Photos by Shannon Fretz Photography
What should you do when you turn 50 years old?
This year, the Mt. Gretna Outdoor Art Show reaches that milestone, and the community is taking no shortcuts to celebrate.
The small Lebanon County borough will teem with special programming throughout the summer months, ranging from special lectures and performances to the inaugural Mt. Gretna International Film Festival.
“We have a really robust artist community here,” said Kerry Royer, director of the Mt. Gretna Outdoor Art Show and board member of Visit Lebanon Valley and Mt. Gretna Arts Council.
Royer and a team of about 300 volunteers put on the event, which takes place in mid-August, transforming Mt. Gretna’s Chautauqua area into an arts spectacle.
“The whole town celebrates. It bursts with creativity,” Royer said. “We have music, we have gourmet food, we have a kid’s art show. There’s really something for everyone.”
The months leading up to the event also will be buzzing.
Art projects will transform the water tower and the main gate by the Chautauqua area, courtesy of community artists Kathy Lindert and Ryan Fritz, respectively. Gretna Music and Gretna Theatre will fill up the Mt. Gretna Playhouse, a covered, open-air stage, putting on performances from award-winning musicians, as well as shows like “The Greatest Love for Whitney” and “Chess” (an ABBA tribute). Visitors can also catch events by Cicada Music at the Playhouse, which shakes things up with oldies and tribute bands.
Suzanne Stewart, executive director of Gretna Music and board member of Visit Lebanon Valley and Mt. Gretna Arts Council, is into arts accessibility, so much so that Gretna Music maintains a pay-what-you-will standard for all of their shows.
“There should never be a financial reason why somebody isn’t exposed to really great art,” Stewart said.
Gretna Music puts on chamber, jazz and world music performances, among other genres. Next year, it will reach its own 50th anniversary, meaning the celebrations will just keep coming.
Sense of Place
During the month of the art show, Mt. Gretna will host its annual “Tour of Homes,” where hundreds or more people take part in a self-guided walking tour of historical cottages and homes with quirky features, such as a decoupaged bathroom floor made of vintage postcards or an aerated home with walls that don’t reach the ceiling.
Later that month, “International Make Music On Your Porch Day” gives people a chance to go from porch to porch to listen to musical performances in a unique setting.
“Sometimes, I think the most popular room in Mt. Gretna is people’s porches,” Stewart said.
Royer went so far as to say that Mt. Gretna has “front porch culture” (her book, “The Porches of Mt. Gretna,” comes out this summer in partnership with photographer Shannon Fritz).
Overall, Mt. Gretna’s Year of the Arts is a way for the community to amplify its existing way of life, an artistic mindset that seeps into every avenue.
Mt. Gretna’s Chautauqua section, where the art show takes place, is an independent offshoot of the New York Chautauqua Institution, which was founded as a way to bring artistic education into vacation. The Chautauqua movement rests on the four pillars of arts, education, religion and recreation. Visitors to Mt. Gretna can take one or take all.
This summer, the Mt. Gretna Area Historical Society will display all 50 art show posters so that viewers can see the evolution over time. Summer lectures in the Hall of Philosophy will feature two of the show’s founders, Bruce Johnson and Reed Dixon, as well as artists who have been a part of the show since its inception.
At the Mt. Gretna Tabernacle, events like the Mt. Gretna Bible Festival, Heritage Festival and cabaret shows fill up the summer’s calendar of events further.
The first-ever Mt. Gretna International Film Festival is being held on the Sunday of the art show in honor of the late Michael Evan Deitzler, whose dream it was to start a regional film festival.
“This is really a continuation of his spirit,” Royer said.
Taking place in the Playhouse, the film festival will feature multiple short film categories and cash and craft prizes, funded by Deitzler’s family.
As art show director, Royer is entwined in Mt. Gretna’s art scene.
“The arts, especially Gretna Music and the art show, really contribute to our sense of place,” she said.
The art show, she added, “draws people into the woods for this magical experience.”
Stewart said that, in Mt. Gretna, the community really makes it what it is.
“You just breathe a little easier,” she said. “Everything’s a little slower pace.”
Maybe that, plus a sheer dedication to the arts—whether it’s the Year of the Arts or otherwise—is what makes Mt. Gretna such a special place to visit come summertime.
The Mt. Gretna Outdoor Art Show takes place Aug. 17 and 18. Visit www.mtgretnaarts.com for more information. For more information about Gretna Music, visit www.gretnamusic.org. View the Mt. Gretna community calendar at www.mtgretna.org.
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