ASAP is an arts-based program that was developed to prevent and reduce the incidence of juvenile delinquency, crime, and other problem behaviors in at-risk youth during after school hours and in the summer months.  The arts-centered program includes life skills training that will develop and/or strengthen the positive bonds of youth to their families, schools, and communities.  Art is used as the tool to nurture critical thinking, individual power and creativity.

The year-round operation of ASAP integrates the arts with educational objectives and the socio-cultural needs of at-risk youth.  Classes are conducted in various arts disciplines including:  ceramics, dance, drawing, photography, creative writing and digital arts. This year GoggleWorks is partnering with the Wyomissing Institute of the Arts to offer Integrated Theater and Writing classes two days per week.

Students work on various assignments both as an individual and as part of a team and Saturday programs provide additional time for students to work collaboratively to complete projects.  As students progress through the program, advanced level activities offer internship opportunities at the GoggleWorks in which select middle school students serve as mentors for new students. Throughout the program, parents are invited to participate with their children, both in classes and at a celebration event for the students at the conclusion of each session.  

ASAP is sponsored by The Bon-Ton Stores Foundation and St. Paul Travelers Foundation. Conestoga Telephone and Telegraph Company, a subsidiary of D&E Communications, Inc. also sponsors ASAP through Pennsylvania’s nationally recognized Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program.

The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts is a community art and cultural resource center for Berks County and central and southeastern Pennsylvania, and is the largest, most comprehensive interactive arts center of its kind in the country. The mission of the GoggleWorks is “to nurture the arts, foster creativity, promote education and enrich the community.” The GoggleWorks is open Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 9 pm, and Sunday from 11 am to 7 pm. Free parking is available in the GoggleWorks parking lot, accessible from 2^nd, 3^rd or Walnut Streets.  For more information, call the GoggleWorks at 610-374-4600, or visit www.goggleworks.org.

(GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA) GoggleWorks is pleased to announce the exhibition, slide lecture and workshop by printmaking pioneer Mitch Lyons.

“Lasting Impressions - Clay Monoprints and Clay Vessels” will be on display in the Leesport Bank Artists Gallery, located on the third floor, from March 3 through March 30. There will be an opening reception held on Thursday, March 13, from 5pm to 7pm. The works in the exhibition have been printed from a slab of clay that Lyons rolled out in his New London, PA studio. They date back to September 1980. Lyons says, “My work is about clay, the smell, the taste, the feel, and how it replicates all of my mark making, this is what continues to excite me and challenge me.”

The slide lecture, featuring different clay printmaking techniques, will be held Friday, March 14, from 7pm to 8pm. The lecture is free for members, $5 for nonmembers. The printmaking workshop, where students can learn more about printmaking with clay will be held Saturday, March 15, and Sunday, March 16, from 10am to 4pm. The cost for the workshop is $195.00 for nonmembers, $176.00 for members. A $15.00 materials fee also applies. For more information on this workshop and lecture, or to sign up to attend, visit www.goggleworks.org, or stop in at the Information Desk during business hours.

Mitch Lyons earned his Masters of Fine Arts Degree in Ceramics from Tyler School of Art, and his Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree in Graphics from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. His clay monoprints can be found in numerous private and public collections throughout the United States, including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Woodmere Museum, American University and the University of Delaware.

The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts is a community art and cultural resource center for Berks County and central and southeastern Pennsylvania, and is the largest, most comprehensive interactive arts center of its kind in the country. The mission of the GoggleWorks is “to nurture the arts, foster creativity, promote education and enrich the community.” The GoggleWorks is open Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 9 pm, and Sunday from 11 am to 7 pm. Free parking is available in the GoggleWorks parking lot, accessible from 2^nd, 3^rd or Walnut Streets.  For more information, call the GoggleWorks at 610-374-4600, or visit www.goggleworks.org.

(GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA) Design, Drink and Be Merry: The Craft Brew Art Movement is an exhibition designed to celebrate the most outstanding designs of American microbreweries. The first show of its kind, Design, Drink and Be Merry will honor fourteen breweries selected from the thousands in the U.S. that have consistently gone above and beyond the industry standard in the creation of their beers' visual identity. The show runs from June 2 through 29 in the Schmidt Gallery on the second floor, with an opening reception on June 5 from 5 pm to 8 pm, including beer tasting and a silent auction. Many of the brew masters from the participating breweries will be attending the opening. Tickets for this event are $15 in advance, $20 at the door. Please call 610.374.4600 for details. Sunday, June 8 features a presentation on craft breweries by Scott Baver of Legacy Brewery during the Second Sunday Open House.

