CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. – On Saturday, Nov. 4, the Council for the Arts hosted a fundraising gala in honor of their 35th anniversary. The event raised more than $33,000 that will be used to cover overhead costs allowing them to continue offering classes, exhibits, and other programming for community members of all ages.

According to a Nov. 9 Facebook post, the council had hoped to raise $35,000 – a thousand for each year of their existence. The council still hopes to reach that goal by the end of 2023 through additional fundraising initiatives.

The sold out ticketed event packed nearly 180 guests into the Menno Haven Life Center (300 Ridgeview) to celebrate the arts in all of their forms.

As guests arrived, musicians from the Cumberland Valley School of Music performed on acoustic guitar and flute. In another room, attendees were encouraged to add their own touches to an abstract painting, which would be auctioned off later in the evening. In another corner, people were getting their faces painted before posing in front of a flower wall for portraits. 

For appetizers, ticket holders ate Korean chicken bites, spicy tuna crispy rice, falafel/hummus tzatziki and mushroom toast while enjoying the open bar.

Art lined the long hallway leading down to the main room. Once inside, even more art as well as gift bundles donated by local businesses were displayed for a silent auction. 

Guests were encouraged to bid on these items while host (and the evening’s official photographer) Phillip Whitley introduced performances that included a solo violinist, a preview of the Chambersburg Ballet’s “Nutcracker Suite,” and a scene from Chambersburg Community Theatre’s “The Addam’s Family.” 

 The main dinner – artfully curated by Chef Bryan Lucas – featured a choice of either chicken mousseline roulade or steelhead trout. 

Tucked between the entertainment numbers were speeches by Council for the Arts’ board members Brian Zoeller, Laura Sponseller, and Barbara Randall as well as Executive Director Sara Spitzer. Each spoke passionately about how art had affected their own lives and of its potential to transform entire communities.

But, that is, of course, only if the community supports it. 

Laura Sponseller, chair of the gala committee, said that nearly 100 items were sold through the silent auction with eight more being sold in a live auction.

The crowd-sourced abstract painting facilitated by Chambersburg-based artist Lori Eubanks and created by gala attendees that very night sold for $2,400. Chambersburg native Blair Ritchey contributed two of her functional, luxury handbags – a Mini Penn Carryall and an eye glass case – which sold for a combined total of $855 ($130 over their retail value). There were also four large-scale abstract paintings by Chambersburg resident and professor of fine arts at Wilson College Philip Lindsey. 

Those are attention-grabbing numbers, but there was “incredible art of all sorts, varieties and price points,” said Sponseller, who is the owner of The Pineapple Group, a “woman-owned, family boutique real estate agency,” in an interview conducted through Facebook Messenger.

“We started planning the gala at the beginning of the year,” said Sponseller. The original plan was to have it at the Capitol Theatre, but complications led them to Menno Haven. Once the venue was locked in, it came with the food created by Lucas. Sponseller credits the evening’s success to “months of planning, piles stashed in many locations (auction donations) and a wonderful board committee to pull it all together.”

Like many of the testimonials shared throughout the evening, she found the arts impactful and important at a young age.

“I recall seeing Totem Pole’s “A Christmas Carol” on stage at Central – now Rose Rent Lofts – and was in awe as the actors and stage moved about. That’s why we’ve been the show sponsor for the last three years.”

She also credited her passion for the arts to amazing teachers – specifically art classes and piano lessons – that “allowed and encouraged my creativity.”

She added: “I am a fifth-generation Chambersburg entrepreneur and business owner. I was raised that community and service are important and to try to live everyday to be be a leader by example. These reasons (and a never ending list) are my ‘why.’”

According to their website, the Council for the Arts (103 N. Main St.) “is a predominantly volunteer run organization filled with passionate, creative people who strongly believe that art should be accessible to everyone and is an important part of the foundation for a healthy community.” 

Their recent programming includes stained glass, painting, journaling and other make-and-take workshops. For kids, they have the Kids’ Creativity Coop that meets on various Saturdays. 

The council’s downtown gallery space features a steady rotation of exhibits. “Miniature Art 2023” – an annual art show now in its 39th year – is currently on display.

In an interview before the event, Sara Spitzer explained that theme of the event is “you are art” and that each element of the gala would celebrate the arts in its own way.

“And part of the fun is to dress up and show your style and to have fun with it and to recognize that we are art in ourselves,” she said. Accordingly, attendees were encouraged “to dress as your authentic, artistic self, to be as flamboyant and as wild as as you want to be or be subdued and quiet. Just as each piece of art has its own personality, so should your dress.”

The gala was also a sort of release after the COVID-19 pandemic put a damper on the council’s community engagements for so long.

“The idea,” said Spitzer, “is that we want to celebrate our 35th anniversary of being in existence and then also celebrate that we’ve made it this long and we’ve made it through the pandemic and we’re still alive.”

“It is a fundraiser to raise as much money as possible to pay for overhead mostly, to keep the building running. Our grants that we get cover a lot of our programming, so that’s covered, but what we struggle with is rent, electricity – things like that. It’s helping with the foundation, keeping the place open.” 

She added: “The Council for the Arts and this gala will be highlighting all of the people who make Chambersburg such an eclectic and diverse place for the arts. So we’re hoping to highlight that with dancers, with music, and the visual arts as well.”

People interested in supporting the arts in downtown Chambersburg and helping the Council for the Arts reach their goal of $35,000 by year’s end can contribute here.