The Pocono Art Council is closing its doors on September 30, 2024. The same council is responsible for providing resources to the AP Art classes in Pocono Mountain West High School (PME) by hosting public art galleries, student summer camps, festivals, and film screenings.
The council was founded in 1975 and became a non-profit organization in 1977, purely dedicated to preserving and promoting art in Monroe County. Over the past 50 years, they have been hosting art galleries and other events for young, up-and-coming artists, who strive to take their art to the next level, as well as funding art-based scholarships for any high school graduates in Monroe County.
All events (galleries, film screenings, discussions, meetings) both concluded and future, are present on their website Poconoarts.org.
Stroudsburg High School Art teacher, S. Cepin says, “I think that here in the Poconos and Stroudsburg especially, the arts have always really been supported here.”
The council stated they have been losing revenue yearly, and not making nearly enough money to sustain their non-profit activities. This means no more galleries, no more screenings, and fewer opportunities from their specific organization for artists all over Monroe County, and the surrounding areas (The Poconos, Stroudsburg, etc).
According to a press release by Pocono Arts published on August 12, Darice Pauselius, Executive Director of the council stated, “Our Board of Directors had an extremely difficult decision to make. Income has remained stagnant for over a decade and our expenses continue to steadily increase.”
Pocono Art Council was a part of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA), a government organization specializing in funding the arts. Originally a part of this program, unfortunately, revenue from the PCA was cut short, and the non-profit isn’t bringing in enough income.
The same press release highlighted, “During Pocono Arts Council’s 2019-2020 fiscal year, PCA redistricted, and Monroe County became part of Region 5 which includes Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, and Northampton counties. The Lehigh Valley Community Foundation was then selected to be the regional granting partner and, as a result, Pocono Arts Council lost a significant portion of revenue ($100K+).”
Consequently, the council will be officially shutting down. However, the Monroe County Historical Association has announced the new steward of Pocono Arts Council’s permanent art collection. And any and all scholarships that were funded by the council will continue to give art students opportunities for art colleges.
S. Cepin says this on what the council has to offer, “The opportunities and scholarships that organizations like these give are great. Because there is so much funding for sports, music, etc…” “… It’s so important because the arts are overlooked.”
However, after their official closing, the Pocono Art Council will continue to host events up until October 8, 2024, and all art pieces will go to the Monroe County Historical Association.