A new class of Blair County Arts Hall of Fame inductees will be honored at a ceremony Oct. 1 at the Mishler Theatre, Altoona.
The inductees are: Edwin Zoller (deceased), visual arts; Dorothea and Dean Nelson of Hollidays-burg, arts patrons; Robert P. Broadwater of Bellwood, literary arts; Altoona Symphony Orchestra, public art; and Carole D'Andrea of Hollywood, Calif., performing arts.
The evening begins with a champagne reception at 5:30 p.m. at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Altoona. The induction ceremony begins at 6:30 p.m. and will be followed by a reception at the The Columns.
This year's inductees were chosen from 75 nominees by a Blair County Arts Foundation committee, Executive Director Kate Shaffer said.
"I think it's a fabulous list," Shaffer said. "I'm very, very excited about all of them. They're just a breath of the depth of talent we have in this area."
Nominations are accepted from the community, and the awards are presented by BCAF, SAMA and the Alle-gheny Ridge Corporation to recognize the artistic achievements and service of individuals and organizations.
A short video presentation will be shown on the work of each inductee, Shaffer said. Allegheny Ballet Company, Blair Concert Chorale and a string ensemble from Altoona Symphony Orchestra will perform.
The inaugural Blair County Arts Hall of Fame induction ceremony was held in 2003, with ceremonies every year through 2005. After that, the ceremony became a biennial event.
Tickets to the event are $20 for the ceremony only or $50 to attend the ceremony and both receptions. For more information, call the BCAF at 949-2787.
Visual arts
Edwin Zoller was a bit of an anomaly when he arrived at Penn State Altoona in 1927: He taught art, philosophy and math.
As an artist, he painted industrial scenes of Pittsburgh, his hometown, and later moved to abstract works, in shades of gray. He participated in major shows through the U.S. and in Italy, France and Mexico. In 1965, he was appointed to the Governor's Council on the Arts, on which he remained active until his death in Tyrone in 1967.
Zoller's former student Joe Servello will accept his Blair County Arts Hall of Fame induction award - an honor for a man he remembers as a "great teacher" and "wonderful artist who was very generous with his time."
Servello met Zoller in 1955, as a student at Penn State University Park who was on the verge of failing out of school. A friend suggested Servello show Zoller his portfolio.
"When he saw my work, he insisted that I come to the Altoona campus," Servello, 76, an illustrator in Altoona, said. "He just took care of me, took me under his wing."
The two remained friends until Zoller's death, and Servello said he respected Zoller as a teacher well after graduation.
"Almost everything I did, I always checked things through with him," he said. "He was just very smart and could, with just a few words, help you out with any kind of art you were doing."
Accepting the award is an honor for Servello, too.
"It means everything to me," he said. "Almost any time I'm working on a serious painting or work of art, he just automically comes to mind - some of the things he told me come to mind. I think of him often."
Public arts
The Altoona Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1928 as Russel Gerhart's five-member Gerhart String Ensemble. Today, the organization has more than 75 musicians, a full concert schedule and its first female maestra, Teresa Cheung.
"Every conductor has given something to the symphony - added to it, made it more professional," said Luke Kormanski, board president. "It's kind of evolved, and (Cheung) has that wonderful personality that she does ... she's just lit up the stage, that's for sure."
Board member Shirley Pechter has watched the ASO transform over the years, from the very beginning. Her mother, Fannie Abelson, played the violin in the Gerhart String Ensemble. Pechter said Gerhart "would be so thrilled" with what the ASO has become.
"He started from such humble beginnings," she said. "He knew that he wanted something big, but he didn't know how to get there."
Pechter said the award comes at a time when the symphony is at its peak. Last year, for the 80th season, Kormanski, Cheung and Executive Director Brooke Welsh made community outreach and education a priority.
"I think that we have our rightful place in the community now," Pechter said. "And this validates it."
Literary arts
Robert P. Broadwater of Bellwood has published more than 25 books and 100 articles on military history - not bad for someone who almost gave up on writing.
