RIDGWAY – The Elk County Council of the Arts has a new leader at
its helm.

Abbigail “Abbi” Peters has been a board member since August 2007
and now she has moved up to the position of executive director.

“When Andi (Willis) announced her resignation at the board
meeting, my eyebrow went up and hum,” Peters explained. “I went
ahead and applied, and was eventually processed and was
accepted.”

Peters took over the reins of the organization on May 19.

“So far, I don’t have a typical day,” Peters said. “I start out
my ‘To Do List’ at the beginning of the week and I try to stick to
it, and usually a million other things pop up. But I bounce between
the administrative side as far as the daily operations of keeping
the books, payroll and what not and then also the incoming
projects, keeping them on track, and then also talking about future
projects.

“So every day I kind of bounce between past, present and
future.”

All of the programs and projects of the ECCOTA are made possible
through funding, either through the Pennsylvania Council on the
Arts, National Endowment of Arts or the state Department of
Community and Economic Development.

There are a lot of different sources that are promoting
different types of funding. An example is the popular “Tasting of
the Wilds” in July, where part of the funding for the event is used
to help promote tourism.

“Right now, I am still following programs that were already put
in place,” Peters said. “They have partially already received
funding and already rolling. As I get my bearings more, and get
into the swing of things and see and how everything runs, then I
will start to look to bring in other programs and projects.”

One big thing that Peters would like to do is have a teen arts
festival to showcase visual, performing, literary and all the arts
throughout the high school and have them come together and be
displayed in one place.

“I haven’t fully announced this anywhere,” Peters said. “I would
like to be at the county fairgrounds, but logistically I still have
to work through everything. I don’t have anything in place
yet.”

Peters said “I know I was lucky enough, when I was growing up,
we had one (a teen arts festival) in our area and it was
countywide. It was just a wonderful experience because you got to
see everyone else’s work.”

Peters said during those festivals, participants could hear the
high school bands, jazz bands and the choirs. There were also
theater performances and monologs and those in attendance got to
see everyone’s visual work. She said not only did the school
children come to see it but also family members and those in the
community.

“It did so much for our confidence and for our understanding
that people appreciate it,” said Peters.

Peters grew up in Clinton, N.J., and went to Kutztown University
in Kutztown. She studied fine arts and art education. She and her
roommate made a pact to move out to California to do stand-up
comedy in 2000. They did some sketch comedy and put on an
all-female comedy troupe.

Peters also did some photography and freelance jewelry, but
mainly she worked on the administrative side in a fashion
accessories company and a music accessories company, where she got
her administrative training, doing everything from production to
shipping. Peters said they were small companies but did large
volume business, so she learned a lot and worked very closely with
the owners.

With her parents former St. Marys residents, Peters met and
married her husband, Charles Wish, in Los Angeles. In 2006, they
were in Ridgway for the Firemen’s Parade and that is when they saw
the old schoolhouse on Walnut Street, which was for sale.

“I fell like a ton of bricks for that schoolhouse,” Peters said.
“We had been looking for more of a sense of community where we were
living, but we couldn’t find it in Los Angeles.”

Peters said Clinton (her hometown) is a small town, a lot like
Ridgway.

“But it has the small town mentality, and growing up I couldn’t
stand it,” Peters said. “I just hated it and had to get so far
away, and then realized everything I actually did love about it –
and I wanted to come back to one. And Ridgway has welcomed us with
open arms. I have no intention of leaving anytime soon.”