Nazareth Arts Center Gets $2,000 Grant

The Nazareth Center for the Arts (NCA) was presented with a $2,000 check from the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce's Main Street Lehigh Valley Foundation in recognition of the completion of its interior/ exterior illumination project.

The reimbursement covers more than half of the expense of the installation of the lighting project.

The check was presented to the committee volunteers by Chamber Foundation Grant Committee Chair, John Hayes, President of AFC First Financial Corp., and Marlyn Kissner, Executive Vice President Regional Chambers. 

Also attending were Nazareth Center for the Arts President Rick Smith and members Lon Werner, Jane Marshall, Brenda Messinger-Voll, Diane Werkheiser, Amy Hudak and Gina Devlin.

“Thanks to this grant we can now shine our lights even brighter making it a safer and more professional environment for our exhibitors, performers and visitors to the Arts Center and the community”, Smith said.  

The Nazareth Center for the Arts is the gateway to historic downtown Nazareth, located one block away. Its housed in the old borough firehouse built in 1902. Illuminating the interior/exterior space allows for a safer, more visible venue for the community as well as helping to beautify the gateway to the town’s downtown business district. 

The NCA is a volunteer-run 501 (c), three-community-based organization that hosts receptions for monthly artist exhibitions, concerts, open mic nights, poetry readings and documentary movie screenings. The mission is to educate, inspire and celebrate the visual and performing arts, improving the quality of life for the community. The center's board is committed to making the arts available to Nazareth and its surrounding communities. NCA currently offers affordable art and acting classes for all ages and is working on expanding its programs to offer music, voice, writing and photography workshops. 

The Chamber Foundation’s MSLV Initiative aims to improve every M Street in the Lehigh Valley through targeted investments in façade improvements, streetscape designs, sidewalk beautification and other enhancements to the physical appearance of its downtowns and urban centers. Nazareth is one of 18 communities that received a portion of the Foundation’s $2 million in community revitalization projects in municipalities across the Lehigh Valley. 

The Main Street Lehigh Valley Foundation, the chamber’s charitable arm, was established as a 501(c) 3 in Bethlehem, originally to raise funds for holiday decorations. Now that the chamber has merged with 13 regional partners, and the foundation has grown to serve all of its communities as part of the Main Street Lehigh Valley Initiative. Main Street Lehigh Valley uses contributions from private sector donors along with assistance from Lehigh and Northampton counties to directly fund community development projects in Lehigh Valley’s communities.