Upcoming Exhibits at Unsmoke Systems

Personally, I'm going to mark these on my calender. Sometimes there is buzz ahead of time. Sometimes I hear nothing til the opening has passed. Often it is easiest to see the Unsmoke exhibits by going to the openings, as gallery hours are usually limited.

I Am Immortal July 2011
SUBSTRATES July 2011
Lost School August 2011
Confluence September 2011
Pyrotopia October 7-8, 2011
Aaron Meyers May 2012
Ashley Andrykovich June 2012

Make Yourself At Home" - An installati​on by Laura Marsico : Opens Saturday @ Braddock's Unsmoke Systems

Image from LauraMarisco.com

Looks like the drought of exhibits at Unsmoke Systems in Braddock might be over with what looks what could be a very exciting instalation/happening. The artist went to school in Pittsburgh and seems to have spent the following years as herbalist and artist in the mountains of North Carolina. Here she intends to clean out her accumulated stuff, both physical and mental and reform it into a new and likely beautiful experience. As you can see from the artists web site, she has great visceral sense for materials.

"The happening will be dotted with (primarily) repurposed throwaways. As I attempt to lessen the load of “stuff” in my surroundings, certain things continue to hang around with mysterious value dangling over them. They speak of fantasy, memory and functional use in ways that are unique and arbitrary. What happens with these objects and thoughts are curious and inspiring, like the windowsill decorations and garbage in the alley ways of Pittsburgh. Through observation and activity in the space that “Make yourself at home” encompasses, you are encouraged to examine what is it that allows you to feel connected and be at home."

“Make Yourself At Home” by Laura Marsico
Unsmoke Systems, 1137 Braddock Ave, Braddock PA 15104

Opening: Saturday, June 4, 6-9 pm
Exhibition continues through June 18 by appointment only

More info here.

Chili Cookoff In Braddock 4/9/11, 1-4

John and I went to this last year. It is really fun, supports a good cause....and you get to eat lots of good chili. And you get to keep your handmade bowl and take it home with you.

The Braddock Carnegie Arts Program (BCAP) invites you to participate in our 5th Annual BCAP Chili Cook-Off! Contestants compete for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place chili recipes (peoples’ choice vote) and all can participate in the Chinese auction, door prizes, and a 50/50 raffle so that everyone has a chance to win something!

Whether you want to enter your best chili recipe this year (if so, hurry – there are only a few slots left open!) or prefer to sit back & enjoy all of the entries, the fee is $10 per person ($5 for children 12 and under).

The Cook Off is Saturday, April 9, 2011 from 1 to 4 pm at the Braddock Elks Lodge, 424 Library St., Braddock, PA 15104. Tickets can be purchased at the door on the day of the event or in advance at the Braddock Carnegie Library. All proceeds fund the BCAP children’s educational programs. Hope you can join us!

Has this illuminated art work found a home in Braddock or is it in a dumpster?

I had the very impractical idea of making an illuminated piece that was based on my Carrie Furnace photos, and putting it in the doorway of an abandoned building in Braddock.

I picked a spot near the closed UPMC Braddock, as that area could use some light these days (or nights rather). I experimented with using solar powered lights, and did some otherthings that were new for me in my work. The piece is? was? about 40 inches high,and was stapled to a make shift pedestal since the doorway wasn't level.

Now obviously, it was unlikely I was actually going to ever get this piece back....I didn't really secure it, just a few staples. I was really hoping it wouldn't get trashed.....and I don't think it was.....as the staples seem to have been carefully removed so as to not damage the piece or the lights.

So, I don't want it back....but I'd love to know where it is.

I do think I'll make my next one a bit more difficult to get...as I think this one was only out 24 hours or so.

Any info?

Affordable Hotels, City-building, and the Value of Creative Tourism

I've been thinking a lot about hotels lately. I recently discovered that there are numerous affordable hotels to be found in New York City, which makes the prospect of visiting my former city both very attractive and doable. I'm not even talking about crazy-awful fleabag hotels, or motels in Weehawken. I'm talking well-designed, safe, hip, not-chain, in-town Manhattan (sometimes Brooklyn) accommodations. That a working girl like me can afford. Especially if she takes one person with her.

