9/10- 9/17 2014 Weekly Arts and Urbanism Roundup

Cleveland 

The Cleveland Museum of Art celebrates 25th chalk Art festival. (Cleveland.com)

The link between Northeast Ohio's flooding and its sprawl. (Streetsblog)

Akron

New loft apartments and Brew Pub planned for old Tire factory.

Other Ohio Arts and Urbanism News

Columbus Dispatch Writer cycling and blogging across Ohio.

Pittsburgh 

Pittsburgh poet, Terrance Hayes named MacArthur fellow. (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville neighborhood celebrates 200 years!  (Essential Pittsburgh)

Does the city's high self-esteem create new problems?  (Essential Pittsburgh)

Pittsburgh cyclists concerned about redesign of Schenley Drive in Oakland (Pittsburgh Post Gazette)

Artists from Mattress Factory discuss making it in Pittsburgh. (Pitt News)

Kurt Shaw reviews 2014 Pittsburgh Society of Sculptors annual @ Panza Gallery. (Tribune Review)

Pennsylvania DEP estimates there are 40 active underground coal fires burning across the state- including one under Pittsburgh Airport. (PA Independent)

West Virginia

Five free things to do in West Virginia in the fall. (Houston Chronicle)

Other Arts and Urbanism News 

Indiana campus police acquire massive amounts of surplus military gear (JC online)

The Bronx is booming with boutique and luxury hotels (New York Daily News) 

The new donut - decline of the inner ring suburbs. (Urbanophile)

"We can't have density there because there's not enough transit." (Human Transit)

How Germany's ban on Uber hurts the poor. (Business Week)

Others see Toronto as a success. Why don't we?  (The Toronto Star)

Europe's big airlines no longer want to fly in Europe. (Business Week)

Wisconsin's famous Amish and Mennonite, Kolona, cheese "factory" closes due to government regulations.

Art All Night 2014

Art All Night has been in the same place for the last few years; two blocks from my house. So, there's no excuse for me to not rouse myself and head over to soak up some ART.

The building is practically under the George Washington Crossing bridge, about 100' away from the shore of the Allegheny River. Sounds perfect until yo.u realize there's no immediate parking. Our little block was packed with cars all night! We had a steady stream of traffic all day during drop-off and all night as people came and went to see the show or listen to music. Or both. The building is part of what used to be a steel mill. It's huge, which is great because the crowds the event draws is pretty spectacular.

Since this is an open-hang, the work spans the range from amateur to practiced artist. It's also hung very quickly, with intake ending at 2pm and the event beginning at 5pm. The only delineations made are between adult content and everything else. So, the show is mounted by filling the boards as it arrives. You're apt to see a drawing by a middle-school student sharing space with a veteran artist.

It's fun to wander around, looking for familiar work, finding some work that is pretty spectacular, or something that was submitted by one of your neighbors. Which is exactly what happened last night. What was also surprising was that the quality of the work was actually pretty good, and so many local, practicing artists participate.

There were lots of opportunities for hands-on activities for everyone. One that I liked was a series of windows mounted on stands. You were invited to write all over them, and when they got to covered up, a volunteer came through and cleared the window. There were a couple of pop-tents and canopies that the kids were wandering through. I'm sure they had fun, but it was obviously too small for me!

The volunteers did an amazing job, putting this event together. All of the work was clearly labeled, which is a monumental task in itself! Getting the show installed must have been pretty wild. I know that the screens go up over a couple of days, and will take as long to come down. All of those that helped out are just the best art brigade! Congratulations to all of you on yet another successful edition of Art All Night.

The below gallery contains descriptions, in case you want to hear more!

Lawrenceville's Rock All Night doubles size to 20 venues & 70 acts

I love this kind of free form event that links existing venues more than a lot of giant festivals. It really connects one to the neighborhood by making one roam and discover.

