LVACA actively participates and encourages the creation of murals as a means of neighborhood improvement, economic development and education. We have partnered with the Allentown Parking Authority, Allentown Arts Commission and City Center, and, most recently, the DaVinci Science Center to install murals while training a new cohort of mural artists to work throughout the Valley while earning a living wage as an artist.
Mural Artist Monica Salazar worked with 25 children from the Fine Feather Foundation summer camp to collaboratively design this mural. Over the course of several workshops, students worked to draw, sculpt, and arrange the final mural design. For inspiration, students visited Camp Fowler in Orefield to see and experience nature firsthand. Monica synthesized the student-driven material to prepare and execute the final piece.
The mural was inspired by the drawings and concepts of Leonardo DaVinci as seen through the lens of STEAM education. The work was painted on aluminum composite panels then assembled and installed at 821 Hamilton Street, Allentown, PA. Made in partnership with the Lehigh Valley Arts & Cultural Alliance and the DaVinci Science center.
This piece was created in the midst of an uncertain world. In the grips of a pandemic, our homes became our havens. This mural explores the idea of shelter, physically and metaphorically. As we continued to stay in, it was as if our domestic space became our whole world. This mural imagines our homes as a monuments, and our windows as portals. In these strange times, our perspectives changed. This mural examines how we look out at the world, and how the world sees in.
The mural is a loving ode to the “Queen City” and its rich history and exciting future. The composition is a take on a playing card design, and utilizes vintage imagery of downtown Allentown as the background. The main figure of the Queen (as representing the history of the city) is painted in a collage style, mixing pattern and textile design with vintage advertising. The child figure utilizes this same style and represents the bright future of the city.
The mural honors the Lenni Lenape Native American Nation.
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