BY RUTH RICE

RRICE@TRIBDEM.COM

Summer alternatives to roller coasters and cotton candy are visits to art exhibits, summer theater productions and outdoor concerts.

“Paintings by Kenneth Cotlar,” a one-man show of the artist’s works, will be on display through July 31 at the Community Arts Center of Cambria County, 1217 Menoher Blvd, Westmont.

Rose Mary Hagadus, arts center executive director, said there has never been an exhibit of this type at the arts center before.

“Ken is considered one of the strongest abstract artists in the area,” Hagadus said.

“He experiments with paints, technique and style. This will be an exciting show because his works look three-dimensional the way he applies his paint.”

Cotlar’s exhibit is expected to have 40 works, and a reception will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the arts center.

Cotlar will speak about his work and will host an open forum question-and-answer session.

Cotlar, who lives in Ebensburg, became a full-time painter after retiring from business in 2001 and attending the fine arts master’s program at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

His work for this show is from the past three to four years and has not been shown locally.

Cotlar has had several one-man shows in State College, Altoona and Cresson and at Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center, 411 Third Ave. in the Cambria City section of Johnstown, in 2005.

As a member of Allied Artists of Johnstown, he has won numerous awards.

“People around here have never seen anything like this before, because no one else ‘paints’ like me,” Cotlar said. “I never use a brush. My paints are poured, sprayed and extruded and pushed around with a palette knife. My work is more textured than it was five to six years ago. I use materials in a different way.”

Cotlar prepares himself for his work by using transcendental meditation to free his mind of preconceived images, then executes a random stroke or pool of paint, with each subsequent stroke suggested from the previous stroke.

“The idea is to get the painting to paint itself,” Cotlar said. “I consciously try not to impose myself on the painting, yet become part of the natural random progression of the art.”

Children

At the newly opened children’s museum at Heritage Discovery Center, 201 Sixth Ave. in the Cambria City section of Johnstown, kids can play with water, climb through mine tunnels, work in a steel mill, produce a sound track and create a fashion show.

Another new attraction at the discovery center is “The Mystery of Steel,” a 21-minute film about the history of the steel industry in Johnstown.

Theater

Two area playhouses have scheduled musicals, comedies and dramas for their audiences to enjoy this summer.

The schedule at Cresson Lake Playhouse, 270 Shapiro Road, Loretto, features Disney’s “High School Musical 2” through Saturday; “Annie Warbucks,” a sequel to “Annie,” July 30 through Aug. 15; and “Steel Magnolias,” Sept. 3-12.

Mountain Playhouse, 7690 Somerset Pike, Jennerstown, will feature “Over the Tavern” through July 12; “The Pajama Game,” July 14 through Aug. 2; “Lend Me a Tenor,” Aug. 4-16; “Bubba’s Revenge,” a sequel to “Honky Tonk Angels,” Aug. 18-30; and “The Glass Menagerie,” Sept. 20-25.

For a mix of the outdoors and the bard, the Band of Brothers Shakespeare Company will present the comedy “Merry Wives of Windsor” at 7 p.m. July 17-18 and July 22-25 at Stackhouse Park, Westmont.

Bottle Works

Classes in yoga, pilates and West-African dance, will have participants on the move at Bottle Works Ethnic Arts Center, 411 Third Ave. in the Cambria City section of Johnstown.

Pilates classes will be held at 6:30 p.m. Tuesdays beginning this week and continuing through Aug. 25 and at 9 a.m. Thursdays beginning this week and continuing through Aug. 27. The cost is $8 per class or $60 for a month.

Yoga classes will be held at 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 20 and July 27 and Aug. 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31. The cost is $8 per class.

West-African dance classes will be held Wednesday, July 22 and July 29 and Aug. 5 and 12, with a youth class at 6 p.m. and adult class at 7. The cost is $8 per class.

There also will be drum circles at 6:30 p.m. today and Aug. 2, open meetings for those interested in joining Song Works at 6 p.m. Thursday and Aug. 13, and a book review of Laura Conrad’s novel “Escape from the Baggage Group at 7 p.m. Aug. 18.

