The Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania has been a member of the Centre County arts community since its inception in 1968. This year, as the organization celebrates its 55th anniversary, leaders and members reflect on the Art Alliance’s impact over the decades, while both honoring the vision of its founders and looking forward to the future.
According to Executive Director Marie Doll, the first Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts in 1967 brought to light the local need for a visual arts organization that operates year-round. So original Arts Fest organizers, businesspeople, Penn State art faculty and other community members came together to found The Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania.
It was one woman, however, that led that initial charge: the late Deanna Blumenthal.
“(Blumenthal) was really instrumental in getting people together to start the Art Alliance and she was a wonderful artist. … She was an abstract painter in the ‘60s and ‘70s and, now, we have a group of abstract painters within the Art Alliance that meets every Tuesday morning to paint together,” Doll said.
The Art Alliance’s upcoming 55th anniversary celebration will showcase Blumenthal’s work, as well as that of current Art Alliance members, over a limited-time exhibition open to the public for three days only.
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