ELK COUNTY COUNCIL ON THE ARTS

Hello, Artbeat Readers! 
The Elk County Council on the Arts has some very exciting happenings  for  the month of February.   

Excitement is in the air while we await the highly anticipated Chainsaw Carvers coming for the Annual Ridgway Rendezvous February 18 through the 25!  ECCOTA will welcome the  carvers with various events occurring throughout the week.   We are hoping to serve hot drinks and chili in the gallery to warm  you up after touring the carvings.   On Wednesday, February 22, ECCOTA will celebrate “For the Love of Wood” – a night dedicated to music, stories, and fun.   Thursday, February 23 brings “Feed the Arts” Soup Benefit being held at the Ridgway Fire Hall on North Broad.  For $10, you can sample soups and support your local arts. 

ECCOTA would like to welcome Sarah Cleary back to the gallery on Wednesday, February 1 for a night of prose.  Bring a poem you wrote or share one by
your favorite artist!  Everyone is welcome.  Poetry Reading will be held from 5 – 6.  
 
ECCOTA would also like to welcome Barbara Kronenwetter, Daniel Swanson, and Susan Goetz in the family of ECCOTA artists.  Stop on by the gallery to see their work currently on display.   

Hello, Artbeat Readers.  I hope this month finds you warm and comfortable and looking forward to all the possibilities 2012 may bring. 

As the New Year comes upon us, Elk  County Council on the Arts is looking forward to welcoming new artists into our gallery.   From now until January 13, we are accepting new artists work for our jury session being held on  January 17, 2012.   As  an ECCOTA gallery artist, an artist gains exposure through displaying his or her work in our gallery at 237 Main Street, Ridgway.  For more information, please visit our website at www.eccota.com  or  email me at art@eccota.com.

“Art on the Edge” is a regional artist community started to bring all facets of art together.  Artisan trail maps have been circulating around our area to help both tourists and locals see what amazing talents our artists have to offer in their studios and shops.

  The next “Art on the Edge” meet-up is scheduled for Saturday, January 28, 2012 at
the ECCOTA gallery in Ridgway.  “Get the Shot” will focus on obtaining high quality digital images to  professionally display your work.  A segment on publishing your photos to online media will also be included.  Price is $5 ECCOTA members and $10 non-members. Please contact us to reserve a space. 

PA Wilds is sponsoring “The Best Shot”  Photo contest.   Enter a photo everyday to win fabulous prizes including overnight stays in the PA Wilds region, local items of interest and more. Winning photos will be framed and displayed for a winner’s reception. 
For more info, visit www.PaWilds.com/photocontest.

Elk County Council On the Arts is located at 237 Main Street, Ridgway. For those of you who haven’t been in yet, stop by to show your support for our local artists. 
Winter hours will be in effect for the month of January. Hours of operation will be Tuesday through Friday from 10 to 5.  We will be looking forward to seeing  you soon. 

I’d like to extend a big Welcome to all of the ArtBeat Readers.  My name is Kelly Carver.  A native of St. Marys, I relocated back to my Elk County roots last year.  In September, I joined the staff of ECCOTA.  As Gallery Coordinator, it will be my job to present you with monthly writings about the happenings in our art gallery.  I’m very pleased to have been offered this position and hope to keep you up to date on Elk County Council on the Arts.

November brings a very exciting month for ECCOTA.  We have a couple of very interesting events you won't want to miss!

The fun begins on Saturday, November 5th with a toll painting class taught by instructor Patty Smith.  The class will be held in the ECCOTA Gallery located at 237 Main Street, Ridgway from 10 am to 5pm.  Join us in creating your very own autumn scene on a piece of slate.  Hang it someplace you love to remember the beauty of our colorful, fall season as we start heading into our dreary winter months.  Space is still available to participate in class, register by calling 772-7051.

Excitement is in the air as we prepare for ECCOTA's annual fundraiser event.  The Monte Carlo Gala will be held on Saturday, November 12th at the Diamond View Restaurant in St. Marys.  The Monte Carlo theme will bring surprises for everyone.  A few secrets to let you in on - a blackjack table, roulette table, and very special 50/50 drawing are some of the events being planned.  Tickets are still available by contacting the gallery or you may purchase at the door the night of the event, doors open at 7 pm.  You won't want to miss out on this spectacular evening!

