Lehigh faculty, staff and students collaborated with community artists, officials and activists on a 10-day festival in October that examined how the Bethlehem community reinvented itself after the closing of Bethlehem Steel, and how it can shape a culturally rich and diverse future.
“Festival UnBound” follows a “Steelbound” event that took place in 1999, based largely on the efforts of festival director Bill George ’73, cofounder of the nonprofit Touchstone Theatre. That artistic undertaking examined the state of a city that was developed around industrial giant Bethlehem Steel, which ceased operations in 1998 after a long decline.
