The Art Is in the Details
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
by Katy Shero
[Originally published in the Summer 2026 issue of Mount Gretna Magazine. View the complete issue to experience this story in its original design, along with additional photographs and content.]
Don’t miss this year's 52nd Annual Mount Gretna Outdoor Art Show Aug. 15-16. Learn more at MtGretnaArts.com.
Under the trees of Old Chautauqua, the air is familiarly still, filled with birdsong, soft insect hums, and a tranquilness that reminds us to slow down and breathe.
But for one weekend each year, this energy transforms. The stillness becomes motion, and chaos, a good kind, is invited in as hundreds of artists, volunteers, and visitors make their way to Mount Gretna to attend one of the area’s most anticipated and esteemed events: The Mount Gretna Outdoor Art Show.
Visitors see hundreds of booths filled with crafted goods, from watercolor paintings and abstract pottery to stained-glass garden art and handmade jewelry. However, beyond the booths, there’s an unseen art: the year-round work behind the scenes that goes into the weekend.
“When you come in, you can see how beautiful everything looks. Everyone has worked so hard to prep everything … from the tents and the entryway … and the pots, which are from a local artist,” says Kerry Royer, the Mount Gretna Outdoor Art Show director. “We plan for this all year, and it’s like everyone in the community has the opportunity to participate and come together.”
Creating community amid the art
Kerry, a Mount Gretna resident who has been the art show director since 2018, says the event team begins planning next year’s art show “pretty much after” the current show finishes.
From deciding which artists to let participate to coordinating with food vendors and the more than 300 volunteers who come to help every year, each detail crucial to the success of the two-day event is meticulously planned and carefully thought out.
“During the weekend, we have people who are helping with operations and set up … volunteers at gates and admissions, and booth sitters when the artists need a break. The fire company does all the parking, and the Lebanon Emergency Management Agency does all the logistics and traffic for us, and safety,” Kerry says. “We like to keep it handmade, so we’re also coordinating with local and small businesses and vendors. The whole process is a well-oiled machine.”
One of the earliest logistics of planning the show — and arguably, one of the most important — is selecting which artists will be invited to share and sell their craft at the show. Kerry says the Mount Gretna Outdoor Art Show is one of “very high-caliber” art and highly desirable for artists to participate in.
“We have artists nationwide … and it’s one of the most competitive shows,” says Kerry, who also serves as Mount Gretna’s mayor. “We had more than 500 applications for just 200 spots.”
In fact, Kerry says that in 2025, she even had a waitlisted artist drive more than 10 hours overnight, right before the weekend began, to be a part of the show.
She notes that 75% of the artists in 2025 were returning artists, many having participated in three or more previous shows. John Boyett is one of these artists.
John, who makes colorful hand-blown glass in his studio in Canton, Ohio, says he’s been part of the show for eight years and keeps coming back for a reason.
“It’s nice to be a part of a good show like this — great vendors, great patrons, and lots of people out here. I’ve been here for eight years because, you know, you find shows that work for you, and you continue to go to them,” John says. “This is a full-time job, and I make everything myself, so after this show, I’ll leave and go back to Canton again, and start preparing for next year’s.”
Duane Wendling, another featured artist from 2025 (and semi-local, based out of Kutztown), also puts in significant preparation and care into his pieces and booth displayed at the show.
“This is the first time I’ve done an outdoor show in a while, so I had to make special props and stuff specifically for this show,” he says. Duane crafts wooden home decor that reflects the woodsy, whimsical aesthetic of Mount Gretna cottages. He attributes his woodworking roots to his father and says he was “excited” for the weekend because it was his first time having a booth at the Mount Gretna Outdoor Art Show.
“I had my wife helping me set up and prepare today, and my son was helping yesterday,” Duane says. “It’s a family affair.”
Organizing a ‘village’ of volunteers
Kerry says since artists are coming from near and far, there’s a lot of logistics they have to factor into their preparation, from figuring out how to haul their goods, given the narrowness of the town’s streets, to sleeping arrangements, which she says some artists even opt to “camp” in the woods nearby.
“It’s really important to us to make sure after the artists check in that we’re checking in with them to make sure they have everything they need and that we’re here to support them,” she says.
However, the volunteers have just as heavy a lift — figuratively and, occasionally, literally — throughout the weekend, too.
Cheryl Booth, a central Pennsylvania resident, has been volunteering for the past several years after her sister and former show director, Linda, encouraged her to get involved. Cheryl says being a volunteer is “more than rewarding.”
“I really enjoy it. I love to meet all the new artists and get to talk to them and know a little bit more information about them,” Cheryl says. “There are lots of artists that have gotten in every year over the years, too, so you really get to know them.”
Cheryl says volunteers can begin their work as early as months before the show to the day of. Her tasks last year included registering artists when they first arrived on Friday, the day before the festivities began. Volunteers are needed for all jobs, from visible ones like assisting with parking and counting tickets and cash, to directing artists where to go and guiding them to the “right people to answer questions,” she says.
“To prepare, I also sometimes look at the website prior to coming to kind of familiarize myself with some of the artists or see if my favorite artists are going to be here,” she says. “I remember faces, but if I look at the site, I see names, and when they’re here … I try to be helpful and make them feel welcomed.”
One significant, and sometimes less obvious, challenge every year, Cheryl adds, is factoring in the weather. Last year’s weather was calm and sunny at 80 degrees, but that isn’t always the case.
Whatever the weather, storm, or challenge the months, weeks, or days before the weekend throw, Cheryl says the volunteers and everyone behind the scenes are standing together to ensure the artists and visitors have a memorable weekend.
“It’s just so fun to watch them set up, and it’s kind of sad to watch them tear down, but we always hope everyone had a really great show,” she says.
Kerry agrees, noting she cannot express her gratitude enough to everyone working tirelessly to make the show a success each year.
“I mean, since we plan all year for this, it’s so rewarding to finally get to see all the work we’ve put in all year,” she says. “Every detail, every volunteer … It really takes a village.”
Katy Shero is a freelance writer, professional journalist, and editor. As a Palmyra native, she has many fond memories of visiting Mount Gretna while growing up. She most recently worked as the editor-in-chief for Susquehanna Style magazine before moving to Durham, North Carolina, in May 2025.