ECCOTA would like to welcome Sarah Cleary into the art gallery for a night of poetry.  Join us on Friday, November 16th for an evening of prose.  Bring a poem you wrote, or one by your favorite author to share. 

Thank you for reading and we hope to see you soon! Keep up to date on ECCOTA happening by visiting our website www.eccota.com.

For those of you who haven’t visited our gallery in Ridgway, stop by to visit and see the what the amazing artists in our area have to offer.  We are located at 237 Main Street, Ridgway, PA.  Current hours are Monday through Friday from 10 to 5, and Saturdays from 11 to 3.  We will be extending our hours closer to the holidays for all of your gift giving needs.

October is National Arts and Humanities month, hoot, hoot!  We have a fabulous line-up of assorted events to celebrate in so many ways and with so many artists, studios, galleries and shop from our Pennsylvania Wilds Region. 

ECCOTA classes include Ray Biemel's digital photography class starting 10/4, 10/11, 10/18,  and ending on 10/25  at 6:30-8:00pm.  Please call ECCOTA at 772- 7051 to find out more from this very talented photographer.

Our big event for the month will be The Art on the EDGE Artisan Trail with Open houses throughout the region.  Each "trail-goer" will be provided with a map and rack card of trail stops including artist studios, galleries, wineries, farms, and artisan fooderies.  The rack card outlines the 14 participating trail stops, including Laughing Dog Mosaics, Cats Eye Stained Glass, Flower Ridge Studio, Pontzer's Portrait Studio, Elk Mountain Winery, Grant's Pass Wrought Iron & Antiques, Donelle's Gift Shop, Nuthatch Studio, Flemish House Art Gallery and Jewelry Studio, The Winery at Wilcox, Elkwood Arts, Shop on Main and the Elk County Council on the Arts.

The weekend long event kicks off with an open house mixer Friday, October 14 from 7pm-9pm at the Winery in Wilcox, 1867 Mefferts Run Road in Wilcox.  The event continues on Saturday, October 15 with open houses at participating trail stops between 10 and 5 (times may vary per location and are listed on the rack card)  The weekend will round out on Sunday October 16 with open houses at participating stops from 11:00 to 3:00.  All weekend events are open to the public and are free to attend.  Times will be listed on the rack card and may vary between participating locations.

Funding for the event was made possible by support from the Elk County Hotel Tax Grant program, administered by the Northwest Pennsylvania Great Outdoors Visitors Bureau.

The Art on the EDGE event fits in perfectly with the Arts and Humanities push for the month with not only the visual arts featuring artists and studios but, also the stops featuring a bit of the literary arts with book signings from 2 different local authors  located at  ECCOTA and The Flemish House Art Gallery and Jewelry Studio.   ECCOTA will be presenting its 10th Annual Benefit Concert at the Grace Episcopal Church, 216 Center Street in Ridgway from 8:00 to 9:00 pm. which fills in that lovely performing arts facet.  

A more detailed description is available from participating trail stop's websites and physical locations.

You can find more links at http://www.artontheedge.info/events.html from the participating stops  if you are wanting to find out more, more, more ;) 

To quote our most fabulous Executive Director Abbi Peters:  “The goal of the Art on the Edge trail is to promote local artists, artisans and businesses while providing a welcome opportunity of outside visitors to our region to experience the cultural and artistic flavors of Elk County while they also revel in the riotous fall colors”. 

Thank-you for taking a break with me!

Stephanie Distler board member and artist,
you can find me at www.stephaniedistler.com

Art Beat ~ August 2011

                Third times a charm! The Elk County Council on the Arts is once again competing in the Pepsi Refresh Project for a grant to renovate our local gallery. Throughout the month of August, daily votes are needed from EVERYONE to help us receive $25,000 for much needed lighting, flooring, and other necessities within the gallery space. ECCOTA first competed in this national project from Pepsi in January of this year finishing in the 120s for the $25,000 slot. May launched our second attempt bringing us much closer with a rank of 64 thanks to the help of many of our members and our community. This third time we are going all out, fighting our way into the top 15 to receive the necessary funding needed to promote our local artists, classes, and events. We want to give the community a gallery to be proud of!  

                Voting is quick and easy! All you have to do is text 107970 to Pepsi (73774) DAILY throughout the month of August. You can also vote by going to our Pepsi web page, www.refresheverything.com/gottaeccota, which gives complete information about the project and how ECCOTA plans to utilize this much needed grant. Each voter is permitted 5 votes per day so we are asking that you use the other 4 votes for projects you feel passionate about. Just remember to add to their comment section: A vote of support from ECCOTA, please return the love! Numerous grant goers from additional competing amount brackets are helping others by voting for their projects in return.

                In addition, ECCOTA is hard at work scouring the town for yellow Pepsi caps! These yellow caps have codes for Power Votes that can be worth up to 100 votes. You can use these when you vote on the Pepsi website or you can help us collect them and drop them off at many participating locations such as the ECCOTA gallery, Aiello’s Cafe, Patalano’s Place, Sheetz, Ridgway Chamber, and The Village Peddler to name a few. We have utilized numerous Power Votes which have helped us get to number 31 already this month!

                Watch the ECCOTA website, Facebook, and the newspapers throughout the month of August for events and rallies to promote the Pepsi Refresh Project. Let’s keep up the good work folks!

                ECCOTA would like to send out a very special thanks to the great interns that helped with another successful summer of youth programming! Interns Derek Bauer and Sara Krug worked very hard with the kids of our community on the Summer Theater Camp, Visual Arts Camp, Anything Art and Anything Performance Shows, AND the Free or Three Classes. This fall, Derek will head back to Edinboro for his final year finishing up a Bachelor of Arts in Art Education. Sara will be off to St. Vincent College for her freshman year in Communication. We couldn’t have done it without them and we are sad to see them go, but wish them much success in their futures!

                ECCOTA would also like to thank the community for taking the time to help us provide an outlet for the talented artists of our region and provide events and education in the arts. We couldn’t do it without you….so let’s VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!

Today was the last Free or 3 class of this year’s summer schedule and we took the class outside to brighten up our gloomy day with some tie dye! Using the spiral design layout and different dying techniques, the class was able to learn a simple and easy way to get an awesome display of colors on their shirts! Just remember to wear your shirt next time you come to the gallery ;)

We'd like to thank all our participating students for a great art-filled summer and encourage you to come back for even better classes next year and to bring your friends!

On Tuesday, the kids experimented with watercolor paints. They enjoyed creating abstract designs and allowed relaxing background music to inspire them to paint. The class size was small in number, but that didn't stop the kids from having a great time. It's always rewarding to see a smile on their faces when they aren't concentrating on their artwork.

On Friday, July 29th, Elk County Council on the Arts hosted the
Anything Performance Show that was held at the Senior Center in Kersey. The
event consisted of ten performances from youth of all ages. There were a wide
variety of acts that consisted of singing and dancing, as well as performances
on the harmonica, violin, keyboard, mandolin and guitar. Ridgway Bilo Foods was
very generous to donate cupcakes in the shape of trophies for the first, second,
and third place winners.

Also, at the performance show, the winners from ECCOTA’s recent Anything Art Show were recognized and presented their awards and prizes.

Anything Performance Show:

                                                       Ages 7-9

                                                   

                            Ages 10-13

                                                 
                                                 Ages 14-16

ECCOTA would like to thank everyone who participated in either or both of the events. It is great to see such great talent in our community. We are very grateful for all of the support and donations we have received to make these events a true success.

Today's class was a big hit! The kids had fun creating different
objects from plastic bottles and other recycled materials. The idea of making
instruments sparked their interest from the beginning, and they put their ideas
together to make a drum set, a guitar, maracas, and even a water bottle singer.
Other kids decided to make flowers and a picture out of their materials.
Overall, it was a very fun project :)

What a great way to kick off the week with making a simple, yet
visually fascinating scratch board! Today’s Free or Three class taught our young
artists how to overlay black acrylic paint over a colorful array of crayon
designs to create a easy and fully customizable scratch board. With only an hour
of drying time, our students had designed their own scratch boards to take home
and to brighten up some of their spare time with etching on their scratch
board.