Galway Arts Festival CLG

What does it mean to be present through art? It could be a performance that brings people together, a painting that makes you see something in a new way, a poem that puts words to an experience you've struggled to explain, or even a workshop that gives you the chance to create something yourself.

At Wilson College in Chambersburg, those ideas are at the Heart of Arts Fest, a multi-day celebration of creativity and community that's grown into a signature arts event for Franklin County and the surrounding region.

Now, the college is looking ahead to Arts Fest 2027, and organizers are inviting artists, performers, writers, and arts educators from Chambersburg and neighboring communities to be a part of it.

Joining me to talk about the festival and this year's theme and how local artists can get involved is Dylan Beattie, Director of Choral Activities and Chair of Music at Wilson College in Chambersburg.

Dylan, welcome to The Spark, and thank you so much for making the drive to be here today.

My pleasure, Asia.

Okay, so let's start with the obvious here.

For listeners who may not be familiar with Arts Fest, what is the festival? Which I have an idea of what it is.

Right.

And if you want to get reelected, if you want to be an MPP again after the next election, Art Festival.

You spend your summer at the Canada Day handing out flags.

That's part of the gig.

And the other people is sort of like, why don't you put up or shut up? Well, it's because I already have a job.

You know, I have a job and holding politicians to account is an important job.

But, you know, look, I would enjoy a butter tart festival, but not if I'm there because I have to be, because then I'm going to some sort of lunch event and then to a rubber chicken dinner.

And I would rather stab myself in the eye with a pencil.

And West, you went.

And we had a lovely time at the Arts Festival, which of course takes up 21 blocks of Magnolia.

I only learned this morning.

I'm like, now, how far did I get? We did eight blocks and there are eight substantially long blocks with lots and lots of artists and merch.

It has done a lot of good for the people of Dufferule, because it's been going on for a long time, since the last Gaelic class, and it was in the hands of my great-grandparents.

It's been going on for years and years, but it's done a lot of good for the people of Dufferule, especially in Guinea, you know, and coming to the Gaelic class and the things you do at home, at school, but in the years it's done at the Arts Festival and even more so at the Arts Festival in Mána, I suppose, in Cailceannig.

But with that, you know, it's been going on since the beginning and you're right, and it's great to hear this from a professional musician, especially Liam Fennelly, and Tommy Malone as well as Kyle Koenig as well as Andy Downey and Andy Dalton as well as Leicra as well as Kyle Koenig as well as Áin Freixen.

It's very interesting to see how they are doing.

On the kitchen counter, a festival flyer glints beneath a street lamp's gaze.

South End Arts Festival, acrylic blue waves and clashing yellow.

In the margin, Jake's looping scrawl.

Olivia, try the pottery.

His kindness still intact but diluted, stretched thinner each night his bed stayed cold.

I set my cup down, shivering, already half asleep, already cataloging every waiver and omission.

Nothing dramatic, no slammed doors, no shouting, just the question blooming sickly and persistent, what changed? Three weeks ago, Jake would have scoffed at the very idea of spending a Friday night at an arts festival, much less volunteering.

He'd have rolled his eyes.

And I doubt if there was an Olympics that had the impact on their cities as this one had on ours.

I think the legacy of that festival olympics arts festival was what's transpired in this in this city for the last four decades uh we the opera was one of the things that came out of it 1984 placer domingo was here uh took a look at los angeles and said you don't have an opera company we ought to have an opera company and uh this year we celebrated our 40th anniversary in 1986 that's that was the opera uh the opera's first season and it's one of the best operas most respected operas in the country and maybe even beyond The catalytic impact that this festival had on the cultural arts footprint in Los Angeles can't be understated.

We were on the ascendancy already in the cultural arts field, but what's transpired since 1984, think about it for a second, just the infrastructure that's been built, Disney Hall, the Getty Center, the Broad Contemporary Art Museum, the Broad Museum downtown, The Cal State Northridge Soraya Performing Arts Center, Disney Hall, the refurbishment of the Hollywood Bowl, the new Los Angeles County Museum of Art, all of these things, I wouldn't say... had direct relationship to the festival, but all of these things have happened because the philanthropic and the cultural arts community came together.

They saw what the possibilities were for Los Angeles, and they became believers.

And today we have the legacy of the Arts Festival in 1984.

From theater to visual arts to musical performances, just the range was extraordinary.

But I'd like to ask you as an AirTalk listener, if you could program something based on your cultural interests that you think would be wonderful to include in a cultural Olympiad around the L.A. Games tomorrow.

So there was a sense of what are we going to be able to accomplish with the limited on-ramp we have.

Yes.

tell you why so it's the 28th of Feb I land in Dubai it's 5am supposed to connect to Adelaide Adelaide Fringe for context so it's earlier this year yeah earlier this year second biggest arts fest in the world after Edinburgh South African passport we don't have ancestral visas we can't move the way we want

to

so I need to make it there I've been planning this for like a year I see missiles at 2pm 4pm international what do you mean you see missiles I see two missiles I'm walking Near Dubai Expo City.

We don't survive.

So a lot of people said, are you going to write the show? I'm like, yes, I'll write the show and speak as sincerely as I can about it.

And fortunately, making the decision within a month to write the show, going to the Arts Fest in Makanda, I had four days of workshopping this experience.

And then I went, the story's dope because I didn't want it to be self-indulgent.