A reception for the solo exhibition of the works of Harriet Goff, which will be on display Aug. 9 through Sept. 6, will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. Aug. 9, and regional artists will demonstrate their ethnic and traditional skills from noon to 5 p.m. Aug. 21-22.

Artworks

“Performance Art, Traditional Materials and Recycling,” featuring sculptures by Barry Poglein and Norman Ed, will be on display through Sept. 6 at Artworks in Johnstown, 413 Third Ave. in the Cambria City section of Johnstown.

Poglein will be working on his exhibit throughout the summer, and he will be available to observe from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays.

He also will conduct hands-on workshops for artists ages 10 to 15 and 15 and older.

There also will be a concert by Kenny Fetterman on July 31 and an art commission sale, music by local talents and a wine and beer tasting on Aug. 21.

Music

Opportunities to enjoy outdoor concerts abound throughout the region.

The Garden Concert Series at Dillweed Bed & Breakfast, Route 403, Dilltown, will include the Irish band Aran at 4 p.m. July 19 and folksinger Tim Dabbs at 4 pm. Sept. 13.

For cool jazz on hot evenings, Jazz in Your Face will be performing at 7 p.m. July 25, Aug. 8 and Aug. 22 in Central Park in downtown Johnstown.

Jazz also will flow at the Jazz Along the River series at St. Mary’s Byzantine Catholic Church pavilion, Fifth Avenue and Power Street in the Cambria City section of Johnstown.

The schedule features Harold Betters Jazz Quartet from Pittsburgh on July 24, Jazz in Your Face Sextet on Aug. 28 and Jim and Jimmies Jam Session Band on Sept. 25.

Oldies sock hops will be held July 19, Aug. 23 and Sept. 20 at Windber Recreation Park on Route 160. Cruise-ins will begin at 3 p.m., with dancing from 5 to 9.

Local acts will perform at 5 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 13 at the Roxbury Bandshell on Franklin Street in Johnstown. There will be no concert Sept. 6.

Country music fans will get a double treat when Collin Raye and Restless Heart perform at 1 and 6 p.m. July 19 at Indiana County Fairgrounds.

Free concerts by local groups and soloists will be held Wednesdays on the grounds of the Community Arts Center of Cambria County in Westmont.

A series of concerts featuring area brass bands will be held Sundays through Aug. 30 on the Diamond in Ligonier.

At Arcadia Theater, 1418 Graham Ave., Windber, the music moves indoor with Jay and The Americans on July 18, “A Tribute to Rod Stewart” to benefit Habitat for Humanity on July 29 and “Simply Sinatra” starring Steve Lipia on Aug. 28.

Art

Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Johnstown, Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center in Richland Township, will be living large with 19 paintings on display in “Artists at Large: Selections from the Permanent Collection,” which is on display through Sept. 18.

Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.

Two exhibits will be on display throughout the summer at Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Loretto, on the campus of St. Francis University.

“Colleen Browning: Realist – Illusionist” will be on display through Oct. 4, and “In Harmony With Nature II: Photography by Donald M. Robinson” will be on display through July 25.

Museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturdays.

Laurel Arts, 214 S. Harrison Ave. in Somerset, will have a fundraising festival and two exhibits on tap this summer.

Somerfest will be held July 17-19 on the arts center’s grounds, with proceeds benefiting programs at Laurel Arts.

A prefestival kickoff concert featuring The Clarks will be held July 11.

Tickets, which are $25, are available by stopping at Laurel Arts or by calling 443-2433.

Arts center executive director Michael Knecht advises concertgoers to get their tickets in advance because last year’s concert was a sellout.

There will be entertainment on two stages, a variety of crafts and food, and children’s and teen areas.

A juried exhibit sponsored by Somerset County Artists Association, which is open to any artist from any location, will be on display through Aug. 8, and the seventh annual triennial exhibit, which also is open to any artist, will be on display Aug. 18 through Oct. 3.

There will be an open house for the triennial exhibit, whose theme is “Visual Poetry,” from 6 to 8 p.m. Aug. 21.

Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays and noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays.