Blog

If you're a first time donor and you make a contribution of $25 or more to the United Arts Fund on Giving Tuesday (Dec. 1), you will receive a special thank you for your contribution. You will be rewarded with five raffle tickets, which can be used to win prize packages, with values ranging from $100-$500. You will be rewarded with another raffle ticket for every additional $5 you give.

Give the gift of art this holiday season. Support the artists of your region on Artists Sunday through our virtual art sale on Sunday, November 29 - also known as Artist Sunday.

Browse and buy art from over 35 artists here!

Shopping and supporting small businesses is especially important this holiday season. We've added a list of local creative small businesses for your convenience.

Please join us on Saturday, November 21 at 11 AM to celebrate the creation of a new mural at the UK Supermarket created by Ali Alnashmi.

Give the gift of art this holiday season. Shop with your favorite local artists on Artists Sunday, the Sunday after Thanksgiving (Nov 29).

If you're an artist, please fill out the form attached for a chance to be promoted on EAC's digital channels on Artists Sunday.

Erie Arts & Culture will welcome Brittany Watkins as our next visiting artist in residence. Brittany will work in Erie from November 30 until December 20.

In early 2020, Erie Arts & Culture launched a visiting artist residency program in collaboration with Long Road Projects. Through this program, Erie Arts & Culture and Long Road Projects provide contemporary artists with dedicated time and space to reflect, research, and create new bodies of work – outside of their usual environments. This program also creates opportunities for new perspectives and creative processes to be shared, which in turn positively impacts the cultural and creative landscape in Northwestern Pennsylvania.

This visiting artist residency program is made possible through the generous support of a privately funded grant from The Erie Community Foundation.

View the recording of our PRO Network presentation with Tom Ferraro.

In this workshop, artist Tom Ferraro discusses the development and techniques used by the Looking Glass Art Project, a program designed to engage community stakeholders in the creation of public art. Since 2012, Tom and co-founder or the Looking Glass Art Project, Ed Grout, have led over 20 community-driven public art projects throughout Northwest Pennsylvania. This workshop will provide a snapshot of how the Looking Glass Art Project has adapted their process, originally designed to engage seniors, to include diverse groups of community participants. Topics include lessons in Lifelong Learning, finding community partners, identifying big ideas, adapting to various community groups, working to the strength of your participants, the role of the professional artist in the production of public art. Tom compares and contrasts their processes using examples from a variety of past and current projects.

Many of our local students are hard at work using their talents to make the world a better place during this unprecedented year.

Edinboro University Studio Art major, Rebecca Bilski, is one such studeein character of the book, Dr. Newton NoCovid, shares tips about how schools can successfully respond to "The New Normal" during the 2020 pandemic. 

The book is available online at BAM, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, Amazon, and Powell's.

View our PRO Network recording of a webinar about outsider art and artists with Fred Scruton!

Fred Scruton illustrates and discusses his collaborative documentation of artists and display-makers who are often referred to as ‘self-taught', ‘visionaries’ or ‘outsiders'. Fred travels widely throughout the U.S. to photograph their artworks and built environments; often befriending the artists through numerous return visits.

You're invited! Sunday, November 1 at 1 pm

Please join us for this celebration! In August, Whole Foods Co-op announced a partnership with Erie Arts & Culture Chroma Guild for a mural on the Co-op's east-facing facade exploring the intersection between food access and social justice. A team of artists was selected and they worked together to make this vision a reality. Community feedback was used to develop the design they chose. Painting has just been completed and we are planning to have a dedication ceremony this Sunday, November 1st at 1 pm (rain or shine).

Join us for a PRO Network presentation with Tom Ferraro on November 5 at 6 PM.

In this workshop, artist Tom Ferraro will discuss the development and techniques used by the Looking Glass Art Project, a program designed to engage community stakeholders in the creation of public art. Since 2012, Tom and co-founder or the Looking Glass Art Project, Ed Grout, have led over 20 community-driven public art projects throughout Northwest Pennsylvania. This workshop will provide a snapshot of how the Looking Glass Art Project has adapted their process, originally designed to engage seniors, to include diverse groups of community participants. Topics will include: lessons in Lifelong Learning, finding community partners, identifying big ideas, adapting to various community groups, working to the strength of your participants, the role of the professional artist in the production of public art. Tom will compare and contrast their processes using examples from a variety of past and current projects.

Erie Arts & Culture is excited to reveal the finished mural at Lake Erie International Market.  The market is located at the corner of Brown Avenue and Cherry Street in the City of Erie. 

Erie Arts & Culture worked with New American artists to develop projects that improve the exterior facades of ethnic markets located within the City of Erie. This project also supports the City of Erie’s efforts to become a certified Welcoming City through Welcoming America, a national organization that provides the roadmap and support for cities to become more inclusive toward immigrants and all residents.

Using henna inspired designs, Nialwak painted a mural around the doorway of the Lake Erie International Market. An all-female team of artists who recently created the mural on 7th and State Street celebrating women’s right to vote provided guidance and instruction to Nialwak. 

We're excited to give away two copies of Textures: The History and Art of Black Hair.

The book coincides with an exhibit at Kent State University slated to open on September 10, 2021 and continues through August 14, 2022. Presently, the book is only available for pre-order, with a release date of October 30, 2020. All proceeds benefit Erie Arts & Culture's CHROMA Guild.

The City of Erie is accepting qualifications from visual artists, including graphic designers, residing in Erie County for a public art opportunity. Finished artwork for this project will be incorporated into vinyl wraps covering two City of Erie bandwagons.

On October 21, Erie Arts & Culture hosted an information session to address questions artists had about the application process. We've included a recording of our Q&A session for your convenience.

Staff Picks: A curated list of what to look at, listen to, watch, or read from the team at EAC