The Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts (PGSA) was one of the

Pennsylvania Governor's Schools of Excellence The Pennsylvania Governor's Schools of Excellence (PGSE) are five-week, publicly funded summer program for gifted high school students. List of Governors of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell cut funding for the PGSE program in the st ...

, a group of five-week summer academies for gifted high school students in the Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The school was hosted each summer first by

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal-arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts a ...

, then by

Mercyhurst College Mercyhurst University is a private Catholic university in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. History On September 20, 1926, Mercyhurst College opened its doors just a few blocks away from the city's southern boundary. It was founded by the Si ...

. PGSA was defunded by Pennsylvania's 2009–2010 state budget.

Overview

Pennsylvania Governor's School for the Arts was established earliest among eight such Governor's schools. Like other

, PGSA operated on a state-funded, scholarship basis. Upon its inception in 1973 under

Milton Shapp Milton Jerrold Shapp (born Milton Jerrold Shapiro; June 25, 1912 – November 24, 1994) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 40th governor of Pennsylvania from 1971 to 1979 and the first Jewish governor of Pennsylvania. He ...

. PGSA was hosted at

in Lewisburg under the direction of Arthur Gatty, who led the program until 1988. It was seen as an early leader in such programs, and among the first in the country. By 1985, the school drew 225 students from 2,000 applicants. In 1990, the program was relocated to

Erie Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

. Similar to a college experience, students took various classes associated with a "major" in one of five art areas:

creative writing Creative writing is any writing that goes beyond the boundaries of normal professional, journalistic, academic, or technical forms of literature, typically identified by an emphasis on craft and technique, such as narrative structure, character ...

dance Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...

, or

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

. In addition to these classes, students selected an elective class in an art area other than their primary. Collaboration and multifaceted projects were encouraged and common. Alongside classes, nightly performances and gallery shows combined with a broad range of social activities and special events to create a unique experience similar to that of an

artists' colony Art colonies are organic congregations of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, who are often drawn to areas of natural beauty, the prior existence of other artists, art schools there, or a lower cost of living. They are typically mission- ...

Defunding

Governor

Ed Rendell Edward Gene Rendell (; born January 5, 1944) is an American politician, author, and former prosecutor who served as the 45th governor of Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2011. He previously served as chair of the national Democratic Party from 1999 to 2 ...

's 2009–2010 budget proposed cutting funding for all the schools in the PGSE program, including PGSA. The program was discontinued in 2009, after 36 years of operation.

Notable alumni

Kevin Bacon Kevin Norwood Bacon (born July 8, 1958) is an American actor. Known for various roles, including leading man characters, Bacon has received numerous accolades such as a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Bacon made his featu ...

('74) * Melinda Wagner (composer) ('74) *

Richard O'Donnell (playwright) Richard O'Donnell (born June 17, 1956) is an American playwright, composer, lyricist, poet, actor, and stand-up comic. He has worked and lived in New York City and Chicago, where he has written and performed for the stage and television. O'Don ...

('74) *

Aaron Jay Kernis Aaron Jay Kernis (born January 15, 1960) is a Pulitzer Prize- and Grammy Award-winning American composer serving as a member of the Yale School of Music faculty. Kernis spent 15 years as the music advisor to the Minnesota Orchestra and as direct ...

('75) *

Megan Gallagher Megan Gallagher (born February 6, 1960) is an American theater and television actress. Having studied at the Juilliard School under the supervision of John Houseman, Gallagher began her career on stage, and has appeared in several Broadway theat ...

('76) * Gary Schocker ('76) *

Boris Bally Boris Bally is an American artist and metal smith in Providence, Rhode Island. Background Born 1961 to Swiss Parents, Doris and Alex Bally who had just immigrated to Chicago so that Alex could study at Illinois Institute of Technology. Doris took ...

('77) * Ian Gallanar ('78) * Suzanne Keen ('79) *

Daniel Roebuck Daniel James Roebuck (born March 4, 1963) is an American actor and writer. In film, he is known for his roles as Deputy Marshal Robert Biggs in ''The Fugitive'' (1993) and its spin-off ''U.S. Marshals'' (1998), as well as Mr. Banks in '' Agent ...

('79) *

Alice Sebold Alice Sebold (born September 6, 1963) is an American author. She is known for her novels '' The Lovely Bones'' and '' The Almost Moon'', and a memoir, '' Lucky''. ''The Lovely Bones'' was on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list and was adapt ...

('79) * Julia Kasdorf ('80) *

Tina Fey Elizabeth Stamatina "Tina" Fey (; born May 18, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, and producer. Known for her comedic roles in sketch comedy, television and film, Fey has received List of awards and nominations received by Tina Fe ...

('87) *

Ari Hoenig Ari Hoenig (born November 13, 1973) is an American jazz drummer, composer, and educator. Educational materials Hoenig has taught and is on the faculty at New York University and The New School in New York. He gives clinics and lectures at music ...

('90) * Asali Solomon ('90) * Steven Burns ('91) *

Meagan Miller Meagan Miller is an American soprano with an active international career in opera, recital and concert. Early life Miller was born in Wilmington, Delaware and grew up in West Chester, Ohio and Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania. She attended high school ...

('91) *

Matthew Hoch Matthew Hoch (born December 29, 1975, in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American academic and teacher of singing. Hoch is currently professor of voice at Auburn University, where he teaches applied voice, lyric diction, and vocal literature courses ...

('93) *

Zachary Quinto Zachary John Quinto (; born June 2, 1977) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Sylar, the primary antagonist from the science fiction drama series ''Heroes (American TV series), Heroes'' (2006–2010); Spock in the film ''Star Trek ...

('94) *

Neal Dodson Neal Dodson (born May 17, 1978) is an American film producer. His producer credits include the Academy Award-nominated ''Margin Call'', the Golden Globe Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated '' All Is Lost'' starring Robert Redford, the comedy ...

('94) * Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz ('95) * Lucas Steele (‘96) *

Stephen Karam Stephen Karam (born ) is an American playwright, screenwriter and director. His plays '' Sons of the Prophet'', a comedy-drama about a Lebanese-American family, and '' The Humans'' were finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2012 and 2016, ...

('97) * Katharine Beutner ('98) *

Gillian Jacobs Gillian MacLaren Jacobs (; born October 19, 1982) is an American actress. She is known for playing Britta Perry in the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), Mickey Dobbs in the Netflix romantic comedy series '' Love'' (2016–2018), and Mar ...

('99) *

Andy Mientus Andrew Michael Mientus (born November 10, 1986) is an American actor. He is best known for starring in the Broadway musicals '' Spring Awakening'', ''Les Misérables'', and ''Wicked'', and on television in the NBC musical drama '' Smash'' and as ...

('04) * Derek Hansen ('07) * Rebecca Wisocky

References

{{coord, 42.10528, -80.05396, type:edu_globe:earth_region:US-PA, display=title Art schools in Pennsylvania Education in Pennsylvania Educational institutions established in 1973 Gifted education 1973 establishments in Pennsylvania