On September 30th, 2014 IUP had the honor of hosting the 34th annual PA Governor’s Awards for the Arts. The awards ceremony is hosted at a different venue in Pennsylvania every year, and this year Fisher Auditorium on campus was chosen as the venue for this amazing event. Besides the actual ceremony, many events happened around campus all weekend, so if you happened to somehow miss it all, here’s a quick wrap-up about it!
Starting on Saturday, Eleven local artists opened up their studios for the public to visit and get a behind-the-scenes tour of what they do. These artists are located all over Indiana County, and the self-guided tour gave guests a view of some of the work these artists do, as well as where they do it. This tour highlighted many different mediums including painting, pottery making, ceramics, and fiber artistry.
On Sunday many more local activities happened, and people were visiting all around town and campus. Several Cultural Destinations opened their doors to the public, such as Artists Hand Gallery, the Indiana Players, the Philadelphia Street Players, and the Indiana Theater. There was plenty of free food (always good!), lots of free coupons and giveaways, and a look at some things you might not realize are in Indiana.
Before the actual awards were held in Fisher Auditorium visitors could stop to see the 500 banners that were decorated by Indiana residents and students in the area specifically for the awards. Each banner told a unique story or represented the awards in some way, and you can tell that the creators worked very hard on these masterpieces!
Also around campus there were several live music performances throughout the day. A total of nine different choral/musical groups played in the Oak Grove and in front of the Crimson Café between 2-4pm, shortly before the awards started. These groups ranged from high school and college organizations as well as adult groups.
The actual awards ceremony was held in Fisher Auditorium where Governor Corbett and his wife recognized 4 people and an organization of behalf of their outstanding work in the field of art this year. The ceremony had an excellent turn out and was very nice and definitely an event you would have wanted to attend.
After the awards ceremony, there was a public reception held in the Crimson Café for anyone that wanted to attend. The food was excellent and hosted some homemade jellies and various products that were very unique to Indiana, as well as traditional desserts and drinks.
Overall, the weekend was very busy for Indiana and brought many people out to experience the lovely events. So unfortunately if you missed out, be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the upcoming events on and off campus, they are always enjoyable and may be more interesting than you think!