Celebrating Bethlehem's Southside Culture
In the crisp days of early November, photographers (as well as other image-based artists and enthusiasts) gathered in South Bethlehem for the 2017 InVision Photo Festival at the Banana Factory Arts Center and SteelStacks. The festival combined contests, talks, workshops, and exhibitions to provide a unique experience for artists, one rife with educational, professional, and…
Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Artist Collective member Michelle Lee about her involvement with the Collective and her work. A dynamic group of artists from across the country comprise the ArtsQuest’s Artist Collective, a resource of creative, networking, professional development, and career opportunities for visual artists. A talented artist, Lee resides in…
A dynamic group of artists from across the country comprise the ArtsQuest’s Artist Collective, a resource of creative, networking, professional development, and career opportunities for visual artists. Katie Hovencamp is one of these multi-talented artists. An internationally recognized artist, Hovencamp explores the deconstruction of gender roles and interrogates social expectations of femininity through sculpture and…
David Sommers, a resident artist at the Banana Factory Arts Center, has known Bethlehem for many years. As an artist, Sommers started with just a black chalkboard: “I just drew and drew as a kid. I would draw out memories of films.” He tried to capture his surrounding environment while growing up in Guyana, South…
For Banana Factory Arts Center resident artist Stephanie Smith, Bethlehem ties run deep. Both sides of Smith’s family are from South Bethlehem, and steel workers dot her family tree. Arriving in the US in 1890, her paternal great grandfather was one of the South Bethlehem’s earliest Slovak immigrants and worked at Bethlehem Steel. He also…
Think Musikfest only offers live music? Think again! See a different side of Musikfest this year. New for 2017, the Spark Orthodontics Familienplatz boasts creative arts, workshops, rides, and more. Nestled in the colonial industrial quarter next to the Monocacy Creek on Bethlehem’s north side, Familienplatz has something for every Musikfester—from tots to adults, inexperienced…
The Banana Factory Arts Center has been Kim Hogan’s home for ten years now. Years ago, she took over the summer programs of a departing resident artist and has stayed with us as a teaching artist since. Here at the Banana Factory, Hogan wears many hats: resident artist, summer camp teacher, outreach program facilitator, and…
I found Virginia Abbott, a long-standing Banana Factory Arts Center resident artist, hard at work in her studio one Wednesday afternoon. Abbott warmly welcomed me. Her space is bright, open, and inviting. Like many of the studios at the Banana Factory Arts Center, there’s an almost palpable energy here—“good vibes,” if you will. Abbott has…