We received over 200 student entries for Fast Lane Art 2017. The work of 18 student artists from 14 schools will be displayed on billboards throughout Berks County. Visit the Fast Lane Art Facebook page to view all the winning submissions.

Those 14 schools also have a chance to win cash prizes for their art departments thanks to Freedom Toyota! Every participating school district's art department has the opportunity to win one of three monetary prizes donated by Freedom Auto Group - $1000, $500 & $200.


CLICK HERE to vote for your favorite school district listed! Every vote = one entry into the raffle for cash prizes. The more votes your school gets, the more chances your art department gets to win.

You can vote multiple times and from multiple devices. Please share with friends and family, too!

Fast Lane Art 2017 Juror-Selected Grand Prize Recipients

Visit the Fast Lane Art website to see all the jurors selections and winning entries from previous years!

Missed the Moinday night episode of Berks on BCTV? No problem! You can find it on the BCTV website. This month, Berks Arts Council Executive Director Karen Haver talks with guests Susan Biebuyck and Jane Stahl from Studio B in Boyertown. Find out more about Studio B's upcoming exhibits, classes, and community events!

Berks Jazz Fest runs March 31 - April 9 with concerts and venues to fit any appetite.

Visit the Berks JazzFest website for the schedule of events.

DATE: Saturday, February 11
TIME: 7:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Santander Performing Arts Center | 136 North 6th St. | Reading, PA 19601

The RSO joins forces with the Mambo Kings, one of the nation's leading Latin jazz ensembles, taking the audience on a journey through the Pan-American experiance. The program includes music ranging from the sultry melancholy of Astor Piazzola to the Afro-Cuban jazz of Tito Puente, featuring original orchestral arrangements and compositions from the U.S., Peru, Argentina, Cuba, and Puerto Rico. Highlights of the program include covers of "Day Tripper" by the Beatles, "Oye Como Va" popularized by Santana, and "Blue Rondo a la Turk," the Dave Brubeck jazz classic. The Muhlenberg High School "Mambo Combo" will give a pre-concert performance in the lobby.

For tickets and more information, visit the Reading Symphony Orchestra website.

Genesius Theater presents Bye, Bye Birdie Young Performers Edition

DATES/TIMES:
Friday/Saturday, February 24 & 25 @ 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, February 26 @ 3 p.m.
Thursday/Friday/Saturday, March 2, 3, 4 @ 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 5 @ 3 p.m.
LOCATION: Genesius Theatre | 153 N. 10th St. | Reading, PA 19601

“We Love You, Conrad!” The MacAfee family and the residents of Sweet Apple, Ohio, go topsy-turvy when teen idol Conrad Birdie comes to town to serenade one lucky fan before he enters the Army. The 1960 Tony Award winning Best Musical comes to Genesius in this special adaptation, performed by an “All-Youth” cast. Tickets $15 - 20. Current Berks Arts Council members receive a 20% discount!

Visit the Genesius Theatre website to purchase tickets.

DATE: Sunday, February 12
TIME: 3 - p.m.
LOCATION: Yocum Gallery | Yocum Institute for Arts Education | 1100 Belmont Ave. | Wyomissing, PA 19610

For more information call 610-376-1576.

DATE: Sunday, February 12
TIME: 4 - 6 p.m.
LOCATION: Clay on Main | 313 Main St. | Oley, PA 19547


Local artist Angela Faust Izzo is a painter of what she sees. She states, "My work centers on who I am as a person. It comes from my humor and sarcasm and from my love of realism. If it doesn’t make me laugh, I don’t want to paint it. I finally feel like my work is where it needs to be and best of all I’m being true to my aesthetic." Free and open to the public.

Visit Clay on Main website for more information.

The artwork above is Angela's winning Fast Lane Art 2017 entry "Sibling Rivalry." Appearing soon on a Berks County billboard!

DATE: Friday, February 17
TIME: 5 - 8 p.m.
LOCATION: Studio B | 39A E. Philadelphia Ave. | Boyertown, PA 19512

Studio B is pleased to announce the opening of Muse, the studio's fourth annual show and book release combining literary and visual art. The exhibit and book will showcase the writers' and artists' sources(s) of inspration. People, places, things, ideas...and words are subjects of the prose and poetry and rendered visually by the artists. A book of prose and poetry, Muse, will be released during an opening reception.

During the reception, Pamela Hodges will be signing her book, How To Be a Cat. Tired of the stress and complications of modern life? Does watching your cat sleeping in sunbeams look like heaven to you? If so, writer and artist Pamela Hodges provides a 15-step plan to leave the rat race and become a cat in her book How to Be a Cat for everyone who wishes to be a cat. How to Be a Cat includes a certificate of completion, cat diary pages, and several paper cut-out costume pages and provides a perfect gift suggestion for Type A friends and family members in search of greater balance in their lives.

