Blog

Erie Arts & Culture is proud to present this week's Tuesday New American Entrepreneurial Highlight! Claudine Niyogushimwa and Jeanine Ahonga graciously accepted an opportunity to interview 5 local New Americans to paint a beautiful picture of how they are able to bring the inclusivity and sense of community from their native African soil to their newfound neighborhoods. 

Erie Arts & Culture is proud to present this week's Friday Feature! Ashley Pastore (@ashypastore), founder of Grounded Print + Papershop(@groundedprintshop), uses her strong sense of nostalgic, spacial awareness, and a subconscious investigative approach to inspire all of those who are able to witness her work. As a participant of this year's Views Festival, she contributed her talents for visual graphics to the Erie collective.

June 20th is World Refugee Day, an international celebration of the strength and resilience of those who have fled conflict and persecution.

Erie is home to thousands of former refugees, many of whom have become naturalized citizens. Former refugees are an important part of Erie’s economic engine and have helped stabilized population decline. Erie Arts & Culture is proud to publish an updated directory of small businesses owned by former refugees.

Visiting one of the restaurants or markets is great introduction to cultures outside of your own. Supporting any of them invests in Erie’s local businesses.

Erie Arts & Culture is proud to present this week's Friday Feature! This week, we were able to learn more about Mz. Icar (@mz.icar). In their own word, "Mz. Icar is an anonymous art collective, comprised primarily of Black Women. Our name is racIzM, backward. We were established in 2018. Our members comprise of an Illustrator, Photographer, Designer, Prop stylist, Street Artist, and Collage Artist. We started this collective to create works that celebrate Women, Global Blackness, and Play. We create narratives in the form of mixed-media street art and fine art that explore histories and imagine the best case scenario future from the perspective of women and people of color." I had a wonderful time learning more about this enigmatic team for this week's interview, as they also contributed an eye-catching mural for this year's Views Festival!!

Erie Arts & Culture is proud to present this week's Tuesday New American Entrepreneurial Highlight! New Skills provides an opportunity for collaboration, learning, and communication between a classroom of receptive students and a few amazing artists that are ready to demonstrate a wealth of culture and expression inspired by their native origins. With the participation of both parties, eye-opening dialogue leads to profound insights.

Erie Arts & Culture is proud to present this week's Friday Feature! Raina Harden is a young, driven, and passionate artist who is ready to take the world by storm with her creations. Inspired at a young age by her father, she has pursued this path of artistry for a greater part of her life and shows no signs of slowing down. By the way, she will also be participating in the VIEWS Festival this month!

Erie Arts & Culture is proud to present this week's Tuesday New American Entrepreneurial Highlight! Early Learning is providing the young hearts and souls with development and experiences that will enable them to learn about new cultures that they may not have ever had the opportunity to learn of first-hand. With contributions by driven New Americans to Erie, we will explore what motivates Amrita Magar (who is Bhutanese Nepali), Clarisse Amani (who is from the Democratic Republic of Congo), and Nibal Abd El Karim (who is from Palestine).

Erie Arts & Culture is proud to present this week's Friday Feature! Christina Wolfe (@wolf_e25). A very talented visual artist, Christina has found a way to express her innermost thoughts and feelings through various mediums. Striving to be as genuine as possible, she's always had a special knack for coloring "outside the lines". I had the opportunity to learn more about this artist. She's also going to be apart of the Views Festival!

Erie Arts & Culture is excited to introduce the Creative Sector Flex Fund (CSFF), a new grant program through the Pennyslvania Council on the Arts. The $5,000 grants are unrestricted and designed to address the changing needs of dynamic arts organizations located in Erie, Crawford, Warren, Venango, Mercer, and Lawrence counties with average annual revenues between $10,000 - $200,000. 

Erie Arts & Culture is proud to present this week's Friday Feature! Ileecia Moffatt (@Artbyleecia) is back to give us an update on her latest works, what's currently inspiring her, and how it feels to be in a creative world that's changing more and more every day. She's also going to be apart of the Views Festival!

Erie Arts & Culture is proud to present this week's Friday Feature! Sage Hulingues (@sagebrush_illustration) is a self-described eclectic artist who finds joy in creating from a space of authenticity and inspiration. This storyteller is making her journey her own through the process of becoming and expansion, and her amazing work is a reflection of that process. I found it quite an honor to learn more about Sage, who is also going to be apart of EAC's Views Festival in June. Learn more about her here!

Erie Arts & Culture is proud to present this week's Friday Feature! Tommy Link (@tommylinkinc) is a VERY talented Singer, Songwriter, and Guitarist who has impressed Erie audiences consistently with his storytelling and raw stage presence. His undeniable appeal stems from years of cultivating his craft through performance and remaining authentic to himself. I had quite the pleasure of learning about this artist, and what inspires him to bring his best to the stage.