Back in-person for the first time since 2019, the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts’ renowned Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition kicked off on Thursday with hundreds of excited artists and impressive first-day crowds in downtown State College and on the Penn State campus.
More than 300 invited exhibitors displaying a vast variety of art will take part in what is the heart of the 56-year-old festival. For returning artists and first-timers, the Sidewalk Sale’s arrival after a two-year, COVID-induced absence was a cause for celebration.
“It’s fantastic,” said Ben Rader, a painter from Reeders, Pennsylvania. “Talking to people is great, and that’s kind of what the festivals are good for.”
Rader is making his second appearance at the festival with a tent at booth A-28 on Allen Street that showcases paintings inspired by the artistic motifs of his Pennsylvania Dutch Heritage.
He’s typically selective about the festivals he goes to, applying to three or four each year. Still, cancelations because of COVID-19 had an impact and he’s happy to see the crowds again.
“I noticed that people would still contact me directly for commissions or studio visits to buy originals,” Rader said. “Obviously a big part of the festivals is selling prints, the lower priced items. That income was not replaced. It seems like now … people are pretty excited to get back out and start walking around the shows again. We’ve had some pretty good crowds.”
Like several other artists, he was pleased to see a sizable crowd during the early-going on Thursday.
“It’s a great show,” Rader said. “I mean the weather’s perfect. I can’t complain. It’s been a good crowd thus far.”
Jana Scott, a fine art photographer from Lemont, was an exhibitor at the Sidewalk Sale from 2010 until 2017, when she took a break from festivals.
Returning to the sale for the first time in five years, at booth A-41 on Allen Street, Scott said it seems like the festival hasn’t skipped a beat.
“They run such a great festival here that I haven’t noticed any hiccups like it was gone for two years and now we’re back,” she said. “It’s just rolling right along, and honestly there are so many more people here on a Thursday than normal. It’s great to see the crowd.”
Scott has specialized in macro-photographs of rust, each named with synonyms of the words “temporary” or “earthly” to tie back to part of her artist statement: “Are you chasing treasure that will rust away?”
“So it’s all about the impermanence of things that we acquire,” she said. “Then the next step in that series is moths, so now I’m doing double exposure moths, first the moth and then the silk all in camera. The rust work has been around 10 years now. I have some favs. I have a favorite dumpster. I think I’m done shooting rust. I’ll never say never; I still see some good rust around.”
Scott has been an exhibitor at festivals in places such as Chicago, Kansas City and Atlanta, and those events in larger cities left her even more impressed with the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.
“This is one of the best-run festivals, and high quality art,” she said. “I was surprised when I went elsewhere thinking ‘This is our little State College show,’ but this is one of the best.”
Sidney Carter is making his first appearance at the festival, but has known about its strong reputation for years. The painter from Powder Springs, Georgia, said he applied multiple times before being accepted this year.
“I’ve heard about this show forever so I’ve been stabbing and stabbing trying to get in,” Carter said. “Finally I think someone canceled and they chose me to come in. It’s a blessing.”
In booth A-42 on Allen Street, Carter has on display works that include musical abstracts and cubism.
Carter participates in a more extensive number of shows and festivals, usually around 30 each year around the country. COVID cancelations, he said, were challenging, but presented new opportunities.
“COVID was pretty rough on all the artists, but you just have to reinvent yourself. You just try different things,” he said. “I have a studio in Atlanta and I’d just set up outside. People would stop and I’d invite other artists to show with me. It turned out pretty good. I didn’t have a bad time. It was a blessing just to do something different.”
He, too, was surprised by how many people had already turned out early on Thursday.
“It’s been wonderful so far,” Carter said. “It’s early, first day of the show, and I didn’t expect to see so many people coming out. I think this weekend’s going to be wonderful. Everybody’s looking forward to getting out and doing something.”
Elsewhere on Thursday at the festival, a packed schedule of entertainment got underway at venues around State College and on campus, local visual artists began work on the annual street painting on East Foster Avenue, the kids cooled off under the water buckets and in the mister on Allen Street and festival-goers lined up at an array of food trucks and stands offering a plethora of options.
The Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition runs 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
For the full entertainment schedule, visit arts-festival.com/performances. (A note from festival organizers: The Raleigh Ringers handbell choir concert scheduled for Saturday has been canceled).
Also be sure to check out our guide to Arts Fest.
