Federal Funding Granted to LUAG for Community-Building Initiative
The University Art Galleries (LUAG) at Lehigh University are thrilled to announce a new initiative, Taste of Art. This innovative program, set to conclude at the end of 2022, will culminate in a free Community Cookbook featuring all recipes, restaurants, and works of art from the series.
Taste of Art is a free public program that combines mini art history lessons with live cooking demonstrations. Each workshop pairs a work of art from Lehigh's art collection with a related recipe from a featured restaurant. Participants will explore works by artists featured in LUAG's current exhibition, Young, Gifted and Black.
The next program in the Taste of Art series is on Thursday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m., and will feature a signature recipe from The Taste Smokers, a restaurant known for Chicago-style barbecue and soul food sides. The Taste Smokers started as a food truck in 2018 and opened a brick and mortar location in 2021.
Taste of Art aims to support local Southside restaurants and encourage positive relations between Lehigh and its neighbors. Participants in the program are eligible to win gift certificates to the restaurant partners.
Cooking demonstrations in Taste of Art are led by art historian and chef Maite Gomez-Rejón. Each workshop includes a kit that includes a recipe, signature ingredient, and a reproduction of the featured work of art.
Jenny Lim, owner of Jenny's Kuali, shared her excitement about the program, stating, "We found this amazing program to be very informative for our participants, connecting with the local community during this well-planned online cooking class using one of our recipes from our vegan cookbook."
Ian Panyko, director of Café the Lodge, also expressed his appreciation, saying, "It was wonderful working with LUAG and connecting with all who participated."
The University Art Galleries at Lehigh have been awarded a federal grant through the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) American Rescue Plan. The grant, worth $48,440, will help LUAG respond to the challenges posed by COVID-19 and support its pandemic recovery efforts.
The IMLS provided American Rescue Plan grants to a wide range of museums, libraries, and Native American tribal organizations across the United States. Examples of types of organizations that received IMLS ARP grants include large state and university libraries updating digital infrastructure, small community museums preserving local heritage, tribal libraries and cultural centers supporting Indigenous language and cultural preservation, and museums providing virtual education programs to reach remote audiences.
To find specific recipients or grant amounts, you can review IMLS’s online resources such as their grant award database or press releases summarizing ARP grant distributions. These records often list projects, locations, and types of activities funded.
Register for the free Taste of Art programs at www.luag.org and join us in this unique culinary and artistic journey!
- The innovative program, Taste of Art, offers mini art history lessons integrated with live cooking demonstrations, encouraging learning through culture and food-and-drink.
- Participants in the Taste of Art series can expect a series of workshops that pair works of art from Lehigh's collection with recipes from featured restaurants, like the one with Chicago-style barbecue from The Taste Smokers.
- Taste of Art is not only a platform for learning about art and cooking but also aims to foster positive relations with local Southside restaurants, such as The Taste Smokers, through gift certificates for participants.
- Each Taste of Art workshop includes a learning kit with a recipe, signature ingredient, and a reproduction of the featured work of art, making it an excellent opportunity for education-and-self-development.
- The University Art Galleries at Lehigh, through its Taste of Art program, is one of the many museums, libraries, and cultural centers receiving a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) American Rescue Plan, which aims to support cultural-travel, online-education, and pandemic recovery efforts across the United States.
