POTTSTOWN PA – The borough’s unique local arts scene in Pottstown will be celebrated on Saturday (May 11, 2024) from noon to 3 p.m. in Riverfront Park on College Drive, with the inaugural “Pottstown Arts In The Park” event sponsored by Pottstown Community Arts, High Street Music Company and Pottstown Parks and Recreation.
Scheduled activities include live music and dance, visual workshops, a lengthy list of activities to engage budding artists of all ages, local arts and crafts vendors, and several food vendors.
Arts In The Park is intended to be the first of many to showcase the wealth and diversity of the Pottstown cultural scene, and to strengthen the Pottstown community.
Opportunities to work together
The arts community, and its organizations within Pottstown, are considered by artists and patrons alike to be “a Tri-County area gem.” They say its varied groups help unite area residents, foster collaboration, and helps fuel the local economy. By working together, the participating organizations have indicated they hope to grow that community even more.
“There are so many opportunities for us to work together,” Pottstown Community Arts Chair Marie Haigh observes. “Everything’s already here,” Kristyn Rieger of The High Street Music Company agrees.
Haigh says Rieger is the “visionary” behind “Arts In The Park.” With arts workers – encompassing a variety of business owners, educators, gallery managers, school owners and artists themselves in any medium or discipline – “are also already here,” Rieger notes. “We can be supporting each other.” With this event, Haigh adds, “they hope to do just that.”
Among the participating organizations
Some of the many participating arts organizations have been Pottstown community staples for decades:
ARTEC is the Pottstown Community Makerspace at 249 E. High St., in the Pottstown Area Social Innovations Lab and Espresso Yourself Book Café. It is operated by Dr. Hoda Ehsan, director of engineering at The Hill School. Many tools are available to the community at ARTEC, such as a Cricut and a 3-D printer. Hoda also hosts youth engineering workshops throughout the year.
Art Fusion 19464 is a non-profit community arts center that opened in 2005. It provides art education to both youth and adults of our community, regardless of income level. Art Fusion helps students foster their creativity and develop their talents, for their personal enrichment and as a foundation for advanced art studies. All classes are taught by local, professional artists.
Centro Cultural Latinos Unidos (CCLU) offers supportive services to Latino families in Pottstown and the Tri-County area. Each September it hosts a Latin Festival at Riverfront Park. A mural crated across from the Ricketts Center was organized by CCLU to reflect the vibrant Latin community in Pottstown.
High Street Music Company has been a part of the arts tapestry of Pottstown it opened in December 2006. It offers private music lessons for brass, woodwinds, strings, guitar, bass, piano, drums, and voice, as well as audio production. All instructors have extensive experience in the music industry. Owner Louis Reiger also teaches sound recording and engineering techniques for Montgomery County Community College from the company’s professional recording studio on High Street.
The Hill School has been a part of the Pottstown community since 1851. Ellen Nelson, master teacher of the Arts at The Hill, has supported arts in the community for many years, and participated in local art projects and events. Nelson organized the creation of two local murals, allowing her art students to work on a grand scale.
Denise Perkins, operating as Hippie Girl Art Co., is a local artist specializing in party entertainment. That includes Rainbow the Clown and Melody the Magician, face and body painting, balloon creations, party balloon decorations, hand-painted temporary tattoos, Paint-Along parties, a variety of murals, custom artwork, and classes. Perkins was the featured artist at last year’s 5th annual Sidewalk Chalk Fest.
Pottstown Community Arts (PCA), founded in 2012, helped to bring Halloween window art back to Pottstown. In 2017 the organization merged with Mosaic Community Land Trust to become its art committee. It quickly developed a year-round art outreach program. PCA works to bring the community together through fun art projects. PCA partners with several local organizations to bring art projects to summer camps, after-school programs, and community events. PCA is actively working on several permanent beautification projects.
Pottstown Dance Theatre this year observes its 60th anniversary. Director Michelle Jones Wurtz works to foster and continue dance excellence, creativity, teamwork, diversity and self-determination that have been an ongoing part of the Pottstown Dance Theatre. The theater’s Repertory Ensemble has performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Olympic Games in London, the Philadelphia Youth Dance Festival, Theatre Horizon in Norristown, Kaleidoscope Performing Arts Center at Ursinus College, and at local schools.
Pottstown Regional Public Library hosts monthly art projects and welcomes other organizations, like Pottstown Community Arts, to host their art projects. A wall of murals is currently being created in the library’s parking lot. The library recently observed its 100th year of serving Pottstown and the surrounding area.
Red Royal Diamond Dancers was founded by Isetta Hewlett and Tiana Warren, co-workers in the Activities Department at Pottstown Skilled Nursing and Rehab Center on Charlotte Street. It is among the organizations with which Pottstown Community Arts has an active partnership. Hewlett and Warren founded the dance team so their daughters, sons, nieces and nephews enjoyed increased opportunities to dance. The Red Royal Diamond Dancers perform in Pottstown’s annual July 4th parade and elsewhere.
An event filled with arts vendors, too
Arts In The Park visitors are encouraged to meet its talented craft vendors: Hooked by Alannah, Bug & Bean Boutique, Anne Boyer, Sweet Bliss, Promiseland Murals, Cindy Lou’s Crafts, 2 Redhead Sisters, Douglas Wilson, JCM Designs, Atomic Gems Resin, Queerly Made, Kayla Ackelson, Beadiful Designs, Carnival Cravers, Sew Hooked, Soap by Pat, Phil’s Woods, Becx by Design, Trauma Martha, RAD Art, and RenaRoos Nail.
For more information about the event and the chance to be a part of it, call Marie Haigh at 610-574-8016 or send an e-mail to Pottstown Community Arts at ToPottstownArts@gmail.com.
Photo by Sasha Khalabuzar on Deposit Photos, used by Travels With The Post under license
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