Ware Center for the Arts

The room at the @warecenter was filled with people who, in one way or another, have helped carry @lancasterfoodhub forward through some incredibly difficult years. This year’s theme, “(extra) Ordinary Times. Extraordinary Impact,” focused less on celebrating accomplishments for the sake of numbers and more on the everyday work that keeps a community going. And there were plenty of reminders of just how much that work matters. For generations, the organization has evolved alongside the needs of the community. What began in 1947 as the Lancaster County Council of Churches grew from a shared faith-based commitment to care for neighbors in need. In 2019, the organization became the County Food Hub as hunger continued to emerge as a growing concern across the county. Today, their work reaches far beyond food alone. But throughout the breakfast, the focus rarely stayed on statistics for long. Conversations returned to dignity and at the Food Hub, dignity is part of the service. Not just feeding people, but welcoming them well. Making sure someone walking into the Clothing Bank can choose clothes that make them feel confident. Creating spaces where people feel seen instead of rushed through a line. Helping someone navigate immediate need without making them feel like a burden for needing help. They spoke openly about rising food insecurity, housing instability, increasing demand, and the strain many families are feeling. When SNAP reductions created new pressure in the fall, supporters responded. During the 2025 ExtraGive, donors doubled their support. The community organized drives, contributed resources, and helped close the year with renewed momentum. That is what the Breakfast made clear. The Food Hub isn’t sustained by one person, one program, or one moment of generosity. It’s sustained by a network of people who believe no neighbor should have to face hardship alone. Community is built through ordinary moments. A stocked pantry shelf, a sorted clothing rack, a case manager helping someone take the next step, a volunteer returning week after week. At Lancaster County Food Hub, those ordinary acts continue to become something extraordinary #lancasterpa

Stop by and see us this weekend during the Lancaster Art Walk! 🎨 Saturday, May 16 • 10AM–5PM 🖼️ Sunday, May 17 • 12PM–4PM Check out @lanccityartcollective for a full list of stops! Grab your friends, lace up your walking shoes, and explore Lancaster’s incredible art scene. #LancasterArtWalk #ArtWalk2026 #LancasterPA

The talent of up-and-coming artists in our region was on full display during a gorgeous First Friday in May ☀️ While our friends from @lancasterpride hosted a cozy evening of creative activities for all ages, we debuted a stunning new gallery exhibit by high school senior Kenston Lafleur and listened to a vibey outdoor concert by singer/songwriter (and @thetellschoolofmusic student) @brahmbean . Our We the People First Friday series shines a light into creative corners of our community that deserve notice. This month was no exception! Thank you to the young artists and community members who made our corner of Gallery Row brighter.

Immersive, imaginative, and a little bit magical ✨ South Korea's @brushtheatre.family brought wonder and the whimsy to the kids of Lancaster with Doodle POP! With interactive whiteboard drawings, live music, audience participation, and plenty of slapstick, the show "sparked creativity, curiosity, and joy" among our young audiences (and the adults, too!). A special thank you to the City Limits Foundation, whose support allowed us to offer the show to hundreds of local kids free of cost during a special school-day performance! 💛 📸 Photos by @taylorannphotography #kidstheatre #southkoreantheatre #familyfun

If you draw it, they will come 🎨 Our massive ocean-themed doodle mural, kick-started by Lancaster muralist @terian_mack , was a huge, colorful hit with the young artists who came to Doodle POP this weekend! The collaborative art project got us all ready for the show, which followed a mischievous doodling duo into an imaginative, watery world full of laughs and wonder. Thank you to Terian Mack, the City Limits Foundation, and all of our pre-show community partners for making the experience so magical for the kids: @ambforhope , @millersvilleu ECHO and ERCH classes, @handworkhouse , @lancasterpubliclibrary , PA Migrant Education Lancaster, and the Selahart Group! 📸 Photos by @taylorannphotography #childrensart #kidsactivities #familyfun

We regret that, due to circumstances well beyond our control, our Family Fun Fest, Baobab, has been cancelled for this Friday, May 1. However, our community has stepped up to make First Friday a true celebration of creativity, connection, and Pride! 🌈 🎨 Pride & Create • 6:30 PM • Join @lancasterpride in creative activities that celebrate Pride and self-expression, including a collaborative community art piece. 🎙️ Brahm Bean • 6:30 PM • Enjoy a free outdoor performance from singer/songwriter Brahm Bean, a music student at @millersvilleu . 🖼️ "The Light in the Dark" by Kenston Lafleur • 5-8 PM • Celebrate the opening of a new art exhibit by a talented young Lancaster artist. #lancasterpa #firstfriday #communityarts #pride

Happy Earth Day to this big, beautiful planet! 🌎 Last week, Dan Tapster—the showrunner of the hit Netflix series Life on Our Planet—took to the Steinman Hall stage to share expert insights into the science behind the show and the innovative film techniques used to recreate prehistoric creatures. Connecting the show to our local landscape, a panel of green experts led by the @lancasterconservancy discussed efforts to protect life in our region. Thank you for learning with us all year long during our On Screen/In Person film series—and to all the filmmakers and community panelists who made these events so spectacular!

