Mon Valley Arts Festival to showcase local talent
There will also be a food drive benefiting the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank in conjunction with the Arts Fest set for Saturday.
The sixth annual Mon Valley Arts Festival is set for this weekend with vendors, live entertainment and fun for all.
Hosted by the West Mifflin Community Foundation, the event will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at West Mifflin Area High School’s campus, 91 Commonwealth Ave.
The free, indoor/outdoor event will feature many local vendors, and offers a platform to celebrate and promote local creative businesses. It is also a way to showcase the high school campus.
“We wanted to do something to display people doing different arts and crafts,” WMCF president Raymond Rost said. “A lot of times these people have to pay to go to these shows, and usually these people are on their own, they are vendors, they do this on the side and not making a lot of money. One of the things we felt we wanted is to make it affordable to them.”
WMCF Secretary Lauren Rowe, a lifelong West Mifflin resident and high school counselor, said she started her career as an art teacher. When the foundation asked for help, she jumped at the chance. She said it takes a whole year to plan.
“We have been having it at the high school campus for a couple of years now, which is great because we are using the facility outdoor and indoor.”
The event will feature food trucks, indoor and outdoor crafting booths, bounce houses, Touch a Truck and visits by the Allegheny County Park Rangers, Allegheny County Police Mounted Unit and more.
There are 40 vendors this year, according to Rowe, the most they’ve ever had. Vendors have to pay a $25 deposit fee, and they get that money back when they show up. They try to reach out to everyone possible, including from different cultures and backgrounds.
“We want to make it more about the crafters,” Rost said. “We want them to make money and we want them to do well. A lot of them donate (the deposit) back to us and tell us to keep it, which is kind of nice on both ends.”
BG’s Italian Ice, BC Sweets, Brews Traveler Mobile Beverage Co., Foxy Frans Catering, Kan Be Essentials, middle school students making bubble teas, Shriner Clowns, the local VFW, and the Eat N’ Park cookie mascot are just some of the vendors to look out for.
“A new addition this year, and I am very excited for it, is Puppets for Pittsburgh, where the creator makes puppets out of old library books that aren’t used anymore,” Rowe said. “(Artist Cheryl Capezzuti) upcycles them.”
For the foundation, art isn’t just paintings and sculptures, according to Rost, so they wanted to incorporate music as well.
The West Mifflin Alumni Chamber Strings will perform at noon, and there will also be performances from the Titan Thunder Band to start the day and Gemini Theater Company, who will perform gymnastics, dance and karate. Gitano Productions will be the DJ for the event.
There will also be a food drive benefiting the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank in conjunction with the Arts Fest. Those attending are encouraged to bring non-perishable food or toiletry items from noon to 4 p.m.
“It’s wonderful because a lot of my students are in (these),” Rowe said. “It literally takes a village and they are showcased. It’s really cool to be able to showcase all these different businesses that West Mifflin people own. It’s really cool to see everyone pitching in and bringing it all together.”
The nonprofit foundation works to create programming for all ages and it has hosted events for families, school-age children and senior citizens. It is also able to pool resources to create programs and events for the community at little to no cost.
They collaborate with local government and other nonprofit organizations including West Mifflin Borough, West Mifflin Area School District, the high school’s Titan Leaders in the Community club, the West Mifflin JROTC program, local sports organizations, Community College of Allegheny County, and many other local groups.
“We help the community with different events, sponsoring things like the dog park here,” Rowe said. “We just purchased exercise equipment for T’s Trail that the school district is creating, so anything for the community we do. Big outreach is what we like to do. Being a part of the community here is just very important to make sure they have different facilities, events and things like that.”
Rowe and Rost said they are very thankful to the school district for allowing people at this event, and to permit them to do what they do best, which is collaboration.
“We have not done a borough community day in a while, and I am not trying to knock the borough,” Rost said. “They have done a great job over the years, but we are hoping that it brings back that kind of element, if you will, of a community day. We would like to work closer with them to bring that back. We have discussed it with them. The borough has always been very helpful to us. Same with the school district.”
Rost is also a social studies teacher at the high school, and his students need volunteer hours, so they will be helping with the event.
Rost added that the point of the foundation is giving back to the community and collaboration, which he said he enjoys the most.
“Bringing the borough, the school district, the community to have a day to enjoy getting to see things,” Rost said. “Our goal is to make it bigger every year.”
Rowe said she enjoys the event every year because it brings the community together, it’s for all ages, there is something for everybody and she gets to see former students.
“I think the thing that I love is when I put out and search for any type of participants, crafters, any kind of vendor, I am actually getting my old students coming back,” she added. “It’s really amazing to see them again with their kids and families and what they have created. Definitely giving small businesses a platform, and it is just a great day.”
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