History of the Cultural Council
The Cultural Council of Luzerne County is a non-profit arts advocacy organization that functions as an umbrella agency in support of individuals and arts organizations in our region. The council programs and funds regional public projects, educational programs, and also represents a unified voice for the arts in the community at large.
Originally founded as an independent arm of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry, the Cultural Council was granted 501(C)(3) status in September 1991. The Council consists of an all-volunteer Board Of Directors, an Executive Director and Coordinator, and employs staff as necessary on a project-to-project basis.
For the past decade the Council has been a steady and visible advocate for the arts throughout the county while serving as catalyst for the creation of several innovative programs. Among the most successful of these were the Downtown Gallery Walks, Cafe Cinema, the Race for the Arts and the Artists on Display programs. Additionally, the Council has hosted an Evening of the Arts series of visual/audio events at Wilkes University pairing local painters and photographers with classical performers.
Board members are active and adopt a "hands-on" approach to ensure the success of our programming. Never has this been more evident than with the Miles of Mules project. Eighteen months of careful planning in conjunction with the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, Doylestown's James A. Michener Art Museum and Bethlehem's Banana Factory resulted in nearly two hundred fantastically painted, life-sized statues of "mule art" dotting the landscape from Bucks County all the way north through Luzerne County and into the Scranton Area.
In 2006, the Cultural Council was honored to facilitate the Exhibition of Professional Artists for the 2006 Governor's Awards for the Arts. The esteemed exhibition was a collaboration of 26 of the regions finest, professional artists. The following year, another juried exhibition generated wide participation.
In 2007, the Joint Urban Studies Center, at the request of the Luzerne County Commissioners, engaged with AMS Consulting of St. Louis, in a year-long analysis of the arts and cultural Community in this region. The completed study will guide the Cultural Council in its implementation. One of the first steps in the process, with the aid of a grant from Luzerne County, was to hire our Executive Director to implement the cultural plan.
The Cultural Council has been funded by a series of small grants from the Marquis George Macdonald Foundation, The Maslow Foundation, PP&L, The Luzerne Foundation, and the Luzerne County Commissioners. Additional support in the form of meeting and office space, operational and IT services has been provided by Wilkes University since 2000. This ongoing support and grants, together with board contributions and proceeds from annual fundraisers have enabled self-sustaining operation of the organization since its inception.
The long-term goal of the Cultural Council of Luzerne County is to advocate for and participate with local partners in establishing a community arts center in downtown Wilkes-Barre. We envision that this "artspace" will house and exhibit visual arts as well as provide a venue for performing artists and musical ensembles. While local, regional, and perhaps even national presentations will be included in programming, the Cultural Council envisions the center as the primary means by which we can support and promote the superbly talented artists and performers in our area and ultimately become a focal point and gathering spot for the cultural scene in Northeast Pennsylvania.
