BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Bethlehem’s planning and zoning director, its ADA coordinator and LANTA’s planning and scheduling director will join a panel on access Saturday at “Our Art, Our Voices,” an afternoon of art, performances and talks by disabled artists at the Bethlehem Area Public Library.
The library’s event page lists Janine Santoro, the city’s director of equity and inclusion, as its contact. Santoro organized a panel at the library in July 2025 as the city marked the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and raised its first Disability Pride flag, and three of Saturday’s speakers were listed as panelists then.
The event runs from noon to 4 p.m. at the main library, 11 W. Church St. The talks are in the second-floor Laros Room, next to the children’s section: a roundtable of disabled artists at 1 p.m. and the access panel at 2 p.m. “Let’s Roll,” which the flyer calls a sensitivity experience, follows at 3 p.m. at the library entrance.
The library’s event page says registration is required and closes at noon Saturday, and it lists the event for teens, families and adults. Organizers have not listed a fee. Access requests go to the library at 610-867-3761 or info@bapl.org.
The talks
The 1 p.m. roundtable, “Creating Art through the Lens of Disability,” is moderated by Robin Gow of Queer & Trans Lehigh Valley, a poet and author whose Instagram profile describes Gow as autistic, trans and disabled. The flyer says local disabled poets, writers and artists will talk about how disability is part of their work and what barriers and opportunities they face; it is open to all.
The speakers are Rain Black, a horror watercolor artist; Lynn Donnelly; Maryann Dunwoodie; Michael Freeman, the artist and owner of Freeman Paintings; and Salem Sage. Gow, Black and Freeman are the three who were also listed for the 2025 panel.
The 2 p.m. panel, “From Barriers to Belonging: Creating a More Inclusive Community,” takes up housing, transportation, vocational opportunities, pedestrian infrastructure and business advocacy in Bethlehem and beyond. Susan Schaffer, founder of Disability Dialogue, moderates.
The panelists are Cathy Fletcher, Bethlehem’s director of planning and zoning; Sean Ziller, the city’s deputy director of economic development and its ADA coordinator; AJ Knee, director of planning and scheduling at LANTA; Julianna Rodrigues, a project coordinator at the Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living; and Marcus Rolle, a transition and employment specialist with The Arc of Lehigh and Northampton Counties.
Schaffer also leads “Let’s Roll,” from 3 to 4 p.m. Organizers have not described what it involves.
Around the building
The city posted the full schedule on Instagram:
- Library entrance: Bitty & Beau’s Coffee, whose shop at 74 W. Broad St. is part of a chain that says it employs people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
- Cohen Room, first floor by the entrance: art vendors, art displays and interactive art.
- Huddle Room, center of the library: a relaxation station for independent crafting with LUAG, the Lehigh University Art Galleries.
- Studio 11, basement: performances and workshop space. Organizers have not named the performers.
Gow, Schaffer and Freeman were among those the city thanked after its second annual Disability Pride flag raising at Payrow Plaza this July.
