As alumni fill the streets of State College next week, some will be doing what they had dreamed about as students -- exhibiting their talents in the 40th annual Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.

Rick Bryant, director of the Arts Festival, said Penn State alumni are very eager to participate in the five-day festival. He said the artist portion of the festival is especially competitive, with only about 300 spots available for more than 1,000 applicants.

"People call up and act like there should be a preference," Bryant said of artists who are Penn State alumni. He added that there is no preferential treatment for Penn State alumni or State College residents when decisions are made about booking artists.

Those who do make the cut, however, are eager to return to Penn State for the Arts Festival.

"I am ridiculously psyched to get back to Penn State," said Joel Hellman, lead guitarist for the pop/rock group Curtis Murphy Syndicate. Hellman, who earned a degree in marketing, said the faculty at Penn State really helped facilitate his music career.

Hellman said that if someone enjoys bands like The Foo Fighters and Dave Matthews Band, they would enjoy the Syndicate. Hellman added that the band brings a lot of different influences to the table; he said his style has a rock edge.

While at Penn State, Hellman was in a band called "Dunston Ashe," which played in fraternities and bars regularly. Currently, Hellman said, he is involved in producing and songwriting, and he plays lead guitar for other artists.

Eric Himan, a solo artist and Class of 2001 alumnus, explained he was in a band while at Penn State and decided to go solo after he graduated.

"I think it's really cool to come back and play something that I went to," Himan said. He said he hopes the Creamery is open the day he performs.

Himan added that his music is a blend of rock, pop and folk.

He said the people organizing the Arts Festival have been amazing. He praised their ability to attract a huge variety of performers and was thankful to be invited back two times after his first performance.

Another Penn State alumnus, Mark DeRose, said he became involved with the Arts Festival by accident. He said his group, Ernest Goodlife Band, sent a promo to another music festival, which in turn referred them to the Arts Festival.

"We kind of lucked out," DeRose said. The people at the Arts Festival liked what they heard and invited them back this year, he said.

The Ernest Goodlife Band plays folk and acoustic rock, with James Taylor and Dave Matthews influencing its style.

Bob Ritchey, a pastel artist and 1971 Penn State graduate, will be participating in the Arts Festival for the 10th time.

"Just being there takes me back to things like classes," he said.

Ritchey said he had a 25-year career as an aerospace engineer, but has since retired to focus on his artwork. He said his pastel work, which comprises colorful, still life and outdoor scenes, is influenced by the landscape in and around Bucks County, where he resides.

A 1984 graduate of Penn State, photographer Whit Bronaugh, developed a keen eye through his time spent earning a masters degree in ecology.

Bronaugh said he uses a film camera for his photography with no computer or darkroom manipulation at all. He says he sees no reason to switch to digital because the quality of digital has not yet surpassed the best film.

Bronaugh is also the author of the forthcoming book, Wildlife of North America: A Naturalist's Lifelist, which can aid people in recording what they see in nature.

"He does a lot of pieces with dewdrops," said Bronaugh's wife, Louise, adding that he focuses on objects behind the dewdrops, which is tricky to pull off.

Bronaugh's wife was the one who suggested Bronaugh exhibit his work at the Arts Festival.

"Penn State is pretty near and dear to our hearts," Louise Bronaugh said.