\u201d Szynal said. \u201cI\u2019m working on those, trying to finish those, and just build stuff to fill the tent and have some backups.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Visitors check out handcrafted jewelry from artist Kassandra Santilli\u2019s Sandy Beaches Shop during the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts on Sunday July 12, 2026. Photo by Evan Halfen | StateCollege.com<\/p>\n

First-time exhibitor Kassandra Santilli made the trip from North Carolina after being accepted from the festival\u2019s waitlist just days before it started. The owner of Sandy Beaches Shop creates handcrafted coastal jewelry featuring hand-painted waves and real sand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is actually my first year at this festival, but I\u2019ve been doing festivals full time for about five, six years,\u201d Santilli said. \u201cThis is actually the furthest north I\u2019ve gone, but I go all the way down to Florida.\u201d<\/p>\n

After scrambling to prepare for the show, Santilli said the experience exceeded her expectations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been amazing, actually. The volunteers here are top-notch. Everyone\u2019s super friendly. The art at this festival is insane; it\u2019s so good,\u201d Santilli said. \u201cSo I\u2019ve really liked getting to see all the new art, especially because I haven\u2019t done this one before, so I get to see new vendors. Everything about it has just been a really positive experience. I think this is maybe my favorite one I\u2019ve ever done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Festival-goers browse artist booths on Sunday, July 12, 2026 at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. Photo by Evan Halfen | StateCollege.com<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s storm briefly tested exhibitors, but Santilli said visitors returned quickly once the weather cleared.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really quite scary,\u201d Santilli said. \u201cWe made it in one piece. It took a couple hours to reset and get everything put back in place, but it really bounced back. I would think that the day would have kind of ended with that, and people came right back out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Away from her booth, Santilli spent time exploring State College.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI really liked this area. I\u2019ve never been truly to Pennsylvania. I\u2019ve only driven through, so it was really fun to get to see the town and like all the really local restaurants and bars. I had a great time just bopping around,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of her work, Santilli said, \u201cMy hope is that my handcrafted art will help connect people to memories past, future vacations, and the magic that comes along with a good day at the beach.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Art on display at the the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts on Sunday, July 12, 2026. Photo by Evan Halfen | StateCollege.com<\/p>\n

While festivalgoers experience five days of art and entertainment each July, Shuey said the event is the product of year-round work by three full-time staff members, hundreds of volunteers, sponsors, donors and community partners.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes all year to get it all together, but definitely during the festival and the couple weeks leading up to it, we have hundreds of volunteers that help make it run smoothly,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After each festival concludes, organizers immediately begin reviewing artist surveys, thanking volunteers and sponsors and planning for the following year, with artist applications opening around Thanksgiving.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a labor of love for us and for the community,\u201d Shuey said. \u201cWe continue to rely on community support.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"State High and Penn State graduate Abby Cramer was the featured street painting artist for the 60th Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, creating a piece inspired by American history. Photo by Evan Halfen | StateCollege.com<\/p>\n

\"\"Street paintings at the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts on Sunday, July 12, 2026. Photo by Evan Halfen | StateCollege.com<\/p>\n

\"\"Entries in the banner exhibition and competition hang over South Allen Street during the the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts on Sunday, July 12, 2026. Photo by Evan Halfen | StateCollege.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts celebrated its 60th anniversary with new attractions, returning traditions and hundreds…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":241928,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29],"class_list":["post-241927","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241927","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}