ArtsQuest announced Oct. 16 that 31 artists will make up the first studio cohort at the Creative Factory powered by PPL in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The roster includes painters, photographers, ceramicists, glass artists, sculptors and makers, selected ahead of the center’s grand opening. The announcement also outlines planned ways for the public to encounter the artists’ work, including classes, demonstrations and open-studio activities. The building has not yet opened.
The announcement describes a program extending beyond private workrooms. ArtsQuest says studio artists will create and exhibit work on site, while planned public activities are intended to let visitors meet artists, watch their process and purchase original work. The organization frames the program around creative collaboration and access to arts and educational experiences in Bethlehem and the Lehigh Valley. Those are planned features, not activities already underway.
The named artists work across a wide range of practices. Alania Mariano works in photography and film; Alicia Rodriguez in ceramics; Marie Jeanne Haba in stained glass and multimedia; Michael Brolly in wood; and Mark Wonsidler in sculpture, objects and installation. The roster’s breadth is visible in other entries: Anthony Delluva works in paper; Anthony Viscardi in mixed media and drawing; Cody Abrachinsky in spray paint, acrylic, epoxy, photography and silkscreen; Douglas Wiltraut in egg tempera and drybrush watercolor; and Rachel Bell in floral design. ArtsQuest’s descriptions also include painting, printmaking, glass, ceramics and mixed media. Several roster entries combine disciplines, including drawing with mixed media and painting with sculpture, according to ArtsQuest’s descriptions. Other roster entries list oil on canvas, oil on glass, oil and acrylic with woodcut, and watercolor, pastel, pour and texture techniques. These are descriptions of individual practices, not one shared studio style.
ArtsQuest marks five people on the roster as Teaching Artists: Chris Severn, Erin Emaline Crimmins, Gabriella Gentile, Nasia Palaios and Tina Cantelmi. The announcement does not provide a class calendar, start dates or specific assignments for those five. It says classes, demonstrations and open-studio events are part of the planned public program, but does not say that every studio artist will teach.
ArtsQuest describes the studios as rent-subsidized and says artists will have 24-hour access. The announcement calls the opportunity low-cost but gives no rent amounts. Lehigh Daily’s separate Oct. 16 report says the building is planned for 36 studios and notes that ArtsQuest had not said how many studios the 31 artists would use. The roster names 31 people; it is not a room-by-room occupancy list.
Three artists from the cohort—Deming King Harriman, Chris Severn and Gabriella Gentile—are scheduled to have work featured at two December markets. ArtsQuest lists its Creative Factory pop-up market for Dec. 5 and 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with free access. The same artists are scheduled for the Winter Wonderland market on Dec. 20, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; that market is part of Christkindlmarkt and requires its admission. The announcement does not say that the rest of the cohort will appear at either market.
The December events offer a near-term opportunity to see work by those three artists while the larger facility prepares to welcome visitors. ArtsQuest says it will share more about the Creative Factory’s grand opening, public programming and opportunities to meet studio artists later. Its project page currently estimates the facility will open at the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027. Lehigh Daily reported on Oct. 16 that no specific grand-opening date had been announced.
ArtsQuest’s project page describes the Creative Factory as an 80,000-square-foot, five-story visual-arts and education hub, with studios, galleries, performances, classes and educational programming planned. The selected roster is one announced part of that larger project. The page and artist announcement describe future plans; they do not establish that the full building or public program is open now.
The roster and the organization’s outline of future public activities are the confirmed details in the Oct. 16 announcement. That release does not provide studio assignments, a full schedule for classes and open-studio activities, public access hours or a specific grand-opening date. ArtsQuest says it will announce more as the project moves toward opening.
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