From The Post Gazette

"A 16-hour free festival featuring more than 70 acts at double the venues (20). The goal of actually rocking all night hasn't panned out yet -- they're still looking for a place where they can do a rock 'n' roll breakfast from 2 to 6 a.m. -- but they're starting earlier with unlikely venues such as the Dozen Bake Shop, Embody Juice Bar and Wild Purveyors Market playing host to acoustic music at 10 a.m."

Venues include:

4 - 8 PM Arsenal Park concert
Neid's Hotel- Classic Rock
Thunderbird
Stinky's -Blues
Cattivo - Punk/Metal
Eclipse Lounge -Electronic/World Music
720 Records - Jazz/R&B
Hambones - Bluegrass
Arsenal Lanes (Bowling Alley)
Kopec's
Dozen Bake Shop-  Acoustic
Wild Purveyors Market- Acoustic

Also busking zones outside Rather Ripped Records and other places.

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Art All Night 2013 Highlights

Events included Live painting all night, Drawing from model, Cartooning all Night, Music & Dance Performances



Art All Night Parade




Perhaps more amazing and certainly more packed with work than I have ever seen it. These are just some of the things that caught my eye, that I was able to photograph.

More about Art All Night here:
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/ae/art-architecture/anything-goes-at-lawrencevilles-art-all-night-684862/

Laurie Trok: Words for Poems

Laurie Trok (photo credit to Garret Jones)

Laurie Trok's Words for Poems is romantic and seductive. The gallery was dim, with most of the light coming from small flashlights playing over the pieces. The opening was very active, with guests interacting with the works by playing light over the installed cut paper pieces. The delicate shadows distended and contracted across the walls, imbuing the space with subtle movement.

The scale of the works ranged from intimate to grand. One section of the gallery was installed with dozens of tiny pieces scattered across the wall. The interplay between light and shadow was fascinating in this installation. Shadows cast across the individual pieces seemed in the act of reaching but not quite touching, creating a tension of desire.

Each of the paper cut pieces are complex and delicate, curved and suspended, with an illusion of floating. The artist suggests that the viewing of the exhibit is best at night, but each permutation of light will emphasize different aspects of the exhibit. The paper cut pieces themselves are marvelously detailed, and in a more uniform light, the works will tangle in your eye.

Words for Poems is a very short run exhibit. The doors opened on Saturday and the show closes on Friday, January 25. Laurie will be sitting the gallery Tuesday and Wednesday to extend the gallery hours, and Fe Gallery has regular hours on Thursday and Friday. It's well worth the effort to get to the exhibit while there is an opportunity.

Additional images available

More info about this exhibit

FeGALLERY | 4012 Butler Street, Pittsburgh PA 15201 | 412-254-4038
Thu - Fri: 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Sat: 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Sun: 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm
www.fegallery.org

Legendary Rather Ripped Records, Born Again in Lawrenceville

How many Record Stores become famous album titles and how many of those are in Pittsburgh?

From The Post Gazette:

"Its owner is Russ Ketter, who grew up here on the South Side and left for the West Coast in 1969 to pursue a songwriting career. "Instead of going to Woodstock, I went to Berkeley that weekend."

He has no regrets about that.

He got a job at a record store called Leopold's and then moved across town two years later to open Rather Ripped, inspired by a stoned friend's description of his condition at a particular moment. The store was well timed with the punk scene that was about to explode in the mid-'70s.

"Everybody came through that store, the Clash, the Sex Pistols, the glam rock scene. As soon as The Police came to the U.S., they did an autograph party at our store" -- partly because drummer Stewart Copeland went to UC Berkeley."

The story seems amazing and worthy of a book: Patty Smith's first West Coast Performance- in the store came after Ketter wrote a letter begging her to play-- signed in his own blood

The store came to an end in 1980 after a terrible fire but the story hardly ended there.

Read all about it. http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/ae/music/rather-ripped-records-gets-a-new-life-in-lawrenceville-664074/

Rather Ripped will be opening up in a little storefront under Arsenal Lanes, and will sell a variety of records, CD's, Posters, Rock Collectibles, and vintage clothing-- from the source, so to speak.

