Labor of love

It's difficult to come up with an original design for the official poster of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts -- especially when you've done the last 20 or so in a row.

"It does get to be a challenge, both thematically and stylistically," Lanny Sommese, professor and head of graphic design in the School of Visual Arts, said. "I try to make them each look very different."

So after two decades of going back to the drawing board, why does he continue to do it?

"The real question is why not? The festival board needs it and I enjoy doing it," Sommese said. "I believe the festival is good for this area, so it's really a synergistic relationship. I think it has a lot to do with all the festival directors over the years. They've been very cooperative and have given me a certain amount of creative license, so it's been a lot of fun for me. It's also always fun to go into people's houses and see my posters hanging there."

Sommese, who has been with the University since 1970, incorporates the same elements into each of the posters. He tries to portray the fact that it's a summer event and also include elements of both the visual and performing arts to represent all aspects of the festival. And he tries to make it colorful because it is a celebration of the arts.

In past years, the festival directors have given Sommese themes to work with. This year, however, he was on his own.

"This year, I used handwritten type and added to it figures in the shapes of letters."

Sommese volunteered to design his first arts festival poster in 1973 or 1974. Back then, he also designed the programs, call for entry brochures, invitations and buttons for the festival.

In the beginning the posters were functional, serving as advertisements for the festival. Later, they were produced to be sold.

"Now, a sponsor pays to have them produced and they're given away free as commemorative items," Sommese said. "And their size has been standardized. They used to be smaller, but now are 24 inches by 36 inches, which is a readily-available poster frame size."

This year, Mid State Bank is the official sponsor of the arts festival poster.

Sommese has a couple of favorites among his arts festival posters.

"There've been two I especially liked. The one with the jester holding a palette that's dripping into a river is a favorite, and I also really loved the one with cut paper and the shadow of the jester on it," Sommese said. He created both in the 1980s.

Still, his latest creation holds a special place in his heart.

"I do very much love this year's poster. I think it has a very beautiful color palette. I try to make each of the posters very playful, lots of fun, because that's what the festival is all about."