The Borough of State College does not have a designated arts organization or a cultural district. Instead, art and cultural activities are managed by a variety of organizations, including a well-established arts festival (Arts Fest) in the summer, a number of non-profit and/or Penn State owned venues, and regional organizations. State College would like to create an Arts & Culture District downtown to improve local quality of life, to strengthen community, and to celebrate the arts, and they’ve recently hired a staff person to help make this happen. As the borough develops its plan for such a district, they would like to learn from the experience of other college- and university towns which have implemented Arts & Culture districts, particularly on how those other communities gained public input and developed a vision for the district, the specific steps the communities took to create their Arts & Culture district, and how they financed the start-up and operation of this.
Sustainable Communities Collaborative Contact Info
University Faculty Contact
Timothy Kelsey, Ph.D.
Professor of Agricultural Economics
Email tkelsey@psu.edu
814-865-9542