I recently availed myself of one of these hotels, and when I told one of my New York friends about it, she said, "Great! What's the equivalent if I want to visit you in Pittsburgh?" Oh, this question made my head spin. And spin and spin. Not only do I want my friend to come visit me affordably (sure, she'll probably end up staying on my couch, but that's not the point)--I want starving artists and students and working people who DON'T have best friends here to be able to visit Pittsburgh. I want there to be the kind of hotels that allow--and entice--visitors to our fair city to step out the front door of their hotel and explore our streets, our neighborhoods, our architecture, our hilly views; our art galleries, our reading series, our film festivals; our bookshops, our cafes, our wide variety of restaurants. And I want all of this to be available to people who CAN'T afford to stay at a pricey bed & breakfast or a downtown highrise.

What's the current scene of affordable hotels in Pittsburgh? Mainly, chain motels in Monroeville or near the airport. Nevermind that the kind of city-dwelling visitor I'm talking about won't want to shell out to rent a car--even if they had a car, is that how you want to show off our city? Sending someone to a chain accommodation that feels like any other city (a wasted opportunity to show off Pittsburgh's uniqueness at best, a depressing first view of the city at worst) and then asking them to get in their car and drive to Destination A, B, and C? Thus again potentially depriving them of discovering the unique incidentals of our city.

What I'm getting at, in part, is that I want people to start moving to Pittsburgh--for reasons other than the most obvious--job transfer, family members, college or grad school. I want people to move here just because it's an awesome and affordable city in which to live, work, and make art. And I want a steady stream of visitors, creative tourists, and urbanites who 1.) may decide to move here themselves based on gaining a FEEL for the city, or 2.) will become ambassadors of Pittsburgh's revitalization, carrying the word to others who may want to move here.

Pittsburgh, with its "every neighborhood revitalizing at once" plan needs a more dense, in-city-limits population to sustain its visions of growth. (To my mind, the idea that people are going to drive in from the suburbs to destination-eat, -shop, etc., at all of these new venues is not "it," or at least not all of it.) Meanwhile, the recession has people in harder-hit, pricier-housing cities rethinking their own plans. It may be the perfect moment in history for Pittsburgh to gain some residents, fallout from this major upset in US economics. But not if those folks can't visit here (and really discover Pittsburgh) first.

My pondering about hotels in Pittsburgh has emerged from a longer-term set of observations that Pittsburgh has--for so much of its history--been a scorned or misunderstood city ("Hell with the lid off"), and that has resulted in a behavior which can be the opposite of inviting to outsiders. Think of the Pittsburgh reputation for giving idiosyncratic directions: "Take a left where the Giant Eagle used to be, go straight, then take a right where Isaly's used to be." This, my friends, is not the way to help an out-of-towner learn their way around the city. I often hear the caveat to this apocryphal story as, "But more often than not, that same person giving the baffling directions will offer, 'Follow me, I'm going that way.' " Is the kindness of Pittsburghers enough to make up for the confusing navigability? In some realm, yes. But I'm greedy, I want it all. I want not only good neighbors and kind strangers, but good signage, well-designed pedestrian walkways (and bike paths) that connect between every neighborhood and bike trail, obvious bus protocol and safe bus stops, and hotels that bring outsiders smoothly into this web of easily-navigable intra-city connectivity.

