Blog

A desire to give back motivates Ansumana Gbembo to teach others African tailoring, an art that literally threads people and cultures together.

Over the next several weeks, Erie Arts & Culture will outline seven actions that can be taken by artists to scale their careers. The information shared in this series is intended to build the capacity of artists in Northwestern Pennsylvania so that they are better equipped to identify and respond to opportunities. This first segment of the series focuses on the qualifiers that artists use to describe themselves. 

Attention cultural and creative stakeholders within the Erie region – this is an opportunity to have your voice heard.

In mid-April, Erie Arts & Culture hosted Peter Kageyama as the first installment in our placemaking speaker series. Second we welcomed Barbara Goldstein in mid-May. This June, we welcome Lily Yeh to Erie as the next installment of our Placemaking Speaker Series. Lily will present to the public from 5 pm to 7 pm on Wednesday, June 19 at the HO Hirt Auditorium inside the Blasco Library.

Erie Arts & Culture one of 15 organizations nationwide awarded funding from the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art’s Building Bridges 2018-2019 Grants Program.

The Greater Erie Alliance for Equality is pleased to announce the first-ever LGBTQ Juried Regional Art Exhibit, June 1-30 at Erie Art Gallery, 24 West 8th Street. Opening reception is Saturday, June 1, 7-10 p.m.

Artists and creative businesses in major metropolitan areas such as Seattle, San Francisco, Austin, Denver, Nashville, and New York City struggle to find affordable spaces to live and/or work. Though many artists and creatives have aspirations of making it big in these cities, the odds are stacked against them when you consider the high cost of living and shortages of space.

Attention Stakeholders of the Cultural and Creative Sector: We are seeking your input!

In 2014, Lisa Austin and Stephen Sonnenberg penned an article for the Erie Reader's blog titled "Considering the City." In this article, Austin and Sonnenberg explored four steps that could be taken to improve the visual landscape in Erie, improve the lives of residents, and make a better impression on visitors.

A tradition that goes back at least five generations keeps a family threaded together. The women in Victoria Alcorn’s family are skilled quilters, an art form that began out of necessity and grew into a creative hobby that her great grandmother, grandmother, great aunt, and mother enjoyed doing together. The North East native started with a quilting class in middle school, but as she grew to explore different interests, she naturally fell away from it. With the recent passing of her grandmother, she re-established her interest and appreciation for the practical art form and what it means to her family.

Did you know that Erie is home to several hundred followers of an ancient earth-based spirituality? These people are the Kiranti Rai, and they are part of our larger Bhutanese Nepali community. Every May, since 2014, Erie’s practitioners have celebrated their beautiful spring planting ritual called the Sakela.

As the second installment of the Placemaking Speaker Series, Erie Arts & Culture welcomes Barbara Goldstein to Erie on Sunday, May 12. Barbara’s visit will extend through Wednesday, May 15. The public is invited to attend her keynote presentation on Monday, May 11 at 6:00 PM at the Erie Art Museum. The event is free but registration is encouraged. Also during her visit, Barbara will meet with community organizations and stakeholders as she is led on a tour of Erie’s neighborhoods to learn more about the revitalization efforts occurring throughout Erie’s urban core.

Erie Arts & Culture announces the workshop schedule for the 2019 Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts (PPA) Project Stream grants. The PPA program provides opportunities for arts organizations, individual artists and community-based groups to apply for up to $2,500 in funding to support performances, exhibitions, and other arts projects that are presented to the public and take place between September 1, 2019 and August 31, 2020. Grant applications are due June 20, 2019. Erie Arts & Culture administers the program in Crawford, Erie, Mercer, Venango and Warren counties.

Erie Arts & Culture is proud to announce a milestone – its 500th artist residency! This momentous achievement has been in the works since 1994 when Erie Arts & Culture became one of four founding partner organizations for the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) Arts in Education (AIE) Partnership.