ALLENTOWN, Pa. — At Ripple Community Center Inc., vibrant artwork stretched across the walls, representing creators of all ages.
They included longtime community members and fifth-graders from Bethlehem’s Spring Garden Elementary School.
The pieces are part of a new exhibition, "The Art of Neighboring," that coincides with the nonprofit’s 10th anniversary.
Wednesday’s art show reception also doubled as a ribbon-cutting for the new NeighborMade Community Art Gallery & Workshop, housed inside the center at 1335 West Linden St.
Ripple Inc., which is funded primarily through donations, has another nonprofit operation: The RCI Village, a low-cost housing program on Chew Street.
Personalities of the neighborhood
As guests moved through the gallery Wednesday, the words on the walls — kindness, joy, connection — seemed to echo the "good neighbor" theme of the show.
To juried artist Jody Smith, being a good neighbor means caring — the simple act of looking after one another.
Her painting, a view from her art studio on Allentown's Turner Street, features a tree, garages and back yards that form a patchwork of everyday life.
"The blues, the greens,” Smith said, “they’re the different personalities of the people back there.”
As seen in the painting, Smith spoke of her "kind" neighbors who clear the alley so everyone can get their cars out, of people who watched out for one another from garage door to garden fence.
A decade of community service
Ripple Executive Director Sherri Brokoop Binder pointed out one wall that traced Ripple’s 10-year history — from the creation of the Linden Street Community Center in 2015, the launch of the RCI Village housing program in 2018, the expansion during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the recent news about the Chew Street property, its soon-to-be permanent space.
On Monday, Allentown Zoning Hearing Board voted to approve construction of a new community center on the site of the former Emmanuel United Church. The church closed in 2022.
The new center will offer affordable housing units and a homeless drop-in center.
"All of this is exciting — reflecting on where we started, the progress we’ve made, and the steps that brought us here," Binder said.
"As our mentor Father Greg Boyle reminds us, our programs and resources are secondary to the culture we create. Our true job is to nurture a safe, welcoming community."
Vision behind the art
Along with the artwork on the walls, the reception featured a poetry recital by members of the RCI Poetry Circle and Brookelyn Ferrell, a longtime volunteer.
The poetry circle meets weekly at the center.
“I’ve never really been part of one,” read one poet on friendship.
"But since coming to RCI, I know now what a community is… After years of feeling like I didn’t belong, now I actually feel like I belong.”
As the event came to an end, Community Center Director and Art Circle facilitator Kristin Baxter reflected that, even after 20 years of teaching art across all age groups, working at the center revealed something she hadn’t anticipated.
As a highlight of the “Neighboring” exhibition, Saturday-morning members of Ripple’s Art Circle at the Linden Street Center produced a mural built from hundreds of collages, each representing a different word about what it means to be a good neighbor.
I see my own life experiences interwoven with others.Kristin Baxter, Ripple Community Inc.
"The community members who come to Art Circle on Saturday mornings are some of my favorite students ever," Baxter said.
"We talk, we share ideas, we collaborate on projects, or just silently make things together."
Reflecting on her two years leading the art program, she said the "experiences have changed me in profound ways."
"I see my own life experiences interwoven with others, and even though I've had this long career in art education, I felt like a beginner again, like a blank slate," she said.
"This has been such a gift."
"The Art of Neighboring" will be on display through Jan. 3.
Viewing hours are 1-5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Admission is free.
For more information, visit the Ripple Community Center website.