Why is @terian_mack doodling on the Ware Center walls?! This talented Lancaster muralist is kick-starting our aquatic doodle mural, but we need YOUR help to finish it! 🐳 Join us on Saturday, April 25, for our Family Fun Fest - Doodle POP! This imaginative, immersive theatrical work by South Korea's @brushtheatre.family follows a mischievous duo (and a tiny turtle) into a watery world where anything can happen. 🐢💦 🗓️ Saturday, April 25 • 1 PM 🎟️ Adults $15 • Students $10 🧩 Free kids' activities start at noon! #kidstheatre #familyfriendly #lancasterkids

First Friday just got a little more colorful! 🌈 ✨ Join us this First Friday at the Ware Center for Pride and Create. We'll spend the evening connecting with the community and celebrating all the individuals who make Lancaster's LGBTQIA+ community so special. There will be a variety of creative activities, including a special art piece that will continue beyond the night. This piece will become part of a collaborative community project that will continue at other Pride Month events and at the Lancaster Pride Festival on June 20! 📅 Friday, May 1 ⏰️ 6:30–7:30 PM 📍 The Ware Center , 42 N. Prince St., Lancaster, PA Mark your calendars, save this post, and invite a friend! We hope to see you there! #LancasterPride #PrideAndCreate #LancPride #LancasterPA

Treat your kids to a day of affordable family fun filled with creativity and color! Doodle POP, an immersive, imaginative children's show from South Korea's @brushtheatre , is coming to the Ware Center on April 25! Don't miss this touching, playful show that follows a mischievous duo (and a tiny little turtle) into a beautiful watery world where anything can happen. 🫧🐢 Come early for free kids' activities and crafts from campus and community organizations, including our own "doodle mural" in the lobby that we need YOUR help to finish! 🗓️ Saturday, April 25 • 1 PM 🎟️ Adults $15 • Students $10 🧩 Free kids' activities start at noon! #childrenstheatre #kidsactivities #familyfun

The first step is always the hardest. Not because it’s complicated, but because it asks you to show up, step out of your comfort zone, and try something new. Inside the @warecenter , that moment played out again and again during Adult Beginning Salsa with @embodyment_studios . Not perfectly, not all at once. But in a way that felt real. The music carried the room before anyone fully found the rhythm. A count. A pause. A step forward, then back. Some moved with confidence. Others hesitated, laughing through missed timing and second guesses. No one stayed still for long. This wasn’t about getting it right on the first try. It was about giving yourself permission to begin. Salsa, at its core, is structured. There are steps to follow. Patterns to repeat. But what unfolded in that room moved beyond instruction. It became a conversation between movement and trust. Between strangers becoming partners, even if only for a few songs. Between the version of yourself that hesitates and the one that chooses to try anyway. There’s something disarming about learning as an adult. The awareness that you might not be good right away. The instinct to hold back. But classes like this push gently against that instinct. They make space for missteps. They normalize starting from zero. And somewhere between the counts and the turns, something shifts. Feet begin to move without overthinking. What felt unfamiliar starts to feel possible. It’s easy to believe that learning new skills belongs to a different stage of life. That there was a right time to begin, and it’s already passed. But rooms like this challenge that in real time. They remind you that growth waits for you to step into it. Embodyment Studios builds on that momentum beyond a single night. Their classes move in four-week cycles, with space in between to reset and return. From Beginners Bachata to Intermediate Salsa, Perreo Foundations to Zumba, there’s always another entry point. Another chance to begin again. By the end of the night, it wasn’t about whether every step landed exactly on beat. It was about the fact that people stepped onto the floor at all. That they stayed. That they tried. #lancasterpa #dance

Our final Lancaster Loves local music show of the season was one for the books 🔥 Soulful songstress @shawanrice honored us by returning to her native PA for one incredible, intimate performance, joined by the talented @ajay.music on the bass. Lancaster band @thequietriders had us grooving and moving to their fantastic, funky original music. We set out to prove that the music born in this incredible region is worth showcasing, and the artists we featured this year left no doubt that we were right! Thank you to all the musicians who joined us this year for making this brand-new series a highlight of our season, as well as to our partners at @witfmusic and the @highfoundation for making it all possible! 📸 Photos by @taylorannphotography #indieartists #lancasterpa #visitlancastercitypa