Handmade Crafts, NEW! Pop-up Art Market, the Latest Exhibition, Live Music and More at ArtsQuest’s March First Friday

Bethlehem, Lehigh Valley, PA., February 26, 2025 – ArtsQuest is excited to continue its First Fridays in partnership with Southside Arts District. Join us at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks on March 7 from 6 to 9 p.m. to enjoy the opening of Claire Marcus’s latest exhibition, create your own masterpieces with one of our art-making demonstrations, participate in a class or find the perfect handmade item for sale at the NEW! Pop-up Art Market.

The NEW! Pop-up Art Market allows local artists to showcase and sell their artwork to a new audience. All items for sale will be handmade. Categories include fine artwork in all mediums (drawing, painting, small sculpture, fibers, photography, mixed media, etc.), handmade jewelry, leather goods, metal or glass items, candles, or bath and body products. Artists participating in the March First Friday Pop-up Art Market include:

• Robin Gow – haunting and ethereal art, jewelry and more 
• Claire Marcus – mixed media work including printmaking, photography, papermaking and textile techniques
• Jason Miller – abstract artist that uses layers and texture to release energy.
• Taylor Hilt – custom fit clasp-less jewelry that will last years.
• Mia Kline – hypoallergenic, lightweight jewelry and one of a kind embroidery pieces

Different artists will be featured each month the market is hosted, stop by each month to check out something new!

First Friday attendees can also see the official opening of Claire Marcus’ Industrial Strength located in the Alvin H. Butz Gallery and the first floor of the ArtsQuest Center. Industrial Strength is a mixed media series by Marcus that explores the sculptural forms and industrial history of the Lehigh Valley and neighboring coal country.

In addition to the Pop-up Art Market, attendees can drop in for a free craft in the Fowler Blast Furnace Room and create embroidered collages with teaching artist Emma Ryan. This free art-making experience is inspired by Claire Marcus’s exhibition Industrial Strength. Craft your collage using magazines and decorative papers, then use a needle and thread to embroider on top of your images.

Or, register in advance for the ticketed Paint Like Bob Ross: Silent Forest Wine’d Down Workshop in the Fowler Blast Furnace Room on the second floor. This Wine’d Down event includes a drink ticket for participants, too!

Don’t forget to check out the live music at the Williams Brew Stage from 5:45 to 11 p.m.! Pat Foran will be taking the stage from 5:45 to 7:30 p.m. Foran has developed as a pop/rock/Americana singer with bluesy grit to power pop with impressive ease. The New Jersey singer/songwriter performers regularly throughout the New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania region and hosts his own podcast called “Get Labeled! Indie Music Roadmap.”

Ginger Coyle is a singer songwriter who started her passion for music with piano, later teaching herself guitar, blending her natural vocal ability with a passion for songwriting. The South Jersey native will be taking the Williams Brew Stage from 8 to 11 p.m.

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 ArtsQuest Creative Factory powered by PPL; 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 percent are free to attend, have a combined economic impact of more than $136 million annually in the region.