Published October 15. 2026 01:21AM<\/p>\n
Accomplished artist and curator Robert Sparrow Jones has taken the helm as Director of the Moravian University Payne Gallery, 346 Main St., Bethlehem.<\/p>\n
The former HUB-Robeson Galleries Director at The Pennsylvania State University has begun bringing his vision and artistic expertise to Moravian\u2019s flagship art space where he oversees the gallery\u2019s schedule of exhibitions, permanent collections and public educational programming that serves the university and the Lehigh Valley.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very excited about this new position,\u201d says Jones. As an educator, he enjoys mentoring and connecting students to contemporary art and is looking forward to the Payne Gallery becoming a hub interconnected with the thriving local arts community surrounding it. \u201cIt just seems a really great place to be,\u201d says Jones.<\/p>\n
With the Moravian Church Settlements\u2013Bethlehem\u2019s recent designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Jones will be working with the Institute for Moravian History and World Heritage to promote international understanding of Moravian culture and World Heritage collaboration.<\/p>\n
Earlier in his career, Jones was a painting assistant to renowned glass artist Dale Chihuly in Seattle, Washington. This experience influences his understanding of large-scale studio practice, creative iteration and artistic collaboration.<\/p>\n
Raised in Jermyn, Lackawanna County, Jones received a Master of Fine Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2005 and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania in 1992.<\/p>\n
\u201cI worked with James Carroll with the New Arts Program and he was great,\u201d says Jones about his experiences as a student at Kutztown. \u201cJames Carroll gave me my first solo exhibition.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI had the opportunity to study with Grace Hartigan at the Maryland Institute College of Art and I just jumped at the opportunity,\u201d says Jones of his decision to further his education with a mentor, the late abstract expressionist painter.<\/p>\n
In addition to his visual arts background, Jones was a regular contributor to the Michigan Quarterly Review where his fiction writing appeared.<\/p>\n
After the death of Payne Gallery Director David Leidich in Summer 2024, Moravian University Associate Provost and Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences Lesley Brown was interim director until Jones was hired in mid-August.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis passion for storytelling through visual art, combined with his experience in higher education galleries, makes him the ideal leader to elevate Payne Gallery as a cultural hub for our students, faculty and community,\u201d says Brown of Jones.<\/p>\n
Payne Gallery reopened with \u201cMeet the Director,\u201d an exhibition of Jones\u2019 artwork that concluded Oct. 8.<\/p>\n
\u201cBill Needs: A Visual Journey Through the History of the Moravian Church,\u201d is Oct. 23 – Dec. 18, with an opening reception and artist talk, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. Nov. 11.<\/p>\n
Payne Gallery, Moravian University, 346 Main St., Bethlehem. Gallery hours: noon – 4 p.m. Tuesday – Sunday. Closed Monday. https:\/\/www.moravian.edu\/art\/payne-gallery<\/p>\n
PRESS PHOTO BY ED COURRIERRobert Sparrow Jones, Director, Payne Gallery, Moravian University, Bethlehem.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Published October 15. 2026 01:21AM Accomplished artist and curator Robert Sparrow Jones has taken the helm as Director…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":307007,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-307006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=307006"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/307006\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/307007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=307006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=307006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=307006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}