Debut Novelist Reads in Lawrenceville Tonight

A reminder that tonight Jesus Angel Garcia comes to town on his 32-city book tour with his debut novel, Bad bad bad. His readings are multi-media and lean toward performance, so come out and enjoy the show, which opens with three local writers from Cyberpunk Apocalypse.

Garcia’s novel kind of blew me away, and I wrote a review of it on my small press blog:

Badbadbad draws on styles and themes from familiar stories and older literatures. The novel sustains the straight-talk trashiness of 20th Century pulp, the sex-romp identity games of Kathy Acker, and the dark inevitability of Giovanni's Room. But it considers an absolutely current societal malaise: the twin-headed hydra of selective isolation and social media addiction. In the process, badbadbad reveals a new brand of lust for life and a new kind of lost generation.
Read more: http://karenslibraryblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/book-review-bad-bad-bad-by-jesus-angel.html

Event Details:

Cyberpunk Apocalypse Presents:
JESUS ANGEL GARCIA
Monday, July 11th
Belvedere's Ultra Dive Bar
4016 Butler Street near 40th
7:00pm-10:00pm
$1-$5 suggested donation
with Cyberpunk Apocalypse readers:
*Art Noose, amazing zine maker, letterpress whiz, & storyteller
*Nate McDonough, comics king & GRIXLY publisher
*Gunner, exquisitely offbeat fiction writer & absurdist performer

Opening This Weekend: Art Exhibits

Opening TONIGHT 7-9 at Fe Gallery in Lawrenceville, "Cocoons and Mobile Homes". Work by Scott Turri (see above). I love this artist's work.

Also opening TONIGHT "Tar Baby Jane and Doo-Wop: Everything Useful for Your Modern Household Mercantile", a new exhibit by Vanessa German at 709 Penn Gallery, 6-8. Next week the artist will be doing an improvisational spoken-word performances at 709 at the July 16 Downtown gallery crawl. I have never seen one of her performances, so I hope I can get a space there next week....I think it will be jammed.

TOMORROW: The actual opening of Merge Divides (a writer for this blog) and David Grim's exhibit at Panza Gallery in Millvale (last Saturdays opening was actually a pre-opening). Lots of great work here. From City Paper:

If you don't think anyone uses phone books anymore, talk to David Grim. The artist's new exhibit Book of Life centers on more than 400 ink drawings he's made on phone-book pages. The show ("inspired by a childhood escape from religious conversion") opens tonight at Millvale's Panza Gallery. It runs alongside "Merge Divide," featuring photographs from Grim's photo blog of images from Pittsburgh's geographic neighborhood, called Crown of Appalachia. The opening reception is tonight. BO 6-9 p.m. Show runs through July 31. 115 Sedgwick St., Millvale. Free. 412-821-0959 or www.panzagallery.com

Also Tomorrow: Made in Lawrenceville at Be Gallery. This looks really interesting....
it is....just what it says. Includes paintings by yet another DP (ie Pgh. Ohio, Youngstown etc) blogger Susan Constanse, who does beautiful abstract paintings in oils.

On July 10th, be Galleries celebrates Lawrenceville's thriving artistic community with the opening of Made in Lawrenceville (You'd be Surprised to Know), an exhibition featuring a wide range of art, materials, handmade goods, and other works created exclusively in Lawrenceville. The show will also exhibit fashion and textile design, soap-making, clay, printmaking, as well as more traditional painting and sculpture. The materials portion of the show will be curated by Janice Donatelli of Artemis Environmental while the art portion will be curated by gallery owner Joy Borelli-Edwards. Come and experience the creative energy of Lawrenceville live and in person!
Date:
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Time:
6 p.m.-9 p.m.
Location:
be Galleries, 3583 Butler Street, Lawrenceville, PA 15201
Sponsored by:
be Galleries and Artemis Environmental Building Materials, http://www.begalleries.com/ http://www.artemisenvironmental.com/

Art All Night Seeks Volunteers: 2010 Venue, Pittsburgh Brewing Co

The event has grown since and always changes with the constraints of whatever empty building in Lawrenceville they are using for it but I think this video gives one a good idea of what this is all about. Always worthwhile and filled with that "I didn't know my neighbor was an artist", shock. About Art All Night.



