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Bethlehem, Lehigh Valley, PA., November 8, 2024 – ArtsQuest is proud to announce the official Musikfest 2025 Poster – with wet felting and needle felting, as well as embroidered accents, blending multiple fiber techniques to produce this unique artwork created by ArtsQuest Teaching Artist and Artist-in-Residence, Mallory Zondag, a mixed-media fiber artist. This is the first time in the festival’s 41-year festival that fiber techniques will represent the Musikfest Poster.
“We are thrilled to feature the work of artist Mallory Zondag for the 2025 Musikfest poster design. Mallory has been a Teaching and Exhibiting Artist with ArtsQuest since 2017, as well as a rostered artist through our partnership with the PA Council on the Arts. This year’s design features fiber art techniques, which have never before been represented on the Musikfest poster,” says Senior Director of Visual Arts and Education, Lisa Harms. “Mallory is an accomplished artist who, in addition to teaching and exhibiting her work, has also created the popular “Touch Collection” in the Sensory Space at The Banana Factory. Mallory’s work has impacted hundreds of students and adults through classes, residencies, workshops and more. We are excited to include unique workshop opportunities for the public as part of this year’s poster residency.”
Zondag describes ArtsQuest’s visual arts programming as having a positive impact on her life. Having taken classes at the Banana Factory when she was younger, Zondag participated in glass blowing classes, mosaics, ceramics and more.
“The Banana Factory was a place where people really helped to grow and influence my love of art,” says Zondag. “They really gave me, like a road map for how to make art into a career. They have an incredible system set up to help lead you through all of the steps from when you’re a little kid to being a teenager and then an adult and seeing the ways art can be more than a passion, but also a livelihood.”
In spring of 2022, Jacobsburg Environmental Center partnered with Pennsylvania Council of the Arts and Donnegan Elementary to create an artist residency that not only paired an art program with the school, but also environmental education and field trips to Jacobsburg state park to create a hands-on immersive educational experience that focused on art, science and the environment. Zondag was selected to lead the in-school art program and worked in the art room with K through 5th grade art classes to create a living wall made of felted wool.
Zondag is a mixed media fiber artist working as an artist and arts educator. Using textile arts to tell stories about the natural world and our place within it, Zondag shares her artistic skills and ideas through workshops, community art programs and exhibits around the Northeast. You can read more about her work and current projects, here.
Zondag’s work, rooted in the natural world, uses imagery and phenomena to mirror our lives and our experiences. Connecting the Musikfest Poster art to this idea, Zondag’s artwork shows how the “ecosystem of our community” truly works.
“Thinking about the design, I wanted to take all of the landmark buildings from both the North and South-Sides to show they are all connected through an entangled root system,” explained Zondag. “I actually used music staffs for some of the roots to represent Musikfest and the music that brings people in our community and beyond together.”
Musikfest is set for August 1 – 10 with a preview night on July 31. Additional details will be announced about the nation’s largest free non-gates music festival throughout the year. Visit musikfest.org for more information.
About Musikfest
A total of 1,029,417 people attended Musikfest in 2024. The 11-day festival featured over 500 free performances, across 16 stages located throughout both the north and south-sides of Bethlehem. The 42nd Musikfest is scheduled for August 1 – 10, 2025. This year’s Musikfest 2025 poster artist is Banana Factory Teaching Artist Mallory Zondag. To see the poster and learn more about Zondag’s vision for it, along with information about the festival, visit musikfest.org.
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About ArtsQuest
ArtsQuest’s mission is to provide access to exceptional artistic, cultural and educational experiences using arts and culture as key elements of economic development for our urban communities. ArtsQuest™ supports this mission via the presentation of performing and visual arts, film, arts education classes and outreach, youth programming and cultural events. Through festivals such as its flagship event, Musikfest; the Banana Factory Arts Center; and the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks arts and cultural campus, ArtsQuest’s programming reaches more than 1.9 million people annually. The organization’s programs and events, of which nearly 50% are free to attend, have a combined economic impact of more than $136 million annually in the region.
Information provided to TVL by:
Bryn E. Keeney