So, Pittsburgh's hotels. The Eden House Short Stay in Lawrenceville is one of the few hotels in town that meets the standards of what I'm talking about here. Its lowest-priced rooms are affordable, and get more and more affordable if one stays for more than one night, or if two are traveling together. Eden House is within walking distance to a great stretch of restaurants, shops, and the Design Zone on Butler Street; or the other direction to Pittsburgh's Little Italy with bars, cafes, and restaurants; or to the Penn Avenue Arts District; or to Polish Hill's music venues. The Priory on the North Side may be the next thing that comes close; singles can stay in a $100 room with a single bed, within decent walking distance to AIR, the Warhol Museum, the New Hazlett Theater,  the Mattress Factory, and City of Asylum  houses and events, although I would advise visitors to take a cab to and from the Priory area at night. And good luck getting a cab in Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile, The Pittsburgh Hostel, formerly located in the dangerous neighborhood of Allentown (but defunct for 6 or 7 years), is seeking a new home. My highest hopes would be that the visionaries of Pittsburgh city planning (be they grass roots types or the powers that be) would see the need to help get Real Funding for this, and to think seriously about a great location for it. My hope (as echoed on the Hostel Project's website) would be that people could see the opportunity this presents for Pittsburgh: While everyone's lamenting the brain-drain and "the young people who leave Pittsburgh," why not recognize that creative, city-hopping young travelers could be some of our very best ambassadors? If you make a hostel in a location forced only by pricing (such as Allentown), I predict it will be a success for no one. Rather, make a great hostel in a location that can showcase the city's liveliest creative efforts, and you will create a veritable factory of young people who will bring stories, writings, and photographs to other cities, spreading the word far and wide that Pittsburgh is a great place to be. In other words, don't underestimate the power of the young and the cash-strapped to help remake a city. Wasn't it these folks who brought fame and fortune to such now-meccas as Seattle, Austin, Portland (OR), and Minneapolis? A city's true desirability comes from the ground up, not the top down. Make it easy for people to visit Pittsburgh, and the city will reap the rewards. Conversely, the harder it is for people to visit, the more we'll have this closed-loop, echo-chamber thinking among residents that vacillates between "Pittsburgh is the greatest city ever!!!!!!!!" and "No one would want to move here; we'll always be inferior."

Finally, I want to applaud artist and curator Elise Adibi, who has organized the Gold in Braddock show that opens May 1, 2010 at UnSmoke in Braddock. When planning the show, Adibi made a deliberate decision to invite artists from New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia (in addition to a few Pittsburgh-affiliated folks); the show was designed to explore the theme of GOLD. A number of the out-of-town artists pondered the theme in relation to Braddock, visiting that borough in advance of the show as they created their final piece. Even more of the artists are expected to travel here for the show's opening. In this way, Adibi consciously contributed to a very active form of art tourism--bringing outsiders in to witness Pittsburgh, to enter the region's conversation, to support the Pittsburgh economy, and to leave as ambassadors of an emerging Pittsburgh. One that is not reliant only on the famous universities, hospitals, or sports franchises for its visitor traffic.

So, dear reader, what do you propose as a great location for Pittsburgh's next affordable hotel, or the new Pittsburgh Hostel?

Support Braddock Projects On Pittsburgh Match Day, October 28th

As you may know, I personally feel the city of Pittsburgh and the country in general is in for a world of hurt. City budgets, state budgets and federal budgets will be cut -- one way or the other if we are to survive. The failure to make rational choices in the past will force us to make harder choices in the future. That's what debt on this scale means!

Anyway, on the 28th,Your donation to any area non-profit from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm EST will be matched 50 cents on the dollar by the Pittsburgh Foundation. It's a small chance to knit together the support networks of what used to be called "civil society", which the wikipedia defines as.

"Civil society is composed of the totality of voluntary civic and social organizations and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society as opposed to the force-backed structures of a state (regardless of that state's political system) and commercial institutions of the market."



Personally, I will try to support the little, historic but very troubled community of Braddock.

"Ninety percent of a community gone.
Buildings crumbling into the streets.
More youth living in poverty than anywhere else in Allegheny County outside Pittsburgh.

These issues are faced by Braddock, Pennsylvania. Decades of prosperity in this steelmaking town were followed by decades of slow decay after the American steel industry collapsed in the 1980s."

That's a bummer but it's not the "need" that has me stoked, but a mayor and a small community of engaged people doing some of the most exiting and innnovative things in the region, some of which you may have heard about on this blog.

"But in the midst of decay, a movement to renew is taking shape. Braddock Redux, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by Braddock Mayor John Fetterman, is gathering the ideas, the people, and the resources that will spark life back into this once thriving town. Fetterman's pioneering work offers a vision for postindustrial America, and has garnered accolades in the New York Times, the Atlantic Monthly, Rolling Stone, and on the Colbert Report.