Art All Night 2010 is looking for volunteers and you can signup online now! Job needs are listed below.

Before the Event If you would like to help before the event, we will be cleaning, preparing, and building out the site. We meet every weekend in April from 9-1 at the site.

At the Event If you volunteer for the event, we will schedule you for a 2 hour shift (4 hour for registration) from 1pm Saturday to 4pm Sunday. Some of the duties are:

•Registration: Register artists and check in their artwork.
•Hangers: Take the artwork from the registration tables and hang them on the display panels.
•Parking and Traffic: Help control the traffic by the building and the two parking lots.
•Minglers: Wear an event staff T-shirt so people can ask you questions, also keep an eye on the artwork.
•Fire Patrol: Patrol building to look out for fires.
•Bar: Check ID's, hand out beer, and collect donations.
•Food: Keep food out on the tables and collect donations.
•Art Sales Table: No sales take place, but man the table in order to write down name and contact information of interested buyers that we will give to the artist when they pick up their artwork after the show.
•Take-down: Remove art from the displays at the end of the show on Sunday at 2pm.
•Art Pick-Up/Check-out: Give art back to artists on Sunday.
•Tear-down: Take down the display panels, pack our supplies, and clean the building on Sunday afternoon.
•Thank you notes: Write notes and acknowledgements thanking people for various donations ($, the building, equipment, etc.) to the art show.

To Sign Up you can use our online signup here or email volhelp at artallnight.org (replace the at with the correct keyboard sign).

By the way, Art All Night is not just for Pittsburghers. Anyone can bring their eyes, ears and opinions and anyone from anywhere can bring art. Bring it on down. Onsite Registration: If you did not register online you can still bring your artwork and ID to the onsite registration table between noon and 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 24.

Or register online and check out the details.

If you have thoughts or insight you want to share about art, music, film, urban design, architecture, transit or history in the Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Youngstown, Erie, Morgantown, Akron, Canton region--Cleveburgh, email me diggingpitt@gmail.com

This is not Hyper Local media, but regional media seeking local viewpoints.

Reimagine The Leslie Park Pool

Ok, we all may remember the The Accordion Pool Party, an outpouring of energy last summer meant to get people thinking about the neighborhood's small outdoor swimming pool.

Now a series of meetings will be held seeking more input and ideas. I think this is from a letter being sent around.

"A pool again?" she writes. "A skate park? A spray park? A community arts center? The planning team wants YOU to share your dreams for the park site, and have a meaningful discussion and move forward. Everyone is welcome! Bring a neighbor, your teenager or grandparent. We want to hear from as many residents as possible!"

We all have our preferences but honestly-- I think pool works best but this is a sweet and potentially useful, well located and interesting space that could be adapted for an outdoor amphitheater or a skate park or perhaps allow many uses. But once again the root problem emerges of a lack of a good transit system capable of bringing the wider community there and the general lack of density in the neighborhood itself (related problems). Lawrenceville has a much smaller population than it once had.

Notice the somewhat threatening use of the term "residents", which is discouraging. Would a little input from a Bloomfield, Stanton Heights or Garfield resident be that out of line? I may be reading too much into that.

Read more on City Walkabout.

Physician, Heal Thyself

Don't know all the facts about this yet but it looks like a major county health department building may have a major health hazard on it's hands.

"The lead tests done by Ms. Ewall in the second and third floor offices of Building One found lead dust levels of up to 32,800 micrograms per square foot -- 150 times higher than the 250 micrograms per square foot that would trigger a remediation and cleaning recommendation in a residence. The highest lead dust level -- 337,000 micrograms per square foot or more than 1,300 times higher than the residential threshold -- was detected in August 2009 on a window sill in lead program's second floor office by Ms. Ewall's supervisor Jeff Jozwiak, who could not be reached for comment.

