Earlier this month an assignment took me to Main Street in Emmaus for an unexpected sight: a hand-painted mural towering above what was once a bank drive-thru.

Created by Mississippi sign artist River Prince, the mural is a sweepstakes prize won by Emmaus resident Shirley Kline in HGTV television network’s Celebrate Home Town Sweepstakes.

It is also among the latest contributions in area public art.

According to the Association for Public Art, “placed in public sites, this art is there for everyone, a form of collective community expression.”

In a recent interview about the Emmaus mural project, Teri Sorg-McManamon, a member of borough council, noted the mural joins many other public art projects in the borough including the ongoing project to paint the borough’s fire hydrants and a summer-long project yielding barn stars in Emmaus Community Park.

James Ravelle, an intern for the Lehigh Valley Arts Council, when speaking about public sculpture on the council’s website in 2013, described outdoor art as “integral to a city’s arts community and a vital part of its history.”

Area residents may be familiar with more public art than thought.

Of course, there are the monuments. The Lehigh County Soldiers and Sailors Monument standing at attention at Hamilton and Seventh streets in Allentown may come to mind.

The 90-plus-foot steel Bethlehem Star or Christmas Star on South Mountain and visible from highway 378 is a Lehigh Valley icon.

A mosaic mural created by artist Isaiah Zagar with the help of East Penn Area School district teachers and students and featuring Emmaus landmarks beckons visitors year round from its perch on an outdoor wall at the Emmaus Public Library.

The Shoemaker Elementary School Fifth Grade Art Club offers movie fans murals inspired by feature attractions on the glass walls of the lobby at AMC Center Valley 16.

Local college campuses hold a wealth of outdoor public art including sculpture and other artwork.

And at this time of year, the towering Peace Candle in the center circle of Easton is hard to miss.

Closer to home, many of you may have come across sidewalks chalked by neighborhood children or painted rocks peeking out from beneath bushes along the route of your daily fitness walk, little surprises placed to give passersby a reason or two to smile.

In the YouTube series “Great Art Explained in 15 Minutes” series narrator James Payne poses the question “Was it only art if you could sell it?”

Public art creators and fans may answer a resounding no.

And as a 6-year-old tour guide in a KQED Art School YouTube video about public art notes, “It’s free.”

Public art also may provide inspiration.

In an interview Nov. 3, artist River Prince said seeing his work prompted a visitor to the mural site, the visitor himself a sign painter who lives in Emmaus, to think about his own work in new ways.

And as a bonus in these public health conscious times, visiting public art may help lift your spirits while allowing social distance to be safely maintained and provide fun outdoors.

Arts commentator Maria Popova offers us this:

“This is the power of art: The power to transcend our own self-interest, our solipsistic zoom-lens on life and relate to the world and each other with more integrity, more curiosity, more wholeheartedness.”

April Peterson

editorial assistant

East Penn Press

Salisbury Press