In today's class, Jeremy asked each group what it was thinking about doing for the big semester-long project. Truthfully, the three of us hadn't discussed our ideas at length until a few hours ago, but I've been kicking around one topic since I first was accepted into J198 last fall: focusing on the efforts to revitalize the arts in Bethlehem's South Side.
As a North Bethlehem resident my entire life, I wasn't familiar with the South Side until coming to Lehigh three-and-a-half years ago. It was essentially a different town from mine, one that I had scarcely visited and knew virtually nothing about. Now as I'm getting ready to depart SoBeth in a few months, I consider it home. I've taken a particularly interest in Bethlehem's efforts to revitalize the borough's shopping and entertainment district (primarily along Third and Fourth streets), including arts and performing venues like the Wildflower Cafe, Touchstone Theater, Banana Factory and Godfrey Daniels, to name a few.
It appears there's somewhat of a burgeoning scene happening in the South Side again, and that excites me. I don't know if I'll be in Bethlehem in a few months or an entirely different city altogether, but I'd like to do all I can to become immersed in the scene before graduation. I think this project will help. I don't really know the logistics of what we're going to do in terms of packaged material yet - we still have a little while to think about that - but I know this project is far-reaching enough that we can all get something out of it.
In the short term, we're doing something related to the arts and the South Side for our TV news spot due next week. We'll be covering the Bobby McFerrin song workshop at Zoellner Arts Center this Sunday, which is free to students in advance of his concert that night. The event should provide a lot of great interviews and visuals, so stay tuned for that. And in the immortal words of Mr. McFerrin, in anticipation of our third snow storm in two weeks, "don't worry, be happy."
Except, no, Bobby McFerrin, I'm pretty pissed about this snow. I can worry if I want.
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