River Jazz Exhibition at SteelStacks in South Bethlehem

I really don’t think too much about exhibiting my artwork outside my studio, but this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. At the time, (2015) I was hard at work on my family tree and had just discovered the circumstances surrounding my great-grandfathers death at the Bethlehem Steel. (He'd fallen into a pit at Open Hearth No. 1 in 1930.)



This was my way of paying tribute to all of the steelworkers- especially those who’d lost their lives on the job.



The exhibition was connected to River Jazz- for the artists who had done live art making during those events. That year, I was the only artist who'd participated (during the Glenn Miller Orchestra!) and was offered this exhibition as a solo show. This made uncomfortable because I didn’t think I had enough work, nor ideas for an effective way to display it.



(Expressive art making with watercolor paints during the live performance of the Glenn Miller Orchestra in the Muskiest Cafe in the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks) 



Jeffrey Ludwig-Dicus has the studio next to mine at The Banana Factory, and is both a good friend and a great mentor. He’s encouraged and motivated me to no end, always offering new ways of looking at things and helping me continue to move forward with my art when a million times I was ready to pack it in.

 Seriously.



The large black and white works in this exhibit were his, and created many years ago. As soon as I was offered the exhibition, I thought of how much I loved that series, and how they might play well with my colorful geometric works. I also considered that Jeff, with all his curatorial experience working in the Lehigh University art galleries, would be able to think of an interesting way to display the work. (Jeff did create the layout for this exhibition) 



It made me so happy for our work to hang together.



The icing on the cake? Walking the Hoover Mason Trestle after dark and being able to see my work illuminated in the 2nd floor loft of the ArtsQuest center.








(Watch this brief video till the end to get the full impact of where these works were displayed.)