All the tests done by Ms. Ewall and Mr. Jozwiak were analyzed and reported by the Pennsylvania Health Department's Division of Chemistry and Toxicology laboratory in Exton, Chester County. She said a supervisor, Bruce Good, recently told her to stop doing those tests in Building One and elsewhere in the seven-building Clack Health Center complex."

Lawrenceville Accordion Pool Party@ Leslie Park Pool

One of the great things about Pittsburgh neighborhood's tenacious connection to the past is that can inspire some pretty innovative schemes.

Lawrenceville, the community that gave birth to Art All Night, roving free for all art show designed to highlight unused and abandoned spaces in the neighborhood, now is creatively trying to get bring back the Leslie Park community pool or at least get people to think about it.

"Deb Knox, one of the accordionists, a member of the Balkan Babes and the event manager, said the Accordion Pool Party -- open to the public for $5 a person -- is just a big event to get the neighborhood to start thinking about what it can make happen more permanently at Leslie pool, which has been closed for five years."

The pool party will include 18 accordion players, 30 costumed folk dancers, an African drum and dance group as well as a random array of other art projects.

Regardless of the ultimate fate of the pool, a get together like this has got bring many intangible positive results.


View Larger Map

Party runs from 3-7
Cost is $5
Location is off Butler @ around 46th Street, behind the Boys and Girls Club

Pittsburgh Weekend Art Events: 9/4-5/2009.

It's been awhile, so I thought I'd pop in with a hasty roundup of the many offerings the local art scene is rolling out this weekend. Forget about going out of town... you'll miss way too much if you do.

Friday

Unblurred is back again. Most Wanted Fine Art is celebrating with "Jon Howe vs Jason Sauer: MWFA 2-Year Anniversary". It runs from 6-10PM and offers discriminating viewers the chance to see bands like Grand Snafu, Fulmarine Petrels, and Das Black Milk. (*** Apparently, as Rick Byerly pointed out to me, although Most Wanted will be hosting a reception Friday night, the bands are actually playing on Saturday. Thanks Rick)

How do two artists get married? Apparently they build an installation piece. See artist interpretations of the union of Dave Bernabo and Lindsey Clark at Modern Formations @ 7PM. Also, stop by 5020 Penn Avenue for Harvest, a group show of illustrative painters who seemingly share an interest in the type of images found in Juxtapoz Magazine. There are some great images of the work (along with lots of other great stuff) over at Bitersweet Harvest.

And there's a new gallery at 3700 Butler Street in Lawrenceville. It's apparently called Fast<Lots of Pulp: Works on Paper Group Exhibition". The opening reception for this show is from 6-10PM. I'm having difficulty finding any information online, so you'll just have to stop by and see for yourself until we find out more details about who's behind this project.

*** I forgot to mention (thanks MW!) that my buddy Bob Ziller will be having his first jam session for the new Sprout-funded Pittsburgh Beautification Project. It's basically a painting party whereby participants will be able to color/paint templates, producing works that will be hanging all over abandoned buildings throughout the city. Bob will be down at the old Red Star building (4810 Penn Avenue) from 7-midnight. Check out more info here...

Also, check out Lucas Stock and Alison Pochapin at the "Philosophy Kings Art Show" (5131 Penn) from 7-10PM.

Oh my! Here's another--- Mia Tarducci Henry's paintings at Imagebox will be an absolute must-see.

Meanwhile Shadyside offers its own version of First Friday. Gallerie Chiz is still kicking, and hosting "The Pleasure of Their Company (Tom Nozum) & mirrors, miniatures, mugs & more (Ida Michaeli)". That runs from 6-9PM. And Steve Mendelson opens his annual Salon des Refuses. Based on a historical collection of rejects from a prestigious European art show from the beginning of last century, this is the gallery's (5874 Ellsworth Avenue) effort at honoring the stuff that doesn't make it into the big AAP show. Judge for yourself whether the curatorial decisions this year were merited or simply misguided .

Saturday

Experience Crafts N'at over at the Union Project, starting at 10 AM. There will be over 50 different artisans displaying and selling their wares in this fundraiser for Parkinson's Disease. This is an excellent opportunity to participate in the homegrown economy during these tough economic times. The only sweatshop victims are the crafters themselves!

