Air Products makes $1.5M donation to help create ArtsQuest Cultural Center

Air Products of Trexlertown has made a $1.5 million grant to ArtsQuest of Bethlehem to help with its planned Third Street Cultural Center on the site of the current Banana Factory.

“Our company is proud to step up as the Founding Corporate Partner for the ‘Re-Imagine That’ Campaign. We share the vision of ArtsQuest to continue to transform our community and provide opportunities and support for artists, entrepreneurs and innovators, said Scott Crocco, CFO of Air Products and trustee of the Air Products Foundation in a statement.

The grant from the Air Products Foundation will help to develop a new MakerSpace and Visiting Artist Studio at the 80,000-square-foot Cultural Center.

The funds will also help ArtsQuest with its plans to renovate the 26,000-square-foot former Bethlehem Steel Turn & Grind shop, which is located on the SteelStacks campus on Bethlehem’s South Side.

The building will be used as a new programming facility, exhibit and festival venue. Included will be a 14,000-square-foot public programming space featuring nationally touring education programs, science and arts-related exhibits, and theater and dance performances.

Also benefiting from the grant is the Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley, which will be relocating to the Banana Factory building in March 2020, prior to the work transforming the site into the ArtsQuest Cultural Center.

According to ArtsQuest, the 4,000-square-foot wing of the new Cultural Center being created with the Air Products donation will be open to local artists, innovators, entrepreneurs and the public, and “will provide the tools, materials, educational opportunities and technologies that help people with similar interests discover, build and create together.”

The organization said the Air Products MakerSpace will engage the community in Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics (STEAM) related activities, while encouraging cross-generational learning