The past few years have seen a tremendous increase in the understanding and appreciation for the creation of great beer. Microbreweries, once lost in an ocean of watery, like-tasting American light lagers, are now a growing and respected core of a time honored craft. There is an important part of craft brewing that has not shared in the industry’s boom: the designers who devote hours and hours to creating the visual identities of those breweries and their products. Design, Drink and Be Merry: The Craft Brew Art Movement will honor the accomplishments in design that have made the microbrewing boom an experience as artistic as it is delicious.

The exhibition explores the process that these artists go through as they try to represent the flavor and character of their ales and lagers through images, and the decisions that lead to the graphics we see on their packaging.

For tickets to the opening reception call the GoggleWorks at 610-374-4600. For more information on this exhibit visit: http://www.goggleworks.org/beer/.

The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts is a community art and cultural resource center for Berks County and Central and Southeastern Pennsylvania, and is the largest, most comprehensive interactive arts center of its kind in the country. The mission of the GoggleWorks is “to nurture the arts, foster creativity, promote education and enrich the community.”  The GoggleWorks is open Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 9 pm, and Sunday from 11 am to 7 pm. Free parking is available in the GoggleWorks parking lot, accessible from Second, Third or Walnut Streets.  For more information, call the GoggleWorks at 610-374-4600, or visit the website at www.goggleworks.org.

WHAT:  Thank You Party

WHEN:  Friday, May 23, 2008

TIME:  4:00 pm

LOCATION: Room 238

(GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA) On Friday, May 20, 2008 GoggleWorks will be hosting a Volunteer Appreciation Party for all those that have helped to make the GoggleWorks a success. Albert Boscov, President of the GoggleWorks Executive Board, and Reading Mayor Tom McMahon, along with artists, staff, and board members will come together to commend the volunteers with food and refreshments, raffles, prizes, and live music.

Since its start in 2005, the GoggleWorks has looked to volunteers to donate their time to help continue the mission of this Center for the Arts. Through this event, the artists, staff, and board members hope to express their gratitude and appreciation for the effort that the volunteers have put forth.

The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts is a community art and cultural resource center for Berks County and central and southeastern Pennsylvania, and is the largest, most comprehensive interactive arts center of its kind in the country. The mission of the GoggleWorks is “to nurture the arts, foster creativity, promote education and enrich the community.” The GoggleWorks is open Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 9 pm, and Sunday from 11 am to 7 pm. Free parking is available in the GoggleWorks parking lot, accessible from 2^nd, 3^rd or Walnut Streets.  For more information, call the GoggleWorks at 610-374-4600 or visit www.goggleworks.org.

(GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA) From July 14 to 18 and August 4 to 8, youth volunteers from the Berks PRIDE organization will be working with children from the community at the GoggleZone summer camp, as organized by the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts and Body Zone. During GoggleZone, Berks PRIDE volunteers will be spending half a day at Body Zone and a half day at the GoggleWorks and will be assisting GoggleWorks artists in ceramics, glass fusing, mixed media, and photography activities. Also, Berks PRIDE will be sharing their time to read donated books to students in collaboration with the Cops-n-Kids reading program July 28th- July 31st from 1 to 1:30 pm. Not only does it provide a wonderful opportunity for volunteers to read to children ages 6 to 14, but the children get to take home a book at the end of the week as well.

Operated by the Council on Chemical Abuse, Berks PRIDE is an organization for young people who want positively influence their community. Through a variety of presentations and volunteer efforts, the organization aims to create a safe and drug-free environment for their peers. Berks PRIDE also features a performance team that rehearses at the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts.