For more information, visit the Studio B website.

DATE: Saturday, February 18
TIME: 7:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Miller Center for the Arts | 4 North 2nd St. | Reading, PA 19601

Founded in 1946 by José Limón and Doris Humphrey, the Limón Dance Company has been at the vanguard of American modern dance since its inception and is considered one of the world's greatest dance companies. The Limón dance technique is taught in university dance departments around the globe, serving as a fundamental movement language for generations of dancers. Tickets: $35 Adults | $15 Student

The Berks Ballet Theatre company has the distinct pleasure of working with the Limón Dance Company during their stay and opening their preformance at the Miller Center for the Arts.

Master Class at 10 a.m.! Dancers ages 13 and up with 5 or more years of dance training are invited to join members of the Limón Dance Company for a master class on the Miller Center Stage. $15 per participant

Visit the Miller Center website for more information.

DATES/TIMES:
Thursday - Saturday, February 23 - 25 @ 8 p.m.
Sunday, February 26 @ 2:30 p.m.
LOCATION: Wachovia Theatre at Albright College | 1621 North 13th St. | Reading, PA 19604

Esther, an independent but lonely African-American seamstress, earns her living making beautiful corsets for other women. When a Caribbean stranger starts a long-distance correspondence with her, Esther begins dreaming of an intimate life of her own. Pulitzer-prize winning playwright Lynn Nottage chronicles the hopes and heartbreaks of ordinary people in this haunting drama.

Special events related to the production include:
•Thursday, February 23: Post-show talkback & reception
•Monday, February 27 @ 7 p.m.: Panel co-hosted by the local chapter of the National Organization of Women (NOW), Campus Center South Lounge

Please call the box office at 610-921-7547 for more information and to purchase tickets.

RPM Senior Series: John James Audubon

DATE: Friday, February 24
TIME: 1:30 p.m.
PRESENTED BY: Reading Public Museum

DATE: Saturday, February 25
TIME: 2:30 - 4:30 p.m.
PRESENTED BY: Clay on Main

Kodo - Dadan 2017

DATE: Tuesday, March 7
TIME: 7:30 p.m.
PRESENTED BY: KU Presents
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GoggleWorks is pleased to announce an open call to all professional artists, age 18 and up, who design and produce their own work, to show in the 11th Annual Juried Exhibition. Open to all media, this exhibition aims to curate a selection of exemplary contemporary work from artists around the country. A catalog will be published by GoggleWorks Center for the Arts containing artists' bios and images of work(s), together with the juror's bio and statement.
Juror: Lisa Tremper Hanover, Director & CEO of the James A. Michener Art Museum

Key Dates:
February 28 - all entries due by midnight
April 28 - opening reception from 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.
April 29 - June 4 - exhibition on view

Complete prospectus available on Submittable.com.

Berks Arts Council announces the 13th annual Frank Scott Memorial Art Show: The Art of Jazz. Founded during the 2005 Berks Jazz Fest, The Art of Jazz, honors the legendary local jazz musician Frank Scott.

Artists in all media are welcome to enter.

THEME: "Celebrate Jazz". This is an open theme and is an opportunity for the artist to reflect on what Jazz means as interpreted to visual arts.

PRIZES: Cash prizes: $500 for First Place, $200 for Second Place and $100 for Third Place. People’s Choice Award will receive 2 tickets to a Berks Jazz Fest Concert. Honorable Mentions or other awards awarded at the judge’s discretion. Cash prizes made possible through support from the JerLyn Foundation.

INTAKE DATES: Wednesday, March 22 & Thursday, March 23

EXHIBIT DATES: The exhibition runs March 26 – April 27, 2017 in the Schmidt Gallery of the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts. Prizes will be announced Sunday, April 9, 2017.

CLICK HERE for a printable copy of the Art of Jazz prospectus.+

CALL FOR ARTISTS: The Pennsylvania Watercolor Society International Juried Exhibition

The Adams County Arts Council is hosting The Pennsylvania Watercolor Society's 38th International Juried Exhibition. It is open to all artists 18 or older, working with water media on paper. All work must be original, finished after May 2014, and not previously shown in any juried exhibition or the PWS members show. Over $14,000 in awards is anticipated.

Deadline for Entries is May 15, 2017 (midnight EST)

Visit The Pennsylvania Watercolor Society website for entry forms and more information.