While some of his paintings sell for millions today, Franz Kline might have turned to websites like Kickstarter if they were around when he was a struggling artist.

The Lehighton-bred artist did not achieve the fame that he now has in art circles until after he died in 1962.Kickstarter gives artists, entrepreneurs and anyone else an inexpensive platform to solicit donations online.Last week, the Allentown Art Museum announced that it will use the platform to raise funds to help restore Kline's mural, Lehighton. The museum purchased the piece from Legion Post 314 in November.The mural, done in an impressionist style, does not have the financial value of Kline's later, abstract works.But it's an incredible tribute to the area by one of the most valuable American artists of the 20th century.Officials are hoping to raise $14,000 to fund the restoration of the Kline mural. And they hope that people who are from the Lehighton area will recognize the value of the piece."The Kickstarter is an opportunity for Carbon County residentsto show their support for and regional pride in helping to be part of the effort to bring the mural back to life," said Chris Potash of the Allentown Art Museum.Other than the feeling of helping to preserve a piece of history, there are someperks for people who decide to support the campaign. A donation of$10 gets a color postcard of the mural. For $30, you could have a mug depicting the mural; $75, a set of magnets showing detailed scenes from the massive work.The museum is hoping that four people or businesses will be interested in sponsoring the display itself, having their name listed alongside the work.Some preliminary restoration has been done, but continued work on the project will depend on the museum's ability to get money to fund the restoration project.They hope to unveil the mural at a ceremony featuring a lecture from Lafayette College art professor Robert Mattison, Ph.D., author of the book "Franz Kline: Coal and Steel," which makes the case that Kline's signature black-and-white works are rooted in the coal-mining landscape of his youth in Lehighton."If all goes according to plan, conservator Luca Bonetti and team will return to the Museum at the end of January to complete their work and then to be here for the big unveiling of the conserved mural," Potash said.