The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts is a community art and cultural resource center for Berks County and central and southeastern Pennsylvania, and is the largest, most comprehensive interactive arts center of its kind in the country. The mission of the GoggleWorks is “to nurture the arts, foster creativity, promote education and enrich the community.” The GoggleWorks is open Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 9 pm, and Sunday from 11 am to 7 pm. Free parking is available in the GoggleWorks parking lot, accessible from 2nd, 3rd or Walnut Streets.  For more information, call the GoggleWorks at 610-374-4600, or visit www.goggleworks.org.

(GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA) From July 21 through 25 and July 28 to August 1, from 1 through 6 pm, the GoggleWorks summer After School Arts Program (ASAP) will commence in a partnership with the Wyomissing Institute of the Arts and the Cops -N- Kids reading program. Fifteen students, ranging in age from 6 to 14 years old from the Reading Area School District, will be participating each week in this free art and theater camp. The GoggleWorks will be hosting art shows as well, showcasing art for the students, their friends and families each Friday of the camp from 5 to 5:30 pm. The GoggleWorks was also able to provide lunches and snacks for the students though a partnership with the Greater Berks Food Bank.
Each day, a teacher from the Wyomissing Institute of the Arts is on hand to work with the students in learning about theater and interacting with each other through role-playing.

The GoggleWorks is proud to be joined by youth members of the Berks PRIDE organization who will be reading alongside artist and staff volunteers from the GoggleWorks, as well as members of the community. The Berks PRIDE members will be reading to the ASAP students from July 28 to July 31. The books they receive have been donated from the community and at the end of the week each ASAP student will be able to take home their own book. The GoggleWorks especially thanks Herb and Sue Wachs for collecting the books for ASAP.

The After School Arts Program is an arts-based program held during after school hours and the summer months for children. During ASAP, students work with specially trained artists and staff to not only help develop their artistic abilities, but to encourage positive and productive behavior through critical thinking, individual power and creativity. The GoggleWorks ASAP program is funded by The Bon-Ton Stores Foundation, St. Paul Travelers Foundation and Conestoga Telephone and Telegraph Company, a subsidiary of D&E Communications, Inc. and Capital BlueCross. The GoggleWorks is also pleased to partner with the Wyomissing Institute of the Arts, the Greater Berks Food Bank, and Greater Reading Cops ‘n Kids to make ASAP a success. Anyone interested in becoming a sponsor of the ASAP program can contact Julie Sweitzer at jsweitzer@goggleworks.org or by calling 610.374.4600.

The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts is a community art and cultural resource center for Berks County and central and southeastern Pennsylvania, and is the largest, most comprehensive interactive arts center of its kind in the country. The mission of the GoggleWorks is “to nurture the arts, foster creativity, promote education and enrich the community.” The GoggleWorks is open Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 9 pm, and Sunday from 11 am to 7 pm. Free parking is available in the GoggleWorks parking lot, accessible from 2nd, 3rd or Walnut Streets.  For more information, call the GoggleWorks at 610-374-4600, or visit www.goggleworks.org.

(GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA) Join the GoggleWorks’ Second Sunday Open House on August 10, from 11 am to 4 pm.  The GoggleWorks welcomes thousands of guests each month for an all-day event full of gallery presentations, artist demonstrations, musical and theatrical performances.

Located outside the GoggleWorks main entrance, Heart to Art is partnering with the city of Reading in the production of a collaborative intergenerational community mural. This huge 4’ x 8’ mural will be created under the skilled direction of a team of Heart to Art artist mentors and hundreds of community members of all ages. The mural will depict the Reading Pagoda high on Mt Penn as well as the Reading skyline and the Schuylkill River.

In the GoggleWorks Film Theatre, Lance Simmens, Special Assistant to the Governor Rendell and trained presenter for the Al Gore program based on “An Inconvenient Truth” will be speaking on the effects of global warming at 1 pm. Flight of the Red Balloon will be playing at 3 pm and 7 pm. The new ticket prices are adult $8.00, senior $6.00, students $5.00, matinees $6.00.

GoggleWorks Store is hosting book signings! Berks Bards’ poet Craig Czury will be selling his poetry books American Know-How: Patent Pending; In My Silence To Justify; and God’s Shiny Glass Eye. Heather Thomas will be selling her books of poetry as well, entitled Blue Ruby and Resurrection Papers. Maria McDonnell will be selling her book First I Learn My Name.

From 11 am to 4 pm, Bravo Café will be hosting an Ice Cream Sundae and Root Beer Float Bar.

