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BOTTLE WORKS Ethnic Arts Center 

The massive wine stained building welcomes visitors from around the Johnstown area. The former Tulip Bottling Company possesses the atmosphere of a lavish arts venue in New York City. Coffee colored concrete floors greet you, external beams accentuate the sky-scraping ceilings and provide an industrial feel, and wooden doors lead to studios where artists create their prized gems. Plain grey and white walls surround you on all sides, a magnificent masterpiece hung on each one. Spotlights illuminated beautifully decorated canvases, which paint the walls with color and life. Enormous wooden mirrors echoed your reflection as you pass by the quaint Gallery Shoppe featuring local artisans’ handcrafted work. Half-tipsy patrons laugh in the next room as the band cracks some jokes before beginning their next tune. A line forms at the open bar, not so patiently waiting for their next drink. On a recent Saturday evening, a local celebrity, Chloe Wieczorek, seduced the crowd with popular 60s tunes, the audience applauding every note as she selected a famous Etta James piece to start the night off right. Impressively dressed guests mingled with wine glasses in hand as she echoed the superstar on stage. “My heart was wrapped up in clover the night I looked at you,” she harmonized into the microphone. The guests were in awe as they heard the twenty-something mimic the well-known singers from the 1960s. “Oh and then the spell was cast. And here we are in heaven, for you are mine,” Wieczorek sang as she prepared for the big finish. “…At last.”

 

By Kylie Truscello
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