A Word from Gettysburg

Thank you, Alice, for adding your comment to an earlier post. Clearly the impact on your community as a result of hosting the Governor's Awards are real and long lasting. Your experience is important, so I've chosen to "reprint" it here as our final post for 2009 . . . . clearly 2010 has artful promise. Happy New Year, all.

From Alice Estrada: What does it mean to serve as a host community of the prestigious Pennsylvania Governor’s Awards for the Arts? Joanne Riley inquired, wondering if I would tackle this subject from Gettysburg’s perspective, as the city of York ramps up for the awards this spring.Reviewing the materials from 2007 brings back so many fond memories.October 4, 2007: what a proud day it was for Gettysburg. The whole community embraced the awards and the celebration of local, talented artists, both young and old, representing all genres, and showcased throughout the streets of Gettysburg. Folks are still buzzing about that magical experience today. Not to mention the attention we received from the Award winners, the Governor and First Lady and all of our special guests, seeing Gettysburg from a completely and new and improved perspective.The Pennsylvania Council of the Arts (PCA) told us our community would experience a “bounce” from hosting the awards. I am not sure that our Steering Committee comprised of community leaders and art enthusiast really understood what that meant. Now we do. It meant that the awards would catapult the area into the next evolution of arts appreciation and further develop our cultural milieu. And Gettysburg is definitely experiencing a rebirth of the arts. Since the awards, we now host the Gettysburg Festival (for which I happen to be the executive director). We celebrate all of the arts (including culinary) with over 100 events for 10-days each June. It brings joy to all who experience it. Additionally our community is seeing new galleries opening downtown, and is home to new artists migrating to the area, both of which contribute to an Adams County Arts Council that is growing and strengthening. We see better attendance at the Majestic Theater and our cultural events held at both the Gettysburg College and the Lutheran Theological Seminary. The end result for Gettysburg: we find we live or shall we say “bounced” to a better place, all as a result of hosting the 2007 Governor’s Awards for the Arts.-Alice Estrada, Executive Director, the Gettysburg Festival