With a focus on projects that fuse youth, the arts, the environment, and building preservation, Braddock Redux has begun to revitalize its community by:

• Facilitating the construction of GrowPittsburgh's largest urban demonstration farm, staffed in part by local at-risk youth
• Securing support and funding for the Mon Valley's first green roof
• Providing partnership development for the Braddock Youth Project, Allegheny County's largest youth employment and training program
• Preserving and renovating a former school into an art gallery and performance space
• Building a mosaic park on a vacant lot
• Planting an urban orchard
• Providing space and funding for Braddock's only community center

But there is more work to do. Most pressingly, Braddock's community center lacks heat and cannot operate during the winter. Braddock Redux is raising money to install a climate-friendly geothermal heating system. The low operating cost of this system will allow hundreds of at-risk youth to use the community center when the temperature drops.

Your donation to Braddock Redux on October 28th from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm EST will be matched 50 cents on the dollar by the Pittsburgh Foundation, up to $2,500 per donation. Please visit www.pittsburghgives.org to register now and learn more about Braddock Redux, and on October 28th to make a donation. Matching funds are limited, and typically are exhausted within two hours on the day of the event."

Links About Braddock

This is a follow up post the one about the Obscurae fundraiser. It's also put together for the out of town press and other "tourists" brought here by the G20 and stories about the "Mayor of Hell".

All of these links relate in one way or another to happenings and life in Braddock.
But, you say the Transformazium is in North Braddock? Well,then you are more likely to part of the problem.

15104.cc Braddock: Create Amidst Destruction
Unsmoke Systems
Community Wood-Fired Oven
Fossil Free Fuel
New Guild Studio
Points of Interest by Braddock Active Arts
Transformazium
Braddock Journey blog
Bill Daniel, Hobo Filmmaker
Braddock Farms
Braddock Youth Project
Delicious Donations

I found this info on Obscurae, which is also a good source of info.

Wear and Tear @ Unsmoke Systems

It's too late to see this show. I was lucky enough to be in Braddock the night that Wear and Tear closed at UnSmoke Systems. I was there to see Braddock's bread oven in operation, which was really cool. Iwish I could get out there more often. It was a great space with a very active arts community.

But, back to Wear and Tear. Gavin Kenyon and Heather Powell were setting up an iron pour for the closing. There was a group behind the building breaking up old radiators behind the school, in preparation for the pour. Watching this was interesting. I don't think learned anything. I just really enjoyed the spectacle. Check it out; near the end there's a great sparkly flare.



Powell's work ranged across a lot of mediums and themes. I love that, yanno? It shows a mind that is always questing. The work below, Snow Angel; Compose Energy, Refine Matter, presented more mysteries than resolutions. I very easily lost myself in its contours.



Leap the Boundless, Complete the Space, also by Powell. For as massive as this piece is, there was something sort of whimsical about it.



This two-panel piece by Kenyon was just so very violent. Titled Slash, the work oozed entrails all over red velvet. One of the people attending the exhibit mentioned that the work seemed vaginal. Yep, I thought. But still, Gavin Kenyon's work is generally violent, with a plethora of sharp objects. It was very disturbing.



Sorry about the glare in this image. Also by Kenyon.



Powell and Kenyon are very active artists, there will be other opportunities to see their work. So, if you missed Wear and Tear, keep your ears to the ground.

Review OF Swoon Show

By the way there was finally a well written and insightfull review of the Swoon show in the City Paper. From what I can see, that was about it in terms of coverage here.

"Stain and Swoon, derive their inspiration, and in which they define their creative practices. Put simply, they see the outside world of pedestrians and walls as a more potent display space for their ideas than the comparatively sterile pretenses of art patrons and the white cube. Swoon, in an interview with The New York Times, once said that outdoor display avoids the "quiet, boring preciousness" of the gallery world."

You can see very clearly in the show how much all three artists valued and loved the tragically sacred setting of Braddock.