Downtown Huntingdon is becoming a booming arts scene. The arts scene is driving a “Live Local” mentality, and that’s helping the area thrive.
“It’s definitely a burgeoning art scene,” said Greg Anderson, owner of Standing Stone Coffee Company. “I mean, Huntingdon overall is becoming more of a tourist attraction.”
Anderson’s business is one of 14 that are participating in Huntingdon’s first inaugural Art Walk Thursday.
“Well art something about kind of why we do this shop is to support local artists and just encourage the arts and make it a part of our community,” Anderson said.
Every third Thursday from five p.m. to eight p.m., you can walk from uptown on 17th Street through downtown to about 3rd street, and immerse yourself in the arts.
“It’s really emerging as a great artist community,” said Matt Price, Chairman of Huntingdon Landmarks, Inc. “It’s always a great place to spend time. It’s always been sort of the commercial center of Huntingdon County, as well as a commercial center for visitors to Raystown Lake.”
The tourist draw of the lake is huge in the summer, but carries throughout the year.
“One of the things that we found over the years though is that a lot of the businesses in the area don’t tend to stay open at convenient times for lake visitors,” Price said.
Thursdays are a big day for the town, from the morning farmers’ market to evening concerts at Juniata College.
“We think it’s just a refreshing way for people to entertain themselves and be inspired by so many different aspects of art in the community, so we do everything we can to promote art,” said John Kearns of the Huntingdon County Arts Council.
Organizers encourage folks to take a walk, meet local artists, authors and musicians, and do not forget to look up. You might see some impressive murals.
“This is really something that we have been dreaming about for a long time,” Anderson said. “It’s really exciting.”
