Richard Bryant Appointed to Citizens for the Arts in Pennsylvania Board of Directors

Richard Bryant, PRAA Board President, was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the Citizens for the Arts in Pennsylvania (CAP). He joins current PRAA board member Jeanne Gleason who is also a CAP board member.

Rick is the executive director of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts (CPFA). His involvement with the Festival started in 1984 when he volunteered on the trash crew. He joined the paid staff as the Festival’s director of visual arts in 1999 and was named the Festival’s Executive Director in 2005.

Born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, Rick attended public schools in State College, and afterward the University of Virginia, where he earned a bachelor’s degree from the School of Architecture in 1979. He was employed in the insurance business and earned a Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter designation in 1986.

Abut his appointment to the CAP Board, Rick says, “I’m very excited about joining the board of Citizens for the Arts in Pennsylvania. The arts–music, art, dance, theatre, design, architecture, and so on–make all of our lives richer every single day, and are an enormous part of our economy. I’m looking forward to advocating for the creative sector with our elected officials.”

In addition to his work with CFPA, Rick has volunteered for many community organizations. He has served on many committees and boards including the board of the Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania, the State College Board of Health, the Board of Deacons of State College Presbyterian Church, the Community Advisory Board for Penn State’s Center for the Performing Arts, and the State College Historic Resources Commission. He currently serves as the chair of the State College Design Review Board.