Also in the Bravo Café from 12 pm to 3 pm, the musical group Heartstrings will be performing.

In the Rolf and Renate Schmidt Gallery, artist James Enders will be featuring his work in his show entitled "The Proclamation" New Works By James Enders.

The A.C.O.R. Gallery features “Prelude to Fall” by A.C.O.R. member artists and is hosting guest artist Juan Ruize in “The Last World of Generals”, along with “Early American Art” by the St. Peter’s School.

In studio 215, W. Eugene Burkhart, Jr. will be signing his pressed floral art for his new book, “Pressed Flower Art.”

In room 238 from 12 pm to 2 pm, there will be a swing dance workshop with Alicia and Chip Hunter.

In room 304 there will be demonstrations of Caricatures and Quick Sketches by Mary Lou Creyts from 12 pm to 4 pm.

Fourth Floor:

In room 411, Berks PRIDE dance rehearsals will be taking place. Berks PRIDE is a member of the Council on Chemical Abuse.

In room 504, The Outsider Folk Art Gallery is featuring a new exhibit entitled “Internal Guidance Systems”.

The Community School of Music and the Arts has an ongoing exhibit of artwork by Jasper Kemp Elmer.

The Polish American Cultural Center is exhibiting art work from Poland featuring straw art, paper cutouts, and works in copper and silver.

Through August 31, the Berks County Commission for Women in room 502 features exhibits from Berks Women in Crisis.

There will be Wheel Throwing and Hand Building Demonstrations from 11 am to 4 pm.

Visitors can take a walk in Try Wheel Thrown Pottery class from 11am to 4 pm. No experience is required; the class cost is $25.00 and those who are interested can register at the Information Desk.

Also in the Ceramics studio, get hands-on with clay: visitors can Play With Clay either by making a piece to be fired or just playing around with shapes and ideas. No experience required; cost is $5.00.

From 12 pm to 4 pm, there will be demonstrations by visiting artist Eric Snee. From 1 pm to 4 pm, visit Scott McKenna as he demonstrates how to make small animals from glass using the lampworking technique. Also from 1 pm to 4 pm, visitors can take a walk in Try Hot Glass class. There is no experience required; the class cost is $35.00 and those who are interested can register at the Information Desk. Closed-toed shoes are required.

From 12 pm to 4 pm, the Berks Genealogical Society will be giving a free tour of their library in room 413.

Visitors can sign up for a 1 pm free guided tour of the GoggleWorks at the Information Desk.

All day, the GoggleWorks Artists will be in their studios to talk with visitors about their artwork, classes and more.

The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts is a community art and cultural resource center for Berks County and Central and Southeastern Pennsylvania, and is the largest, most comprehensive interactive arts center of its kind in the country. The mission of the GoggleWorks is “to nurture the arts, foster creativity, promote education and enrich the community.”  The GoggleWorks is open Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 9 pm, and Sunday from 11 am to 7 pm. Free parking is available in the GoggleWorks parking lot, accessible from Second, Third or Walnut Streets.  For more information, call the GoggleWorks at 610-374-4600, or visit the website at www.goggleworks.org

WHAT:  The Aztec Dancers

WHEN:  Sunday, August 3, 2008

TIME:  12:00 – 3:00 pm

LOCATION: Room 238

(GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA) On Sunday August 3, 2008 GoggleWorks will be hosting the traditional Mexican dance group The Aztec Dancers for a free performance. Local and regional dancers from New Jersey and Philadelphia will be attending this event as well. The public is invited to come out and experience this traditional dance team live!

The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts is a community art and cultural resource center for Berks County and central and southeastern Pennsylvania, and is the largest, most comprehensive interactive arts center of its kind in the country. The mission of the GoggleWorks is “to nurture the arts, foster creativity, promote education and enrich the community.” The GoggleWorks is open Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 9 pm, and Sunday from 11 am to 7 pm. Free parking is available in the GoggleWorks parking lot, accessible from 2^nd, 3^rd or Walnut Streets.  For more information, call the GoggleWorks at 610-374-4600 or visit www.goggleworks.org.

(GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA) During the GoggleWorks Second Sunday on August 10, Scranton, PA-based artists Donna Doherty and Judith Youshock will be creating a mural in celebration of the 100^th anniversary of the Pagoda. Their group, Heart to Art LLC, is partnering with the city of Reading in the production of a collaborative intergenerational community mural. The Reading community is invited to come and participate in the creation of the mural, which will depict the Pagoda high on Mount Penn, as well as the Reading skyline and the Schuylkill River.

Heart to Art, a woman owned, for-profit community oriented group, has met with Mayor McMahon, Diane LaBelle, Executive Director of the GoggleWorks, and other community leaders to discuss projects for the community and the Pagoda.  The Pagoda, erected in 1908 and sold to the city of Reading in 1911, has overlooked the development and recent rejuvenation of Reading for the past 100 years. In 1969, the community driven organization Pagoda-Skyline, Inc. was given official city recognition and allowed to fundraise to revitalize and preserve the landmark.

Heart to Art is a marketing and design company that brings communities and businesses together to help promote the arts in a way that supports positive change that can bind a community together. Heart to Art has worked in Pennsylvanian towns previous to their partnership with Reading, such as in Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, PA and even expanding their reach to other states, like in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Mainly, Heart to Art has been able to promote local non-profit organizations through the production of “visual story boards.” These visual stories are manly compiled from murals and large scale art projects conducted by local artists and community organizations that work to not only promote the arts and local non-profits’ missions, but to also help create a sense of pride in the people who participate towards their community. 

Donna Doherty is the owner of Heart to Art and was recently chosen by the Broadway Theatre League of Northeastern Pennsylvania as the 2007 recipient of the Sam and June Cali Star Award for distinguished service and dedication to the arts. During her career she has worked for Kraft Foods as a sales representative and later for Waring and LaRosa, a New York advertising agency. She has served on the board of trustees of the Everhart Museum in Scranton, as Scranton coordinator for the Miles of Mules initiative of the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, on Governor Rendell's Arts and Cultural Transition team and on the Lackawanna County Council on Arts, Culture and Education and the Artspace Steering Committee.

The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts is a community art and cultural resource center for Berks County and central and southeastern Pennsylvania, and is the largest, most comprehensive interactive arts center of its kind in the country. The mission of the GoggleWorks is “to nurture the arts, foster creativity, promote education and enrich the community.” The GoggleWorks is open Monday through Saturday from 9 am to 9 pm, and Sunday from 11 am to 7 pm. Free parking is available in the GoggleWorks parking lot, accessible from 2^nd, 3^rd or Walnut Streets.  For more information, call the GoggleWorks at 610-374-4600, or visit www.goggleworks.org.

(GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA)  Visitors coming to Reading for the dog show will get their fill of dogs! On Saturday, November 22, and Sunday, November 23, the Greater Reading Expo Center is hosting the 2008 Kennel Club of Philadelphia Dog Show. During the weekend, visitors will have a chance to see Paws for Art: A Canine Collection with local artists’ drawings, paintings, and sculpture featuring dogs. The exhibit, located in the third floor VIST Financial Gallery, runs through November 28.

And on Saturday, November 22, from 11 am to 4 pm, visitors can bring their dogs to GoggleWorks.

Strolling through the galleries with their pets, dog-lovers are encouraged to stop by the Store to check out great dog-themed gifts, including hand-sewn leather change purses, ceramic banks, stationery, puppets, and more. and from 10 am to 7 pm, dog-owners can browse the exquisite dog collar selections from Collier Leeds, LLC, a Virginville, PA-based company that handcrafts dog collars inspired by history.

Ticket prices before November 10 are $30; after November 10, tickets will be $45. Snazzy snack foods and drinks are included in the price of the ticket. GoggleWorks Members get a special deal: bring a new Member, get in free! A current Member can bring a guest; when the guest joins the GoggleWorks at the Monocle Membership level or above, both Members will then get into the event for free. For more information, or to RSVP, please call 610.374.4600.

Internationally known glass artists will be working with hot molten glass in teams; team leaders will be designating how the pieces should evolve. Hot glass can be a fairly unpredictable material to work with, unlike metal, clay, or stone.  It changes form and consistency very quickly, so glass artists are constantly moving, shaping and developing the piece while working hard with the changing properties of the glass.