Artist travels ‘full circle’ with Musikfest mural
Distant cheers resonate as children bounce away on Musikfest’s inflatables, keeping time to the constant background beat. Smells of funnel cake and other fried delicacies waft through the air. Amid it all is the slight smell of paint adding to the hues of the day.
In the Familienplatz, by the assortment of bouncy castles, Sam Redles dips her paint brush in a soft blue color and walks over to an 8-by-12-foot mural to make her mark. This isn’t her first time at Musikfest — the Lehigh Valley native attended her first fest at 4 months old — but it is her first time as a feature of the festivities.
Redles is now based out of Maryland with her own business, creating hand-painted signs and murals. After moving to Maryland seven years ago, she has returned to her hometown, where her family still lives, to attend Musikfest.
“It feels like a full-circle type of thing,” Redles said.
She hopes her art will inspire younger festivalgoers to be artists. A mother and her young daughter walked up to Redles and asked if the painting was an interactive portion of the festival. After explaining that she is the only one painting this year’s mural, Redles said she would like to make it interactive in the future, if she is invited back again.
“I would love to encourage younger people to think about what it would be like to be an artist or a designer or something in the creative field,” she said.
Her own path to becoming an artist was not straightforward. She graduated from Moravian Academy, then went on to Elizabethtown College to study art history and business, with a concentration in marketing. It was not until she pursued curatorial practice, working with art exhibitions, while she was in graduate school at Maryland Institute of Art and met with a community of sign painters that she got involved in making murals.
Musikfest has a long history of promoting community murals. Mark Demko, senior director of communications for ArtsQuest, said a big part of the festival’s mission is to showcase local talent or talent like Redles, who got their start in the Lehigh Valley. He said that for Redles, who grew up going to the festival, this will be a new opportunity for her to enjoy and experience it in a different way.
The postcard-style “Greetings from Bethlehem” design was a way to draw people to the artist, Demko said.
“It’s a great way to create a souvenir of the festival,” Demko said, adding that festivalgoers can stop and take a snapshot with Redles to share with family and friends on social media.
Throughout the festival, many of them stop to take a shot of the mural as Redles paints, often asking her questions about the design.
Katie Ramos, 27 stood in front of the mural with Aw Shucks Corn as her friend
Grace Cowen, 20, took her picture. Ramos sells real estate in Bethlehem and was intrigued by depiction of historic town monuments on the mural.
Designs featuring the Moravian Academy emblem, the Moravian Book Shop and the Banana Factory caught the attention of Behtlehem residents Lisa Huber and Kris Polster, who were enjoying an extra hour tacked on to their lunch break to celebrate Musikfest. Even children were mesmerized by the bright colors and complex design. Rob Sadler, 36, held his 2-year-old daughter, Vera, as he took in the landscape.
“It’s definitely capturing all of the things that are Bethlehem,” he said.
Redles drew the patterns for the mural in preparation for the festival. Her father helped her take materials to Musikfest, and she started working around 4:30 p.m. Friday. Because ArtsQuest will purchase the mural from her rather than paying her for her hours worked, she can paint on her own schedule. Each day, she painted for about 11-and-a-half hours, sometimes eating her meals while working.