BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Just as Musikfest is a mix of many styles of music, its next festival poster melds art using a variety of textures and materials, something its never used before in its 41 years.
ArtsQuest on Friday announced the official Musikfest 2025poster – a colorful and intricate design created with wet and needle felting and embroidered accents. The piece blends multiple fiber techniques to produce what the nonprofit organization describes as a depiction of musical roots that connect Bethlehem and its people.
Mallory Zondag,ArtsQuest's teaching artist and artist-in-residence, created the piece. Zondag is a mixed-media fiber artist working as an artist and arts educator.
“We are thrilled to feature the work of artist Mallory Zondag for the 2025 Musikfest poster design," Senior Director of Visual Arts and Education Lisa Harms said in a news release. "Mallory has been a teaching and exhibiting artist with ArtsQuest since 2017, as well as a rostered artist through our partnership with the PA Council on the Arts.
“Mallory is an accomplished artist who, in addition to teaching and exhibiting her work, has also created the popular“Touch Collection” in the Sensory Space at The Banana Factory.
"Mallory’s work has impacted hundreds of students and adults through classes, residencies, workshops and more. We are excited to include unique workshop opportunities for the public as part of this year’s poster residency.”
Zondag describes ArtsQuest’s visual arts programming as having a positive impact on her life.
Having taken classes at the Banana Factory when she was younger, Zondag participated in glass blowing classes, mosaics, ceramics and more.
“The Banana Factory was a place where people really helped to grow and influence my love of art,” she said.
“They really gave me, like a road map for how to make art into a career. They have an incredible system set up to help lead you through all of the steps from when you’re a little kid to being a teenager and then an adult and seeing the ways art can be more than a passion, but also a livelihood.”
In spring 2022, Jacobsburg Environmental Center in Bushkill Township partnered with Pennsylvania Council of the Arts and Donegan Elementary School in South Bethlehem to create an artist residency that not only paired an art program with the school, but also environmental education and field trips to Jacobsburg state park, according to the ArtsQuest news release.
The intent was to create a hands-on, immersive educational experience that focused on art, science and the environment.
Zondag was selected to lead the in-school art program and worked in the art room with kindergarten through fifth-grade art classes to create a living wall made of felted wool.
Using textile arts to tell stories about the natural world and our place within it, Zondag shares her artistic skills and ideas through workshops, community art programs and exhibits around the Northeast, the release said.
“Thinking about the design, I wanted to take all of the landmark buildings from both the North and South Sides to show they are all connected through an entangled root system,” said Zondag.
“I actually used music staffs for some of the roots to represent Musikfest and the music that brings people in our community and beyond together.”
Musikfest 2025 is set for Aug. 1–10 with a Preview nNight on Thursday, July 31.
