|
|
BETHLEHEM, PA (June 3, 2022) – “Tour de Bethlehem,” an art installation for HOKA at Aardvark Sports Shop, features multiple large abstract paintings depicting local landmarks. The images have been created expressly for HOKA at Aardvark by contemporary artist and runner Tina Cantelmi, a native of Bethlehem.
An unveiling of the art is slated after the Arts Walk/Run, a 3.8-mile jaunt from North to South Bethlehem on a route that includes 12 large south Bethlehem murals. The event begins at Aardvark Sports Shop, 559 Main Street, Saturday, June 4 at 8:30, and is hosted by HOKA.
Registration is free for the run at https://events.hoka.com/
The installation at Aardvark celebrates the positivity of being a walker or runner in a city as lovely as Bethlehem, says Cantelmi. She explains that the art installation, including five paintings, depicts several local landmarks such as the Hill to Hill Bridge, Fahy Bridge, Sand Island, Nisky Hill Cemetery, a sunset over the Lehigh River, and Steel Stacks after a searing summer race. The art will be on view in the window at Aardvark through August.
” I created the paintings to evoke movement and a bit of a runner’s high – as most runners can identify with, I am sure,” explains the artist, a graduate of Freedom High School.
“We had no track team or cross country for girls that I knew of in high school. My intro to running was at Alfred University, where I earned a BFA. There isn’t much to do in upstate NY sans create art and run. So, I discovered the track team. In retrospect, we had a quality running team with top coaches.
The now 64-year-old artist says the opportunity to create art for HOKA (her favorite running shoe brand) pairs well with her favorite running store. “So when given this opportunity, I knew I had to create art about running in Bethlehem,” she says.
I have been a customer of Aardvark since its inception more than three decades ago. I was living in NYC at the time and would travel back to Bethlehem because Mr. Haines, owner Bruce Haines’ father, would put me in the right pair of running shoes every time.”
The artist says she plans to auction paintings from the exhibit to benefit the hospice meal deliveries and the Judie’s Heart Palliative Care Education Fund at the Judith Adele Agentis Charitable Foundation, www.JAACF.org. Stay tuned for more information.
Tina Cantelmi is a contemporary abstract landscape painter whose works are in private collections from Florida to Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and New York. She is also a feature writer and blogger. You can find her paintings at www.tinacantelmiartist.com or at artist archives.
@hokaoneone @hokafans #artwalk #mural #mural art #muralwalk #runshop #bestrunningstores #shoplocal #shopsmall #supportsmallbusiness #visitbethlehem #heartofbethlehem #getdowntownbethlehem #lehighvalleypa #downtownbethlehem #bethlehempa #running #runnersofinstagram #runners #roadrunning #roadrunners #trailrunning #trailrunners #hiking #walking #teamvark
Information and image provided by:
Tina Bradford
Writer/Public Relations/Social Media
http://twitter.com/TinaBradfordPR
