Artist Becky Reiser came to the Pajama Factory last summer as part of the Public Art Academy's Artist-in-Residence program and loved the art scene so much that she decided to stay for a while.
Originally from Fallsington, Reiser obtained her bachelor's degree in fine art in sculpture from Penn State University and recently decided to attend the master's program at Syracuse University next fall.
Reiser has been making art since she was a kid and her parents were supportive of her interests.
"My family always has encouraged my artmaking," she said.
The strength of her high school art program pushed her along and, by the end of her senior year, she knew that she wanted to focus on sculpture.
Reiser began college at Penn State's Altoona campus and then transferred to the main campus after two years.
"That was my first experience making art within a community," she said. "Because you spend so much time in the studio. You're with the same people all the time."
And time is something that an art major doesn't have too much of outside the studio, according to Reiser.
"It's a lot more difficult than people outside of the art world realize," she said. "I spent all my free time in the studio and pulled many all-nighters just to have pieces done for critiques."
After graduation, she worked in the wood shop and as a teacher's assistant at her alma mater while working as a telemarketer.
"[My family] encouraged me to quit the telemarketing job to take advantage of the studio space [the university] had given me," she said.
Ever since, Reiser has dedicated herself almost entirely to artistic endeavors, taking a job renovating the Pajama Factory and consequently becoming the director of the Public Art Academy's Artist-in-Residence program.
About Williamsport, she said, "It's been great. I haven't ever encountered so many people that have a hand in the arts in some capacity in such a small area before."
And when it comes to the factory, she said that everyone is helpful and the community is very diverse.
"If there's anything you need in way of technique or materials, there's somebody here who knows somebody who can bring you to that," she said.
Reiser decided to stay for the last year because, like many folks in the Williamsport community, she sees the building for what it could be and what it's becoming.
"I saw the potential of the building and knew that it had the capacity to house my creative development," she said. "I thought it could serve as a good transition for me."
Reiser has used the time and space provided to her by the factory to explore creative interests. One thing she consistently examines in her work is intimacy. She talked about "how different levels of intimacy coexist in the same space but never touch."
"For example, in a bathroom, we have very private moments that take place," she said. "But, also, in that same space, someone can share a very intimate moment with their partner. The thought of those two things coexisting is uncomfortable. I think about how I can, very abstractly, bring some comfortability to that discomfort."
She also finds inspiration from reading - of all books - the dictionary. She looks up words that relate to her artwork and "extracts" words from the definitions she finds. Then she takes these words and looks them up as well, creating a web of meaning.
After everything she's done, she still thinks she has a long way to go.
"I'm not done learning," she said. "I think it's my job as an artist to equip myself conceptually and technically with all the skills that are required to be a successful artist."
She's looking to graduate school to provide her with an environment in which she can focus on her development.
"I'm moving out there August 1st and I start at the end of August. It's a three-year program and the school is heavily conceptual - the sculpture department in particular."
But while she's thrilled about graduate school, she isn't looking past the summer just yet.
"We've accepted 13 artists for this summer for the PAA Artist-in-Residence program [at the factory]. We got over 40 applicants and the ones we accepted are from all over: California, Ohio, Connecticut, a few from New York, Philly. It's going to be an exciting summer."
