Christina Oddo
Assistant Arts & Life Editor
Students, faculty and the downtown community came together to enjoy a diverse spread of events at the Lewisburg Street Fair and “Arts. Everywhere.” Festival. Musicians, food and beverages added to the array of afternoon activities, along with things like crafts, face painting and games. The performances and events demonstrated the tie between Lewisburg and the University’s community and programs.
One such event was the Poetry Path, which had its inaugural coincide with the Street Fair. It allowed participants to read a series of poems, as well as hear the poets narrate their own works. The actual path includes 10 markers, each of which pays tribute to historic and culturally important Lewisburg locales.
“The Poetry Path tour brought together people from the community as well as faculty, staff and students from Bucknell; we also had a wide range of ages on the tour,” Shara McCallum, director of the Stadler Center for Poetry, said. “It’s a wonderful feeling when you see something–and particularly an art as often misunderstood as poetry–that can bring such a range of people together.”
Later in the day, the Campus Theatre offered free refreshments and popcorn while it hosted a showing of “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” The admission prices–25 cents for adults, 10 cents for children–were the same as in 1941 when the Campus Theatre originally opened.
Across Market Street at the Downtown Art Gallery, students, faculty and community members were offered a sneak peak of the exhibit of digit prints, “The Travelogue of Dr. Brain Damages.”
Such events and more were part of the second annual “Arts. Everywhere.” festival. This festival coincided with the Downtown Street Festival and took place both downtown and on campus.
“Including a poetry event in the ‘Arts. Everywhere.’ festival is important because many people forget that there are arts besides visual arts. I would say that poetry/literature and music are the only two non-visual arts–and actually, Shara McCallum once described poetry as ‘the only art form whose pleasure is not derived directly from one of the five senses,’” Lauren Feldman ’14 said.
Other “Arts. Everywhere.” festival events included an exhibition to the Samek Art Gallery, a Gallery Series Concert, the Weis Center’s 25th Anniversary Open House, a drum workshop with Red Baraat, a Weis Center Series performance by Red Baraat, the Universal African Dance and Drum Ensemble performance, original plays performed by the Cap & Dagger club and fiction and poetry readings with students, faculty and staff.
Feldman read two poems for the Poetry Path, one about her childhood, family relations and growing up in Hawaii, the otherabout her experience as a volunteer for a suicide prevention line.
“Both these poems were autobiographical and focused on very formative experiences in my life,” Feldman said. “Getting to share such intimate parts of myself with an audience always makes me feel a little more at home here, a little more connected.”
All of the events in the Lewisburg Street Fair and “Arts. Everywhere.” festival worked to help make the Lewisburg community and University unite over appreciation for the arts and our shared town.