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Webster's Bookstore Cafe

@webstersbookscafe

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Community cafe/bookstore/record/vintage shop 📖☕️
Click our link for everything Websters related!
Weekdays- 7:30am-8:30pm
Sat- 8-5. Sun- 9-4.

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Yesterday in State College, I walked along some new trails, as well as others I already know. As always, I stopped by Webster’s Bookstore, one of the world’s finest second-hand bookshops. Naturally, I bought far too many books…

I also found this book from the late 19th century. Art still served a different purpose then. I would describe it as something both technical and fairytale-like, an art that sought to describe the world.

It had not yet acquired the shadow that came with the value of human life, a value put to the test in so many devastating ways throughout the 20th century. Dissonance emerged as a foundation, the volume of artistic expression grew louder, and exclusion developed its own alphabet…

But this, too, is slowly becoming part of the past. The era is changing once again.

There is something extraordinary about reading the past. Part of it becomes tradition. Yet this new time demands something different from us, something far more difficult.

Art is slowly regaining its meaning as a platform for encounters, returning to nomadic values. Polyphony reminds us that two different voices can not only coexist, but also create beauty together.

Today, art must speak of the light that emerges from darkness. Darkness is part of the world. And yet, as Rumi wrote: “Darkness is your candle.”

These are the thoughts accompanying me as I walk across the Andy Warhol Bridge in Pittsburgh.

State College, thank you for yesterday, for the beautiful atmosphere. And now, Pittsburgh — and the joy of being together once again!

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We are excited for our upcoming conversation with illustrator @farahaniazarakhsh about making art in Hormuz, followed by a screening of his animated film, The Giant Black Stone.

Join us on November 4, at 7pm (EDT)
In person at @webstersbookscafe

Message us for the Zoom link.

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SPARK of the Week: The Enchanted Stroll and Organizers

Costume contests. Trick-or-treating. A parade. Learn a choreographed dance. All ages. No admission fee!

This week’s SPARK goes to Cat, Executive Director of Centre LGBT+, partnering with Cynthia of Tempest Productions, and Elaine, of Webster’s Bookstore & Cafe.

These nonprofit and business leaders are doing more than showing up for downtown. They’re investing their time, resources, and funding to create something special for our entire community.

Events like this take planning, partnerships, and a whole lot of heart. These leaders are putting in the work because they believe in bringing people together, creating welcoming experiences, and making downtown a place where everyone feels they belong.

Join us Saturday, October 17 from noon to 4 p.m. at Sidney Friedman Park for The Enchanted Stroll, a special community event created for YOU!

Let's give these organizers the support they deserve. Thank you, Centre LGBT+, Tempest Productions, Ultimate Jams DJ Service, and Websters Bookstore & Cafe' for "sparking" #DowntownStateCollege 💙

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Count down to the WEconnect Conference on Nov. 19. There is so much in store for you at Happy Valley's largest gathering of business leaders and entrepreneurs.

Get ready for an exciting panel with local entrepreneurs during "How I Built This: State College," featuring:
- Ethan Wendle, DiamondBack @diamondbackcovers
- John Schaffer, Antifragile Brewing @antifragilebrewco
- Josh Reynolds, Atlas Bio
- Elaine Meder-Wilgus, Webster's Bookstore Cafe @webstersbookscafe

Its not to late to RSVP - go to the link in our bio.

#HappyValley #Entrepreneurship #StateCollege #BusinessOwners #InventPennState @inventpennstate Graphic for the WEconnect Conference featuring a session spotlight titled "How I Built This: State College" with four local founders: Ethan Wendle from DiamondBack Covers, John Schaffer from Antifragile Brewing, Josh Reynolds from Atlas Bio, and Elaine Meder-Wilgus from Webster’s Bookstore Cafe. The event is presented in partnership with Happy Valley LaunchBox powered by PNC Bank and will be held on Thursday, Nov 19 at Eric J. Barron Innovation Hub, State College, PA. Session times are 1:15 PM and 2:30 PM.

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Earlier this month, it was so deeply rewarding to see my first solo exhibition come together, featuring the incredible work of illustrator @farahaniazarakhsh

We had such a great turnout, with so many locals coming together to support the art, browse through illustration prints, and catch a screening of his short animated film. If you are in State College and haven't dropped by yet, his work will be on display at Webster’s through November 28.

Also, mark your calendars for November 4, when we’re hosting a hybrid event at @noon_iat and @webstersbookscafe featuring a live conversation with Azarakhsh about his creative process and making art on Hormuz Island. Stay tuned for more details soon.

Thank you to my friend @nasimceramics and @webstersbookscafe for making this exhibition possible, and to everyone who showed up and made it a memorable night!

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Where will you be on Saturday?

Come join us in Sidney Friedman Park for our first Enchanted Stroll complete with music, vendors, food, dancing, activities, costume contests, face painting, and more!