Broadwater, 51, who manages Perkins Restaurant and Bakery in Altoona, started writing in the early 1980s. He had a few small items published, but by 1997 wanted to call it quits.
"It had gotten to the point where I thought, 'No one wants to read my stuff,'" he said. "I thought, 'Why am I beating my head against the wall?'"
That all changed, though, when Broadwater met Jeff Wert, a Civil War writer and historian who lives in Centre Hall.
"(Wert) said to me, 'Well, Bob, people ask me for advice on writing all the time, and the only advice I can give you is that if you want to be a writer, you just never stop writing,'" Broadwater said. "I was so pumped up and enthused from the conversation we had that night that I went home and decided to give it one more try."
By 1998, a national publisher accepted a manuscript Broadwater had written. All of his magazine articles were published after that.
"It was one of those overnight wonder deals that was 15 or 16 years in the making," he said with a laugh.
He said his induction into the Blair County Arts Hall of Fame was "kind of breathtaking."
"I'm a little bit in awe of the whole thing," he said. "I had a meeting with Ann Benzel, one of the co-chairs of the foundation, and I left that meeting being very humbled. I feel honored and extremely fortunate."
Several of Broadwater's books have been nominated for awards and honors, but he said this one's a little different.
"Those nominations are mainly coming from people like professors," he said, "and that is gratifying on a level of having your work acknowledged by your peers. This is extremely gratifying because of the fact that this is coming from an organization that is not really into military history - it's not what they do, but they're bestowing this great honor on me based on the work that I've done."
Performing arts
It'll be an emotional experience when Carole D'Andrea returns to the Mishler Theatre.
D'Andrea, 72, has been dancing, singing and acting for 50 years. She's performed on Broadway - as Velma in "West Side Story" and in "Gypsy" and appeared on television specials and sitcoms. She's directed off-Broadway plays and musicals as well as productions at regional theaters throughout the U.S.
Now, she's an acting coach in Hollywood, Calif., working with celebrities like Megan Mullally and Robert Morse, but it all started in the Mishler.
Born and raised in Altoona, D'Andrea took dance lessons in the city and performed at the Mishler Theatre just before she left for New York City - and three weeks after her parents were killed in a car crash.
"After they buried my mother, my father was supposed to live, but he never woke up," D'Andrea said. "So we had two funerals, and there was the dance recital. I had the lead in like, everything, and there was no way I couldn't do it. They told me I didn't have to, but I did, but to walk on that stage was very painful because there was nobody out front (to support me)."
At the induction ceremony, D'Andrea said she was told there will be three empty seats in the front row - for her parents and her brother, Terry, who died during a routine medical procedure at the age of 27.
"I haven't been back at the Mishler in 55 years," D'Andrea said. "This is really for my parents."
D'Andrea's parents, Patrick and Jessie D'Andrea, founded Blair Candy Co., which today is run by her brother Ronny D'Andrea and his children. Though she's lived in New York City and southern California for most of her life, D'Andrea said she's never forgotten her roots, frequently bringing her daughters to Altoona to visit their cousins.
"Altoona gave me an amazing foundation, for 17 years," D'Andrea said. "I had an amazing dance teacher, and the fact that I was able to go to New York and compete - that was amazing."
Arts patrons
Dean and Dorothea Nelson of Hollidaysburg have been committed to supporting the arts for as long as either can remember.
The couple, who are in their 80s, have supported a number of arts organizations throughout the years, including the Altoona Symphony Orchestra, the Mishler Theatre and the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art.
In fact, the two met at SAMA, when Dean was on the board of tr ustees.
"Once I joined the Navy, my mom said to me, now, you don't meet nice women in bars," Dean said. "You meet them at church and in museums."
Though neither is an artist, they frequent the theater, symphony concerts and art shows and are avid art collectors - everything from ceramics to paintings. They've volunteered with ASO, the Blair County Arts Festival and the Blair County Choral Society.
"Without the arts, things would be very bland and unexciting, very dry," Dorothea said.
Mirror Staff Writer Ashley Gurbal is at 946-7435.