Have a taste for a bit of the bubbly during the afternoon? Check out the "Art: East Meets West Champagne Reception" at the Michael Berger Gallery (their new location is 30 South Sixth Street, over on the South Side) at noon. The show features an international lineup of names you can't pronounce. How culturally sophisticated of you to show up...

And finally... stop by (6-10PM) the Panza Gallery in Millvale for Form of Fission, a collaboration between Pittsburgh Society of Sculptures, the Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators and Pittsburgh Poets.

Pittsburgh Weekend Happenings: 7/3-4/09

The great spectacle of the summer is upon us this weekend, and folks are finalizing their plans. I've asked myself what level of engagement I want with the outside world, and I've decided to make sure all of the signal lights on my car work. That being said, there is enough going on right here in the 'Burgh to compel me to stay close to home... so we'll see.

Friday

Do you want to know how the L-Ville got hip? Soul City Tours aims to tell you in their own walking tour of the Design Zone. Check out the upholstery store and the cupcake shop. Find 0ut what they consider a "Turkish Harem". And take a moment to spill a bit of brew for the long lost businesses that helped the neighborhood get where it is today (the Digging Pitt, Culpeppers, Ray's, La Vie, etc.). Make sure your guides show you where the ER Room is. You locals know what I'm talkin' about. The tour gets underway at 1PM. Call (412) 508-2942.

Contrary to my expectations, there IS a scaled-down version of First Friday Unblurred on Penn this month. And there is a handful of "must-sees". ARTica (5110 Penn) has Susan Constance, Michelle Gregio and a host of others. Garfield Artworks has Katie Jarrett, Jesse Best, and Masha Vereshchenko (etc.). And a definite highlight will be Through the Window with Sam Thorp and Carolyn Wenning at Most Wanted Fine Art (5015 Penn). Most of these events occur between 6 and 10PM, but show up at 7PM just to be safe.

Speaking of safe, Shadyside has their art walk Friday as well. I still can't understand why we can't stagger these monthly events instead of indulging in a pissing contest between hoods. WTF? Anyway, the Mendelson Gallery is featuring an opening for work by Ben Matthews & Alberto J. Almarza. There are some great promo images and a write-up at Bittersweet Harvest (a new blog dedicated to emerging artists in Pittsburgh- YAY!!). Also, you must stop in Gallerie Chiz (6-9PM, 5831 Ellsworth St.) for Laura Jean McLaughlin's Schlumpy Funk show. I feel like enough of an authority on the matter to say that she best embodies the virtues and attitudes as described in the manifesto of the same name.

Maybe a dance party is more your style. Brillobox has been bringing the good people Pandemic for several years, and for my money it's the most eclectic and interesting booty shake you'll find in town. Gypsy music, Brazillian Funk, and a whole lot of other stuff that will have you movin' even if you've never heard it before. Check it aht at 9:30.

The Big Butler Fair begins this weekend, and yes, it does have a demolition derby. See the link for details.


Saturday

Also, the Regatta is going on- but it sucks, so don't feel bad about pretending it's not happening. I blame it for the historical atrocities that happened at the Point during the last couple years. Find someone with a deck on the South Side slopes, and watch the fireworks from there instead. If you really need to see Three Dog Night in 2009, then I really can't help you anyway.

If you must give in to cliché and head to Mt. Washinton, I implore you to take a stroll down Shiloh Street and peep the "Art Marketplace". I don't know who is participating, but at least you'll be shopping local. It runs from Noon to Five (Sunday too), and includes bands.

Pittsburgh Weekend "Art" Events: 5/7-8/09.

If you were considering taking a roadtrip out of Pittsburgh, the upcoming weekend would be a nice time to do it. Not surprisingly (given the onslaught of diverse options last weekend) there isn’t a whole lot going on over the next couple of days. I suppose this will give you a convenient excuse to hang out with your mother. Just don’t mention the great abyss in the schedule to her, and it will be a pleasant surprise.

