As a lifelong resident of State College, Rick Bryant has always loved the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts™. As a person with a passion for art—and a good cause— Bryant worked his way up from a volunteer on the festival’s clean-up crew, to a visual arts director in 1999, to his current position of executive director, which he’s held since 2005.

Bryant, who majored in architectural history at the University of Virginia, worked in his family’s insurance business for 20 years as an agent/owner for Kissinger & Bryant Insurance before turning his full attention to working for the festival.  He has no regrets as to where his career-path has taken him and believes that Arts Fest is improving every year. He says the festival attracts some great entertainers and the quality of art in the sidewalk sale and exhibition in the gallery show is “outstanding.”

This year’s festival runs July 9 -13 in downtown State College and on Penn State University’s campus.

T&G: How did you first become interested in the arts?
Bryant: I think it’s something you’re born with. I wasn’t a jock, I got good grades, and I was in the band.  It just all kind of fell together.

T&G: What do you find to be the biggest challenge of putting Arts Fest together?
Bryant: Definitely getting it paid for. We have sponsorships and an annual fund. We sell food for concession. We’re putting on a free event, so we don’t have ticket receipts. We have great support from the community, but we still have to go out and ask [for money].

T&G: What’s the most rewarding part of being the executive director of one of the biggest events in State College?
Bryant: I enjoy how it’s a magnet in State College for long lost family members, friends, artists, performers and volunteers. We have a volunteer that comes back every year from Washington D.C. and seeing that person— even for a very brief moment— that’s very rewarding.

T&G: Is there anything new and exciting at this year’s festival?
Bryant: Well, we have a great performance called the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra that does silent comedies with the real orchestra playing the music that was written for the silent movies. That’s going to be way cool. We also have a songwriting workshop, folk song jamming sessions, and a Penn State student art booth this year.

T&G: What’s the craziest thing you’ve experienced at Arts Fest?
Bryant: Oh my, there have been so many things!  I’ve helped pick up an artist’s booth that blew over in a windstorm at one in the morning. It was a really bad storm, you know, the kind that starts tornadoes! Most booths are weighted down pretty well, but this one wasn’t. That’s a memory that’s stuck with me.