{"id":114513,"date":"2022-11-02T20:37:19","date_gmt":"2022-11-03T00:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=114513"},"modified":"2022-11-02T20:38:15","modified_gmt":"2022-11-03T00:38:15","slug":"preservation-and-reimagination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/?p=114513","title":{"rendered":"Preservation and Reimagination"},"content":{"rendered":"

$7 million in state funding to aid ArtsQuest\u2019s growth\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2013 The\u00a0Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capitol Program (RACP)<\/a>\u00a0awarded $7 million to ArtsQuest for revitalization and preservation of the Turn and Grind, a 150-year-old 26,000-square-foot former Bethlehem Steel building, adjacent to the SteelStacks Visitor Center presented by St. Luke\u2019s University Health Network. Work will\u00a0include a 14,000-square-foot public programming space to feature nationally touring education programs, science- and arts-related exhibits, expansion of ArtsQuest\u2019s festivals including Christkindlmarkt, Oktoberfest, Musikfest and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a unique building in South Side Bethlehem,\u201d said Kassie Hilgert, ArtsQuest President and CEO. \u201cWe\u2019re extremely thankful that this structure, originally gifted by Sands (now Wind Creek), will be reimagined in a way that preserves our history\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0allows ArtsQuest to continue our mission of providing unparalleled access to the arts. We\u2019re grateful to those in the public sector \u2014including Governor Tom Wolf, State senators Pat Browne and Lisa Boscola, our state representatives, and Bethlehem and Northampton County officials\u2014 for not only understanding the importance of our work but recognizing our role in the community\u2019s advancement, enrichment, economic development and urban revitalization.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Hilgert, Air Products provided an initial $1.5 million pledge, with some of that funding slated for ArtsQuest\u2019s planned 80,000-square-foot Cultural Center that will replace the Banana Factory on Third Street. Air Products has a long history of supporting the Lehigh Valley-based nonprofit, serving as title sponsor of its Air Products Town Square and an initial partner for its SteelStacks campus. Northampton County has also pledged $1 million for the new Cultural Center and $1 million for the Turn and Grind.<\/p>\n

ArtsQuest is currently relaunching its $66 million capital campaign designed to transform Bethlehem\u2019s Southside Arts District and enhance access to the arts regionally. Hilgert explained that the organization is motivated by a need to serve the community\u2019s growing diversity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are exciting times for ArtsQuest and the City of Bethlehem,\u201d Hilgert said. \u201cWe\u2019ve demonstrated a strong track record of dynamic growth these past four decades, working with the private and public sectors, transforming and strengthening access to the arts in the Lehigh Valley. Replacing the Banana Factory with a new cultural center and revitalizing the former Turn and Grind will aid in the attraction of\u00a0visitors, artists, businesses and the creative class to the city and region spurring additional economic development and urban revitalization.\u201d<\/p>\n

About ArtsQuest<\/strong>
\nArtsQuest\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0mission is to provide access to exceptional artistic, cultural and educational<\/p>\n

experiences using arts and culture as key elements of economic development for our urban communities. ArtsQuest\u2122 supports this mission via the presentation of performing and visual arts, film, arts education classes and outreach, youth programming and cultural events.<\/p>\n

Through festivals such as its flagship event,\u00a0Musikfest<\/a>; the\u00a0Banana Factory Arts Center<\/a>; and the ArtsQuest Center at\u00a0SteelStacks<\/a>\u00a0arts and cultural campus, ArtsQuest\u2019s programming reaches more than 1.9 million people annually. The organization\u2019s programs and events, approximately 50% of which are free to attend, have a combined economic impact of more than $136 million annually in the region. ArtsQuest is a proud member of NIVA, the\u00a0National Independent Venue Association<\/a>\u00a0and NATO, the\u00a0National Association of Theatre Owners.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Information provided to TVL by:
\nKelley Andrade, ArtsQuest
\nPublic Relations Coordinator
\nhttp:\/\/www.artsquest.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

$7 million in state funding to aid ArtsQuest\u2019s growth\u00a0 BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2013 The\u00a0Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capitol Program (RACP)\u00a0awarded $7 million to ArtsQuest for revitalization and preservation of the Turn and … Continue reading Preservation and Reimagination<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":114514,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5717,69,482],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bethlehem","category-in-the-valley","category-press-release-2"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Bethlehem-Steel-building.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114513"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=114513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/114514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=114513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=114513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevalleyledger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=114513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}