For More Information, Contact:
NTCA Office, 570-265-7455

For Immediate Release
August 12, 2009

2009 “From Heart to Hand” Show to Feature Arts Related to Hunting and Fishing

Join the Northern Tier Cultural Alliance (NTCA) as we once again celebrate our cultural traditions and the folk and traditional artists and artisans who live and work in the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania. Opening with a public reception on Friday September 4, 2009, our annual exhibit, "From Heart to Hand," will be at the Gmeiner Art and Cultural Center, 134 Main St., Wellsboro, PA 16901 from Sept. 4 until Sunday Sept. 27 - open daily from 2 – 5 PM.

This year NTCA is taking a new approach to the show and creating it around the theme of “Folk and Traditional Arts that Support Our Hunting and Fishing Heritage.” Artists are still being added but the show will feature a wide array of regional artists working in taxidermy, decoy carving, fly tying and other art forms related to the pursuit of fish and game in our waters and woodlands. Cody Short of Milton will have a display of his beautiful and varied turkey calls. Glass artist Ed Hammond will show some of his hand blown fishing lures based on actual antique lures. Creels and pack baskets hand made by willow basket maker Patty Dillman of Tioga County will be on display; as will pen and ink wildlife note cards and other items by Nelson Haas of Cameron County. Some antique hunting and fishing items will also be on display.

The Northern Tier Cultural Alliance (NTCA) was formed in 1995 by volunteers who had been engaged in a cultural inventory of the area as part of a 1992 Pennsylvania Heritage Commission project. Even as representatives of local cultural and heritage organizations themselves, they had been overwhelmed with the wonderful, largely unsung artistry and heritage of the region. They shaped a mission of “educating the public about cultural traditions, history and art of the Pennsylvania Northern Tier and to assist tradition bearers and traditional artists in the preservation of their work.“ This special show continues to further that mission.

NTCA now serves as one of five Regional Folk Arts Support Centers after the Institute for Cultural Partnerships and the PA Council on the Arts partnered to "develop a statewide Folk Arts Infrastructure Initiative that seeks to strengthen awareness and understanding, as well as participation in, traditional arts across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania."

For additional information on the "From Heart to Hand" exhibit contact the Northern Tier Cultural Alliance at 570-265-7455 or visit www.ntculturalalliance.org. Support for the "From Heart to Hand" show is provided by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Institute for Cultural Partnerships and NTCA members.

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