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Hope in Flight is Bethlehem’s latest, permanent art installation and its very first mosaic stair mural. It is a colorful collage of porcelain tiles jam packed with vibrant imagery of birds, flowers, and music. Local artists and school teachers Tiffany Anderson (Donegan Elementary School, South Bethlehem) and Carla Majczan (East Hills Middle School, North Bethlehem) conceived the idea for Hope in Flight with the help of the SouthSide community and their school communities. They engaged in conversations and polled local residents, families, and students about the imagery that should be included in the mural and what kind of art folks wanted to see in their neighborhood.
“When working together to come up with an overlying theme, we thought about our schools and the communities around them… The images we chose symbolize our theme and focus on hope…” Anderson commented. “The flowers and colors were chosen to symbolize many of the cultures found in Bethlehem…Birds represent flight and movement, similar to how the Southside was formed. The piano keys are representative of the rich musical culture that continues to grow throughout Bethlehem…And the rainbow represents beauty, hope, and acceptance for all which is what, as teachers in Bethlehem, we want all of our students and the members of the community to see and feel.”
Over several months, Tiffany and Carla broke, cut, arranged, adhered, and ultimately transformed tiles into mosaic panels with the help of volunteers from their school families. In July of 2023, they installed and weatherproofed the mosaic onto the Hobart Stairs, a centrally located staircase which connects the local neighborhood to the South Bethlehem Greenway walking and biking trail as well as the Bethlehem Skateplaza.
This public art project is part of the Bethlehem Economic Development Corporation’s SouthSide Art District Program, a continuous revitalization initiative for the SouthSide of Bethlehem. This project was made possible, in part, by funds from the County of Northampton PA, and SouthSide Tomorrow. SouthSide Tomorrow is a 6-year revitalization program of Community Action Development Bethlehem and the City of Bethlehem with support from Univest Bank & Trust Co., Embassy Bank for the Lehigh Valley, People’s Security Bank & Trust, PPL Electric Utilities, and Provident Bank.
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