Costumes encouraged but not required.

Those who are 21+ get your Enchanted Bar Crawl bracelets in the parklet from 12-4 too. Just $5 gets you into multiple participating bars!

See you on Saturday!

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Come and enjoy a free outdoor performance of Edgar Allen Poe's works. Featuring performances by: Uncle Jays Music, Tempest Productions, Crystal Letters, CCNY Educational Theatre Program, & EdArtsTeam. Special guests Richard Dwyer, Gabriel Diego Hernandez and Mia Montero.
Enjoy themed artwork on display by: Lionel Emabat, Sam Llanes, Sylvia Riley & Heather Darr.

Space opens at 6:30 with music by Uncle Jay. Refreshments will be served.

Supported by funding through the NJEDA's A.R.T. - PHASE II GRANT PROGRAM

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Listen to what @bylauracollazo has to say... then come join us! 🎙️☕

Café Concert, an afternoon of poetry, Sunday, October 4, 2:30-4:30PM at @webstersbookscafe . See you there!

Escucha lo que Laura tiene que decir... ¡y luego ven a acompañarnos! 🎙️☕

Café Concert, una tarde de poesía, el domingo 4 de octubre, de 2:30 a 4:30PM, en Webster’s Café @webstersbookscafe . ¡Nos vemos ahí!

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Back in February, I walked into @webstersbookscafe one day and asked if they had something for me to do. Later that week, I met with the kind soul named Elaine, who graciously gave me the space to explore and find my own way to connect with art in the community.

She trusted me to coordinate the David R. Neumann gallery, and since then, I’ve had the privilege of showing incredible work from artists in our community and beyond.

I’m finally starting to archive each exhibition here. I’ll start with a preview of our upcoming show first, but I'll be going back in time to catch up and slowly work my way to real-time updates. Stay tuned!

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@psu.goths presents Goth Night at @webstersbookscafe
featuring
@theweddingfuneral (Gothic Americana duo from the NJ Pines)
w/ @cdromantix and @milwaukee.protocol

“This is a weird one, y’all” -RVA Magazine
From the New Jersey Pines, Darren Deicide and Ethel Lynn Oxide bring their “beautifully bleak” style of Gothic Americana to a world bereft of genuine moroseness, raw cynicism, and inventive musicianship. Using homemade vernacular instruments including musical saw and cigar box guitar, The Wedding Funeral unsettle, tease, and disturb their audiences.

For email list, music, and merchandise, go to theweddingfuneral.com or visit our links.

#theweddingfuneral #theweddingfuneralband #statecollege #statecollegepa #gothicamericana

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Abba Java has an unusual model for a college coffeehouse: the coffee, tea, food and Wi-Fi are free.

Run by the Wesley Foundation at Penn State, its mission is to provide a “home away from home” where students can study, meet, eat or simply spend time without having to buy anything.

The demand is real. Penn State has reported Abba Java serving roughly 1,200 students a week, receiving surplus meals from around campus and giving them to students for free. The food moves quickly: Abba Java says recovered meals are typically gone within an hour of delivery.

Even the building tells the story. In 2021, Penn State students Nehama Dormont and Kelly Hooper spent nearly a month painting the mural declaring “You Are Loved, You Are Welcomed Here.”

What looks like a coffee shop is really something different - a student gathering place built around the idea that you don’t have to buy a cup of coffee to have a place at the table.

#pennstate #weare #pennstatealumni #downtownstatecollege #collegecolorsday Plato the platypus on his skateboard at Abba Java Coffeehouse in State College, PA, wearing his Penn State hoodie and carrying his Penn State keepsake box.

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The most interesting thing about Penn State’s “We Are” sculpture isn’t what it says. It’s why the class of 2013 chose to say it.

When the class gift committee began its campaign in the fall of 2012, Penn State was emerging from one of the most tumultuous periods in its history. Committee chair Morgan Delaware later explained that while so many people were telling Penn Staters who they were, the class wanted to remind the world who “We Are.” Students chose the sculpture as their senior class gift, and Penn State alumnus Jonathan Cramer ‘94 won a national competition to design it.

The result is hard to miss: 12 feet tall, roughly 8,000 pounds, and made from mirror polished stainless steel. The mirror finish was intentional - Cramer wanted the sculpture to create a relationship between the words, their surroundings and the people standing before them.

Installed in 2015 near Curtin Road and University Drive, the sculpture turned Penn State’s familiar “We Are” into something more than a slogan. Stand in front of it and the university’s answer to “who are we?” quite literally reflects its people back.

#pennstate #weare #pennstatealumni #downtownstatecollege #collegecolorsday Plato the platypus on his skateboard at the “We Are” sculpture at Penn State, PA, wearing his Penn State hoodie and carrying his Penn State keepsake box.

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