Two Lehigh Valley Arts and Culture Organizations Form the Lehigh Valley Arts & Cultural Alliance

The Lehigh Valley Arts Council (LVAC) and Cultural Coalition of Allentown (CCA) are excited to announce the formation of the Lehigh Valley Arts & Cultural Alliance (LVACA) to advocate, support, and build capacity for arts, culture, and the creative economy throughout the Lehigh Valley for all in the region.

David Mickenberg, Chairman of the Lehigh Valley Arts & Culture Alliance said in announcing the formation of LVACA, “Both organizations [LVAC and CCA] have experience in supporting the artists, arts organizations, and cultural heritage throughout our community. Our goal for the new organization is to further support our creative and cultural workers in the valley by fostering accessibility, diversity, programmatic excellence, and the integration of the arts, culture, and creative economy into all facets of life in our community.  

The strategic focus for LVACA will be to build upon the successes of the previous organizations and build a sustainable, agile, and responsive organization to meet the needs of the dynamic arts and cultural community in the Lehigh Valley.  

Building upon both organizations’ remarkable legacies, there are five main areas of focus for LVACA including; Capacity Building for artists, arts, and culture organizations, Ensuring Accessibility to the arts for people of all abilities and identities, Collective Advocacy and Marketing for artists, arts, and cultural organizations, Data Development and Research supporting the arts, culture, and creative economy, and Continuous Learning opportunities for cultural workers.

The familiar programs of LVAC and CCA will continue uninterrupted as Arts & Access Always, ARTix, and Young at Art. Additionally, the popular Arts Membership Program will continue to provide benefits to the Lehigh Valley arts and culture community as well as the individuals, organizations, and families that participate in them. 

Meanwhile, an Allentown Arts Subcommittee will continue the local efforts in the City of Allentown to serve as pilot programs as part of the Neighborhood Partnership Program in Center City Allentown, serving youth development and the creative economy to potentially extend across the Lehigh Valley. 

The LVACA Board of Directors is led by Mickenberg, Ann Lalik, Todd Watkins, Dan Kainz, and joined by Board Members Ellen Baker Ghelardi, Liz Kempner, Gina Kormanik, Steven LaPierre, Elizabeth Massa, Tanya Tyler and Pete Waldron.

The new LVACA team includes Sean King as Managing Director, Deb Rabinsky as Director of Artistic Operations, Jacqui Schwartz, Arts & Always Access Program Administrator, Meg Mikovits Data Research Study Coordinator and Sharon Smith as Administration Manager.

Support for the LVACA is provided in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, PA Council on the Arts, The Harry C. Trexler Trust, Dexter F. and Dorothy H. Baker Foundation, The Hommer Foundation, The Century Fund, the CORE of Allentown Neighborhood Partnership Program, Lehigh County and a community of over 200 individuals and arts organizations throughout the Lehigh Valley.