- Ribbon-cutting ceremony for a mosaic mural in South Bethlehem was held on Thursday
- Art teachers Tiffany Anderson and Carla Majczan created the mural on stairs off Hobart Street
- The artists' mission was to create a mural to inspire those facing life's challenges
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The colorful mural affixed to the facing of 20 concrete stairs is a pathway connecting significantly more than Hobart Street to South Bethlehem Greenway.
What local art teachers Tiffany Anderson and Carla Majczan have created is an inspirational pathway from hopelessness to hope and from struggle to survival. A visual magnet designed to illuminate one’s darkness and spark the impetus for survival.
“I hope this mural is an inspiration to all who walk on it or pass it,” said Anderson, an art teacher at Donegal Elementary School. “The idea came about after Carla and I brainstormed."
“The mural is one of hope. It represents that no matter where you live, the struggles you go through and the obstacles you face, there is always hope to get you through.”
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Thursday afternoon at the mural. The celebration included music from the East Hills Middle School band and chorus where Majczan teaches art. Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds issued the artists a congratulatory citation, and Northampton County Executive Lamont McClure issued a proclamation.
“The mural is one of hope. It represents that no matter where you live, the struggles you go through and the obstacles you face, there is always hope to get you through.”Tiffany Anderson, mural artist
Named Hope in Flight, the mural is a depiction of piano keys, birds and other designs created by tiny bits of porcelain and glass.
“The piano represents the music of the SouthSide,” Anderson said. “The birds — and I taught environmental education in school — represent how people first migrated to Bethlehem the way birds migrate.”
Anderson and Majczan worked on the mural four hours a day, from mid-June through the end of July. Students and staff members from both the artists’ schools also helped with the project.
“Tiffany and I talked about what kind of hopeful message we could come up with for the mural,” said Majczan, a Bethlehem native and resident. “We both like the song, ‘You Gotta Be,’ by Des’ree. The lyrics talk about overcoming obstacles.
You gotta be
You gotta be bad, you gotta be bold, you gotta be wiser
You gotta be hard, you gotta be tough, you gotta be stronger
You gotta be cool, you gotta be calm, you gotta stay together
All I know, all I know, love will save the day
“We’ve heard from people who have seen the stairs before today and have told us it makes them happy,” Majczan said. “That was our hope.”
The mural was funded through a $15,000 grant secured through SouthSide Tomorrow, a neighborhood partnership program of Community Action Development Bethlehem, as well as private donations, said Erin Zebertavage, SouthSide Arts District downtown manager.
The mural is a public art project that is part of the Bethlehem Economic Development Corporation’s SouthSide Art District Program, a continuous revitalization initiative for the SouthSide of Bethlehem.
Initiated by the SouthSide Arts District, the Hobart Staircase Greenway mural project opened in late February and early March to artists to submit design ideas that would be selected by the district and then voted on by the community via a survey.
In the mission to inspire those with myriad challenges of their own, choosing Anderson and Majczan were, well, 20 steps in the right direction.
