Artist Mandy Martin shares meaning behind this year’s Musikfest poster

Artist Mandy Martin shares meaning behind this year’s Musikfest poster

By Megan Frank

August 3, 2021

This year’s Musikfest poster artist is Mandy Martin. 

Martin got the assignment last year, just a few weeks before the country went into lockdown. Her design features bright red poppies sprouting up around the city of Bethlehem. 

“There was so much uncertainty around the pandemic at that time. I was also confronted with the realities of systemic racism,” she explained. 

To some, poppies symbolize healing, she said.

“I really tried to infuse the painting with a sense of light and hope,” Martin said. “Poppies are symbols of regeneration and renewal. Some people have commented that it almost looks like the poppies are trumpeting as they rise up from the landscape.” 

Martin left a corporate job a couple of years ago to become a full-time artist. She grew up on a farm in central Illinois and later settled in Sellersville, Bucks County. 

During lockdown, Martin painted and listened to recordings from past Musikfest concerts.

“Remembering the magic and the interaction between the audience and the artist on the stage was really what inspired me,” Martin said.

Her original four-foot tall Musikfest canvas will be part of a silent auction during the festival. The money will go to the Fund for Racial Justice and Equity, which is presented by the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley.

Musikfest kicks-off Aug. 6 and runs through Aug. 15.