Celebrating Bethlehem's Southside Culture
“Fun, energetic, and a little chaotic (but in a good way!)” This is how Ellen Flynn, who owns the Art Establishment with her husband, Tom, describes the Indie Craft Fair taking place on Sunday, November 26. The event features handmade items from local artists just in time for holiday gift giving! I talked with Ellen…
If you could tell the world one story about yourself, what would it be? “Called an amplifier of individual stories and a catalyst for building trust,” the Dear World campaign strives to bring personal stories to broader audiences. Dear World visited Lehigh University in late September; the impact of its resulting stories remains prevalent on campus….
The Art Establishment is a vibrant community art space offering classes, gallery space, studio rentals, life drawing, events and much more. My husband, Tom, and I have run the Art Establishment since 2015 and love being able to engage with a community of artists of all levels and abilities. One of our favorite things that…
If you hear the name “Jane Austen,” several images likely pop into your head: ballroom dancing, long Regency-era dresses, and unflinchingly polite manners. You might associate her with modern day conservatism or think of her as the foremother of romantic comedies. Such ideas are not, in a sense, incorrect. In fact, you have over 100…
On September 22, Lehigh University hosted Jane Austen at 200, a free public symposium that brought together over seventy people to celebrate the writer and her works. The event was planned during the bicentennial of the author’s death to consider both the long legacy of critical conversations surrounding her novels and life and imagine future…
As Halloween quickly comes into view, it’s about time to plan yourself a spectacularly spooky weekend! Of course, early Friday evening will be spent tending to the doorbell and passing out candy to the children of Bethlehem. But, as the trick-or-treaters head home and the weekend goes on, South Bethlehem will host numerous exciting shows…
If you’ve wandered into Lit Roastery and Bakeshop on Third Street during the past few weeks, then you were greeted by a display of bright, eye-catching collages and paintings. These pieces, with titles including “Twice Caught Like A Rabbit” and “Heavy Eyelids, Loose Jaw,” are evocative works that demand to be looked at; they do…
“Days after 9/11, an avowed ‘American terrorist’ named Mark Stroman, seeking revenge, walks into a Dallas mini-mart and shoots Raisuddin Bhuiyan, a Bangladeshi immigrant, maiming and nearly killing him. Ten years after the shooting, Bhuiyan wages a campaign against the State of Texas to have his attacker spared from the death penalty. The True American…
A towering tree—lush and fruit-bearing—grows out of asphalt. The tree’s fruit is, ostensibly, art in its many forms. This is the image painted on the back of Touchstone Theater. As embodied by the tree mural, Touchstone grew organically out of the Bethlehem arts culture. A co-founder of Touchstone, actor Bill George sat down with me…
For the past six months, Bethlehem residents have been gathering at the Church Street Bethlehem Area Public Library to talk Jane Austen. As my colleague Dr. Laura Kremmel and I wrote a few months ago, we are taking the opportunity to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Austen’s death (or, to consider a less morbid occasion,…