BETHLEHEM, Pa. (WLVT) - Be prepared to have an empowering conversation the next time you're walking down 3rd Street on the SouthSide of Bethlehem. There's a new project by the SouthSide Arts District bringing the community an interactiveSouthSide Urban Arts Trail.
The trail features work from several local artists along a 2.75-mile path in the SouthSide business district. Visitors can use their phones to learn about each mural, sculpture, mosaic and more. The newest mural was just completed at 3rd and Adams Street, next to Apotheca Salon.
Chris Colon, of Chris Colon Originals,is the artist responsible for this brightly colored mural. He was inspired by the influence strong women have had throughout his life.
“A woman with a crown accompanied by the love chakra and the word power, to me, is the perfect representation of my perception of what the symbol of women’s empowerment should look like,” said Colon.
Colon, along with his three sisters, was raised in the Bronx by a single mother.
“I have a family filled with amazing, strong, powerful women,” he said.
A strong woman serves as the backdrop to his art.
“When I designed this image, I wanted to combine my graphic and illustration skills which I retained at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and create a striking image that elicited some sort of response when you walk by it,” Colon explained. “I wanted something that was very logo-esque, that was going to pop and shine, something that was going to bring a little more light to the streets of the SouthSide.”
You can view this mural and other works of art when the SouthSide Urban Arts Trail officially debuts on Friday, Nov. 6 during First Friday events at the corner of 3rd and Fillmore Street at 6 p.m.
For more information, contact Missy Hartney at missy@southsideartsdistrict.com.