The Art Bar is a pop-up art gallery open to the public at 236 E Calder Way, downtown State College through the months of February and March. What makes the Art Bar different from other pop-ups State College has seen is that the Art Bar allows creative freedom to flow through anyone who wishes to participate.

The pop-up features many different activities anyone can do, such as diamond painting, acrylic painting, fused glass, book binding, and sumi-e painting.

State High art teacher Maure Irwin Furmanek, who also teaches through the Makery and out of her home, has been able to create her own community in State College. Taking it to the next step, Furmanek opened the Art Bar, allowing the community of skilled, committed, and creative artists to flourish and share their work with others. 

“I wanted to kind of have a place for older kids, high school, college, and adults,” Furmanek said. 

Art has played a fundamental role in Furmanek’s life, and it would’ve been a great loss if her passion for creating beauty wasn’t used as an encouragement for others to do the same.

It’s been a point of conversation in recent years that downtown State College is lacking in the amount of things for people to actually do. The Art Bar being located downtown has brought many new refreshing and exciting activities for people to partake in.

The inside of the Art Bar is ideal for a place where creativity is the center focus, with a relaxing, pleasing, and cozy environment. Furmanek’s intention was to create a “very comfortable, cool space for people to come in and work on their art and relax.”

AP Studio Art students recently went on a field trip to the Art Bar on Feb. 19, and they used the space to the fullest extent and created artwork for its walls.

“It is a really good space for artists to connect and for people who aren’t super into art, to get into art,” Mia Hollobaugh, a senior in AP Studio Art, said.

Furmanek told her AP Studio Art class to create a collage art piece influenced by someone who inspires them. 

“I put a picture of my grandma because I look up to her a lot, and I made a collage with daffodils, her favorite flower,” Hollobaugh said.

Some of the artwork featured at the Art Bar is even for sale, allowing young artists to get accustomed to the more professional side of being an artist, allowing people from the community to have well-made student art for themselves.

Reese Fischer, another senior whose work is also featured in the Art Bar, created two pieces of art based off of the idea of finding her identity. 

“One of them is a painting of me and my sister at an aquarium whenever we were younger. It’s just about my relationship with my older sister and growing up together,” Fischer said.

The other painting she created is a larger painting inspired by religion and how that has influenced her identity growing up.

The addition of Furmanek’s Art Bar downtown has been a major upgrade for downtown State College, a nice venture for those in the community, and a safe haven for all kinds of artists. The Art Bar is also a place for those with little art experience, but interested in experiment with creative expression. 

 The menu of options one can choose from when they go to the Art Bar is enticing, yet simple enough that anyone can pick it up with enough practice, whether it be painting, bookbinding, or jewelry making. “I just chose things that I felt like everybody could do,” Furmanek said.

Furmanek’s own favorite activity offered is fused glass. Fused glass is one of those art projects that anyone of any skill level can do, and it will still look amazing no matter where someone stands on the spectrum of experience or skill.

“[It is] fun for people that want to come in, and maybe only work for half an hour and create a really cool ring for themselves or a set of earrings,” Furmanek said.  

Furmanek reflected on her experience opening and running the space. “I feel like it’s been really rewarding even if I don’t get anything from it, it would just be the fact that I set up the space,” Furmanek said. “I think for who’s come it’s been a great experience.”

Editor’s note: Original article misspelled Reese Fischer’s name. Article is now updated with correct spelling.