Fine Taste Fine Art will take place in heart of Wilkes-Barre’s SOMA Arts District

Fine art on the walls, fine food on your plate and “a high funk factor” pulsating in Wilkes-Barre’s SOMA Arts District.

That’s what you can expect if you attend Fine Taste Fine Art, a fund-raiser for the Wyoming Valley Art League, set for 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 24 at the Art League’s Circle Centre for the Arts.

“We’re excited to have two new participants this year — The Down Pour and The Burnt Norton,” Don Armstrong, treasurer of the Art League’s board of directors, said Wednesday morning. “And one of the highlights is always the culinary department of Luzerne County Community College.”

Other culinary experts who will bring food and beverages to the feast include Bank + Vine, The Atrium, Istanbul Grill, Susquehanna Brewing Co., Abide Coffeehouse, Franco’s Pizza, The Mary Stegmaier Mansion, and Josh Cellars.

And because the setting will be the Circle Centre, guests will have plenty of artwork to admire.

Gallery director Allison Maslow said the work of Mark Webber, an artist from Waverly who is a professor at Marywood University, will be on exhibit in the center’s Sandra Dyczewski Maffei Gallery.

Also on display that evening will be the Art League’s Fall Juried Members Exhibit, featuring prize-winning works.

Tickets to the Fine Taste Fine Art event are $50 and can be obtained through wyomingvalleyartleague.org or the Art League’s Facebook page. Checks also may be made out to the Wyoming Valley Art League, 130 rear South Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 and you may arrange to pick up tickets or have them sent to you. Contact 570-288-1020 or wyomingvalleyartleague@gmail.com/.

Maslow and Armstrong talked about what’s new at the Circle Centre early Wednesday, during a meeting of the Downtown Arts Artistic Forum.

Also during the meeting Bob Borwick from the Art League board of directors and Larry Newman from the Diamond City Partnership said the second block of South Main Street in Wilkes-Barre is quickly becoming the city’s arts district, with public art such as murals and sculptures and art shows at Marquis Art & Frame and at Wilkes University’s Sordoni Art Gallery in addition to the Wyoming Valley Art League’s Circle Center for the Arts.

An attractive recent addition, Borwick said, is the sign on the west side of South Main, near West Northampton Street, which declares the area to be the SOMA (that stands for South Main) Arts District. “It’s beautiful,” he said of the sign, which Melissa Carestia from the Sordoni said was designed by Wilkes University student Emily Romanoskey, who is majoring in Digital Design and Media Art.

“For a town our size to have this arts district, it’s phenomenal,” Borwick said, adding he likes to tell people they’ll experience a “high funk factor” when they visit.