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Learn about the painting

If you've ever been curious about famous artist and Lehightonian Franz Kline, you'll want to visit the Allentown Art Museum.

The museum is unveiling "Lehighton," Kline's canvas mural depicting the borough.The mural was recently restored, thanks to nearly $20,000 in donations after decades overlooking the bar at Legion Post 314 on Bridge Street in the borough.To celebrate the unveiling, they are also hosting the conservator who moved the painting, as well as historians to talk about Kline and the Lehighton area as it looked when he painted the mural in 70 years ago.The event will take place from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. Admission to the museum is free all day.The snow day for the event is Feb. 5.At 1 p.m., Lafayette College Art Professor Robert Mattison will give a presentation on Kline as well as the mural's history and significance. Mattison wrote a biography of Kline titled "Franz Kline: Coal and Steel" (2012).Following Mattison's presentation, art conservator Luca Bonetti will talk about cleaning and restoring the mural.Bonetti, joined by his assistant Elizabeth Nunan, will also share his idea for how exactly Kline painted and installed the mural at the Legion.At 2 p.m., Lehighton historian Ron Rabenold will be available to answer questions about the landmarks depicted in the mural.Carbon County residents shouldn't have any trouble identifying locations like Col. Jacob Weiss Park, the Gnaden Huetten Cemetery, and the Jake Arner Airport.The colorful, expressive painting was painted well before the minimal, black-and-white paintings that would make Kline an art world star, but it has some early signs of that talent.His impressionist paintings sell for millions of dollars.The museum hosted an online fundraiser through gofundme.com, exceeding its $14,000 goal.The funds will be put toward the conservation of the mural, and to develop educational programs about the mural for students in the Lehighton School District.For more information, visit

www.allentownartmuseum.org.