Carrie Wissler-Thomas
The Art Association of Harrisburg enters its second century with the retirement in September of long-time President Carrie Wissler-Thomas, who has led the group to its pivotal position in central Pennsylvania culture.
Tapping into the synchronicity of the local arts scene, the AAH board selected New Cumberland gallery owner Debbie Smith for the part-time public-facing and administrative role of executive director and president.
The transition will strengthen connections that revitalize the city and region while continuing to educate and cultivate local visual artists, say association leaders.
Wissler-Thomas, originally an AAH board member installed as president in 1986, will retire at the conclusion of AAH’s 38th annual Gallery Walk on Sept. 13. Her shoes will be filled by a collective of Smith, owner of The Smith Gallery & Fine Custom Framing, plus a full-time exhibitions and education director position expected to be filled this summer, and past board President Travis DiNicola as the senior adviser supporting fundraising.
Wissler-Thomas and the AAH board planned her retirement to coincide with the 2026 centennial celebration of AAH, formed in 1926 to attract high-level exhibits to Harrisburg then evolving into a platform for supporting and educating local visual artists.
In her tenure as president, Wissler-Thomas has created the annual Gallery Walk, community exhibitions in local businesses and institutions, and eclectic invitational and themed exhibitions. She has led growth of AAH art education while preserving the association’s home, the brownstone Findlay Mansion in downtown Harrisburg’s historic Governor’s Row.
“I have great hopes for the future and great confidence in the new team,” Wissler-Thomas told TheBurg.
Debbie Smith
Upholding Wissler-Thomas’ work to forge collaborations with symbiotic organizations, including Historic Harrisburg Association and theater groups, Smith envisions heightened emphasis on arts collaborations. This year, she helped organize the criss-crossing involvement between the AAH and Theatre Harrisburg centennial galas, and she hopes to continue leveraging the synchronous assets of arts groups and businesses.
“There are so many different arts organizations,” Smith said. “I’m going to get everybody together so we can grow the community.”
With support from her own staff, Smith will maintain her gallery, which has grown into a premier showcase for regional artists.
Smith believes her background in theater and her experience in growing a business through recessions and COVID translate into a vision of the Art Association’s continuation as a cultural hub.
“I’ve always wanted to connect people,” she said. “Collaboration is the key. My business and the Art Association—we have the same artists. Art raises us. It lifts us. It connects us, and it bridges any gap that we have.”
And, she added, “I promote living, breathing, creating artists, which is what the Art Association does.”
Smith is “a wonderful person and a dear friend, and I admire her greatly,” said Wissler-Thomas. “She’s a great businesswoman. She’s excited about the job, and excitement and passion are what is needed in a job like this.”
Sustaining and building partnerships “is crucial,” Wissler-Thomas added. “We don’t need another cultural enrichment fund. We don’t need an umbrella organization. What we need is great communication and partnerships with the individual organizations. We have so many wonderful nonprofit cultural organizations in the area, and it’s great when we can work together.”
The shared leadership structure, aligning with a nonprofit trend for marshaling resources, presents “a creative and thoughtful and really interesting solution to how you replace Carrie, which is a big question,” said DiNicola.
“Carrie has built a great foundation,” he said. “She led what was a small, little organization into something quite significant over the past 50 years that she’s been involved. She really grew it and stabilized it. Now we have an opportunity to take it into the next century.”
AAH’s power to convene players in the arts, business and academics makes the association “even more important to the revitalization of downtown Harrisburg,” DiNicola added.
Smith agreed that AAH can help “get all these different organizations together to revitalize, to bring some energy back into the city. It needs it, and energy is my thing. It becomes contagious. Once you have an energy and you have that murmuring, it moves through the community when it becomes that kind of buzz.”
Of course, Wissler-Thomas reminded Smith that “sometimes we get to be the janitor,” a role that Smith knows well, but she is excited about the future.
“It’s moving the Art Association into the next 100 years so we are uplifting the amazing art and artists we have in this area,” Smith said.
In retirement, Wissler-Thomas expects to “be an artist again,” while she and her husband travel to their beloved Scotland and around the globe. The AAH board has “kindly offered” the opportunity to coordinate future Gallery Walks, “a huge, huge collaborative effort.”
“That’ll be my pleasure, since I founded it,” she said.
Wissler-Thomas hopes that AAH keeps recruiting teachers fueled by commitment and passion to sustain its art education program, now serving 600 students.
“People love what we provide,” she said. “We have a small staff, but we provide a lot of services for the community, and we’re proud of it. That’s what I hope will continue well into the future, with additions as opportunities arise. We’re always open to new opportunities.”
Art Association of Harrisburg is located at 21 N. Front St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.artassocofhbg.com. A Wissler-Thomas retrospective, “A Lyrical Journey,” runs July 3 to Aug. 30. Smith will host the first of AAH’s summer soirees, July 11.
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