Artsquest

Filing Period

Jan 1, 2012 to Dec 31, 2012

Signed

Nov 8, 2013

Return Version

2012v2.1

Gross Receipts

$15,026,272

Mission

Major Activities

Activity 2

Banana factory: artsquest established the banana factory arts and culture center in january 1998. Through the banana factory, artsquest operates visual arts and education programs to serve the community. These programs include classes and camps in photography, ceramics, glass-blowing, video game design, painting, drawing, jewelry, mixed media, and sculpture. Through the support of donors and sponsors, artsquest is able to offer scholarships to any adult or child whose circumstances do not permit payment to any class or camp. In addition to classes and offices for artsquest, the banana factory offers three galleries that are open to the public and admission free with 22 exhibitions mounted in 2012. Artsquest offers 31 studios to regional visual artists at the banana factory at a subsidized rent in order to encourage artist participation in the community. One of the studios houses the offices of another non-profit organization, the pediatric cancer foundation of the lehigh valley. Artsquest will supply art workshops for kids and their families. The heart series was designed specifically as workshops to help facilitate wellness for people with chronic illnesses. At the banana factory, artsquest operates outreach programs including: b-smart an after school arts education program for at risk middle school students from the bethlehem area school district (198 students attended this program in 2012); faces of the southside a documentary photography program for teens that culminates in large photo banners and unseenamerica, an after school program primarily for elementary school students involving photographing their family and daily life, with an exhibit of their photographs at the school.

Activity 3

Steelstacks/artsquest performing arts center: in 2006, artsquest began planning and fund raising for the development of a 10-acre arts, culture and education campus to be located on the former bethlehem steel plant in the heart of bethlehem, pa., on what was the largest brownfields under redevelopment in the united states. The vision for steelstacks was directly linked to the mission of the organization, providing access to the arts and utilizing arts as a vehicle for urban revitalization. In 2009, artsquest began site clearance on a parcel of land directly across the street from the blast furnaces of the former bethlehem steel plant for the key structure in the project, the artsquest center, a 67,000-square-foot performing arts center designed to meet diverse arts and education needs for 21st century visual and performing arts genres. The artsquest center includes a two-screen cinema that offers the region's first year-round program for independent, foreign, documentary and locally made films; a flexible two-story performance space for the presentation of music, dance and theatre that can accommodate between 470 and 1,000 depending on configuration; three multifunctional spaces that can be used for everything from family programming to literature salons to intimate music performances; and a full-service kitchen that allows the offering of food and beverage to the audience. Adjacent to the artsquest center is the new pbs 39 public media and education center, which was constructed at approximately the same time as a part of the steelstacks campus.the steelstacks campus also includes a "town square" plaza with two stages for outdoor events; the levitt pavilion steelstacks for free summer music concerts and festivals (with lawn seating for 2,500 and operated by artsquest's non-profit subsidiary friends of the levitt pavilion steelstacks); the bethlehem visitors center, an 1863 stone building that includes visitor information for the lehigh valley region and ample rest rooms for the many large public events that occur on the campus (the center is operated by discover lehigh valley and artsquest in partnership with the city of bethlehem); and pnc plaza, a parking lot and paved plaza that are used for artsquest's musikfest and christkindlmarkt, as well as numerous other public events. All of these improvements were funded by the redevelopment authority of the city of bethlehem, with the agreement that artsquest would operate these facilities for the public good. The artsquest center, town square, levitt pavilion and pnc plaza all opened in 2011. In 2012 the first full year of operation, artsquest presented more than 400 live concerts on the site, not including the concerts for musikfest, christkindlmarkt bethlehem and oktoberfest. Artsquest also presented more than 160 films, including independent features, foreign, documentary and repertoire films. During 2012, steelstacks also hosted 11 festivals including musikfest, christkindlmarkt bethlehem (a holiday-themed arts and crafts festival), riverjazz (featuring jazz performances); sabor (a festival celebrating the culture of the latin community in the region); blast furnace blues (featuring blues music); steeljam (featuring jam bands), nowadays (offering indie rock), oktoberfest, the greater lehigh valley filmmaker festival, the invision photo festival and peepsfest, a family friendly new years eve event. Steelstacks was designed as a space for community events and celebration. Artsquest operates this space on behalf of the city of bethlehem. During 2012, more than 30 nonprofit organizations used facilities at steelstacks with no rental fee; four patriotic holidays were celebrated on the campus; and dozens of businesses and nonprofit organizations used parts of the campus for their fundraising or corporate activities. Like artsquest's banana factory, steelstacks is also a center for community outreach and education. In 2012, outreach programs include "peas and qs," a free family arts

Filer

EIN

23-2280560