Community. Sustainability. Support. Empowerment. Discovery. Celebration. Safety. Creative Space-Making.
***BREAKING NEWS***
Opening Announced:
717 Arts Community Center, SoMA Hbg
link to Central Penn Business Journal article
717 Arts Community Center will open at 25 S. 3rd St during Harrisburg Fringe Festival, July 16-19.
Center will feature live performances, art gallery space, community resources and more.
HARRISBURG, PA - 717 Arts Inc. is proud to announce that it will open the 717 Arts Community Center at 25 S. 3rd St. in Harrisburg’s SoMA district, in partnership with Harristown Development Corporation. The 717 Arts Community Center will be open to the public for the first time during the 4th Annual Harrisburg Fringe Festival, held on July 16-19.
717 Arts Community Center will be home to hosting live performances, workshops and visual art exhibitions. Additionally, the Center will be available for use as a dynamic multi-use space.
“The arts community in Harrisburg is thriving, and artists and performers are continually seeking out places to make art happen,” said Brianna Dow, Harrisburg Fringe Festival Producer and President of 717 Arts. “With the 717 Arts Community Center, our goal is to meet the community where they are, providing a safe, supportive and welcoming space.”
As a 501c(3) nonprofit organization, 717 Arts has made collaboration and community partnerships central to its mission of being a resource for artists and arts organizations throughout central Pennsylvania. Through its partnership with Harristown Development Corporation, 717 Arts is able to fully embody that work, creating a physical space for the community to create and enjoy the arts.
717 Arts will open in the former site of Found Collab, a vintage store that closed last year. The art nonprofit joins several other businesses in SoMa (south of Market Street), including Boneshire Taps, JoJo’s Barbershop, SCC Tattoos, Agape Elixer Bar and more. Before its years as Found Collab, the storefront was home to longtime arts tenant Walker’s Art and Framing. The 717 Arts Community Center will continue the space’s arts-focused legacy forward.
“We are thrilled to welcome the 717 Arts Community Center to SoMa,” said Brad Jones, president of Dewberry, L.L.C., an affiliate of Harristown Development Corp., which owns the building. “Having artists visiting and using this unique space adds energy to this area and increases the vibrant character of the SoMa neighborhood.”
During the upcoming Harrisburg Fringe Festival, 717 Arts Community Center will serve as the Fringe Hub, providing information and support to festival attendees and performers. Additionally, it will be the home of the Visual Fringe, the festival’s visual arts exhibition. For more information about the Harrisburg Fringe Festival, visit www.hbgfringe.com.
Logo by Ryan Spahr, 2021
A nonprofit arts organization based in Harrisburg, 717 Arts takes inspiration from our local and regional community to keep building for the future.
Mission:
717 Arts serves to create and grow accessible space and support through sustainable practices for artists, companies, and communities on the margins and fringes, celebrating uniqueness with locally-inspired spirit and joy.
Our flagship programming:
The Harrisburg Fringe Festival, inaugural festival July 6-9, 2023 (and repeated annually since).
The HFF has annually brought about 2,000 audience members to see 35-40 shows over 4 days by 100+ artists (most of whom have local ties) in 6-10 venues all over downtown and midtown Harrisburg.
The HFF is non-juried, uncensored, and gives its producing artists 100% of their ticket sales, as Fringe Festivals in Europe and Canada routinely do according to international norms established by the world-famous Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the oldest and largest such Festival in the world.
The HFF is a large-scale community project involving many local artists, venues, organizations, and businesses working in partnership.
717 Arts is proud to be spearheading and producing this initiative, delighted to be establishing so many community partnerships through the work, and glad to be bringing accessibility and empowerment to artists with the Fringe experience.
We fundraise and rally volunteers so that artists in our community can get paid, not be gatekept, and have a chance to find, hone, and champion their artistic voice.