Suite 3011,
Keyser, WV 26726
Grand Central
Business Center

Fax: (304) 788-2998
Phone: (304) 788-2233
Email: info@wv-mcda.com

Arts & Culture

 

Mineral County:


Potomac State College of West Virginia University located in Keyser, WV serves the area and provides a variety of intellectual and artistic opportunities to residents of Mineral County.  The college also sponsors an annual play produced by music professor Dr. John Hawkins. These offerings have included "Cats" and "Chicago," as well as other past broadway hits.

 

Potomac State College also co-sponsors Highland Arts Unlimited. Highland Arts provides an annual eclectic concert series ranging from country bluegrass to classical ballet, featuring artists from around the world at the Church-McKee Arts Center on the campus of Potomac State.

 

Mineral County's own theater group of the last 25 years, the Apple Alley Players, initiated "McNeill's Rangers," a play based on the Civil War history of the area. The historical drama needed a home and the theater group constructed an amphitheater at Larenim Park near Burlington to showcase the effort. The amphitheater is currently undergoing renovation. Apple Alley Players continue to offer a wide range of productions from stage plays, musicals and dinner theater in the Keyser area.  Volunteers are welcome and encouraged to join. (304) 788-1671.

 

While unorganized, there is a group of artists in the county who display a wide range of talents from hard and soft sculpture to painting, as well as several notable children's authors.

 

Regional:


In addition to those Mineral County offerings, residents have little distance to travel for other musical and artistic offerings. These include the Allegany County Arts Council, Cumberland Theater and the Embassy Theater in Cumberland, Md. Frostburg State University offers a wide range of programming in its performing arts theater on campus in Frostburg, Md. Penn Alps in nearby Garrett County, Md., features Spruce Forest Village for those interested in the lost artisan talents of history, while the Garrett Lakes Arts Festival offers a wide range of classical performances in the Deep Creek Lake venue. In addition, the Garrett County Arts Council helps promote the arts community of far Western Maryland, Mineral County's neighbor.

 

Adjacent West Virginia counties of Hampshire, Hardy and Grant also offer a wide range of arts and artisan programs, many of which are historic in nature and performed in associated venues. All of the venues and programs listed are less than one hour's drive from anywhere in Mineral County. Also in West Virginia, Shepherdstown Theater at Shepherdstown University in the Eastern Panhandle offers both student and guest performances as does Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va. Those venues are approximately a two-hour drive.

 

Allegany Arts Council sponsors a diverse, year-round itinerary of cultural events at various venues in the surrounding counties.  

 

Cumberland Theater, Cumberland, MD  (21 miles)

 

Windsor Hall, Performing Arts Venue, Cumberland, MD  (21 miles)

 

New Embassy Theater, Cumberland, MD  (21 miles)

 

Frostburg State University, Frostburg, MD - student, regional and guest performances  (21 miles)

 

The Bottling Works is the cultural center for Romney, West Virginia for the visual and performing arts.  (24 miles)


The Country Store Opry  Romney, West Virginia

 

Deep Creek, Maryland, (33 miles)

 

Penn Alps, Spruce Forrest Artisan Village near Grantsville, MD  (40 miles), is also home to Music at Penn Alps, a summer long series of classical recital and chamber music ensembles, with occasional concerts devoted to distinctly American popular musical forms. Concerts are held Saturdays at 7:30 pm in the Great Hall at Penn Alps, Grantsville, MD. Concerts begin the  first weekend of June and extend through the first weekend of September.

 

Winchester, VA 66 miles

 

Mountain Playhouse, Jennerstown, PA (69 miles) Historic regional theater, fine restaurant and inn presents hit plays and musicals as well as original works. 

 

Arcadia Theater, Windber, PA  (79 miles)

 

West Virginia Public Theater, Morgantown, WV  (86 miles), includes performances for touring companies of current Broadway shows.

 

The Palace Theater, Greensburg, PA  (100 miles)

 

Shepherdstown, WV (100 miles)

 

** mileage listed from Keyser, WV