Touchstone Theatre mural
The cast and crew of "Journey from the East" posing in front of Touchstone Theatre's new mural in Bethlehem; Mural designers, Utopia Group artists, He Hai and Deng Dafei, are center. (Courtesy photo | Touchstone Theatre)
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Bethlehem's Touchstone Theatre has a new large outdoor mural combining Chinese and American culture.
"The Tree in the Mirror" is on the rear wall of the East Fourth Street theater and can be seen from the South Bethlehem Greenway. It highlights themes of cross-cultural exchange and identity, with images significant to both Chinese and American perceptions of culture scattered throughout, including a Chinese dragon, George Washington's profile and even the Bethlehem star, Touchstone said in a news release.
The mural was completed in April as a part of Touchstone's recent two-year community-based project, Journey from the East, which explored history, heritage, and future of the Chinese community in the Lehigh Valley and America.
The mural was designed by international artists Deng Dafei and He Hai, directors of the Beijing-Hangzhou visual arts collective called the Utopia Group, and created in collaboration with local mural artist Jim Gloria, co-founder of the Totts Gap Arts Institute in Upper Mount Bethel Township, through the institute's Heritage Mural Education program.
The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce Foundation, which provides funds for downtown and neighborhood improvement projects in the Lehigh Valley, helped pay for the mural.
Lynn Olanoff can be reached at lolanoff@express-times.com. Follow her on Twitter @LynnOlanoff. Find Bethlehem news on Facebook.