Anyway, I suppose it’s all for the good. I had a hell of a time narrowing the highlights a week ago. So here we go…

Thursday, Friday, Saturday

I don’t know much about dance, but I’m assuming the NewMOVES Contemporary Dance Festival at the Kelly-Strayhorn Performing Arts Center is worth a look-see over the next three days. From the little I’ve read about it, it seems to be an opportune chance to see a diverse selection of newer works by local choreographers. Dance Alloy, Attack Theater, Point Park and independents will all be represented. Check out the program HERE.

Friday

Every year the Mattress Factory calls in a guest curator to put together “Gestures: An Exhibition of Small Site-Specific Works”. This year is the 12th installment, and the pivotal figure behind it is Katherine Talcott. Previously Talcott was responsible for the Three Rivers Arts Festival visual arts program, and she has also selected work to show at the 937 Liberty Avenue Gallery downtown. There are 19 participating regional artists, including Kenny Marshall, Atticus Adams and Rise Nagin. It all happens at the annex (1414 Monterrey St.) from 7-9PM. It costs ten bucks (which seems a little steeper than usual) for the rabble, and free for Pitt and CMU students with ID.

If fundraisers are more your speed, you can check out two of them in the L-Ville Friday night. Both support the Lawrenceville Resource Fair and Community Celebration- an event to occur in the Allegheny Cemetery on the last Saturday of this month. The fun starts at the New Amsterdam (6-8PM), and continues at Remedy (10-2PM). These will cost you a few bucks for admission, but you’ll get the benefit of the sounds spun by local DJ superstars. No one’s asking for any super-sized sacrifices- do something for someone else for a change, and drink cocktails while you are at it.

Saturday

I don’t know about you, but I’ve always wanted to see the inside of a modern-day operating room without a bunch of bloody victims lying around. You can get a chance at Allegheny General Hospital this Saturday at 8AM. This is presented in part by the Association Of Perioperative Registered Nurses (AORN), the national association committed to improving patient safety in the surgical setting. For more information, call (412) 359-3808 or (412) 782-5439. They are even going to let you ask questions!!

After that, you might as well take in some sun (and good luck with that, my friend… I DID suggest a road trip, didn’t I?). The 12th Annual all-day Friendship Flower and Folk Festival is happening Saturday starting at 11AM. There will be lots of plants for sale, demonstrations, music, food, and raffles (why does anyone think those are a major draw?). It all goes down at Baum Grove (400 Roup Avenue). Come and find a healthy way to brown your thumb.

In the evening (6-9PM), make sure to visit Shawn Farester’s exhibition opening of sculptural pieces at Moxie Dada in the North Side (1416 Arch Street). The stuff’s made from metal and inspired by nature and “his interest in medieval times.” And Matt will likely be behind the bar, which in and of itself should be a major draw

Pittsburgh Art Events: 4/24-27/09.

This weekend there’s a time management workshop on offer down at Duquesne. I’m not going to offer you the details, but I will have you know that this talk would have been useful for fitting in all of the great events happening over the next several days. There’s so much to do that you probably won’t have time to listen to a lecture about scheduling. But if you find yourself amenable to the suggestion, have a quick scan over my picks…

Friday

To be honest, I have no idea whether or not the seasonal Downtown Gallery Crawl has morphed into this thing called “One Night Stand”… but it sure seems like the Cultural Trust is in the mood for a makeover. Several galleries in the Golden Triangle are hosting receptions with live entertainment on Friday, and it might be an efficient use of your time to drive around for 45 minutes or so and look for a proper parking spot. Mary Mack will be spinning to a backdrop of Czech photos at SPACE, Netherlands-based Telcosystems will appear to support the “at times visually violent, sonically extreme and physically intimidating” art displayed at Wood Street, and there will be spoken word by Brian Francis at Future Tenant. Apparently there’s an after party at Remedy in Larryville. It all (and more) gets underway at 7:30PM.

Perhaps you missed Tim Kerr’s opening at Zombo Gallery (4900 Hatfield Street) a few weeks ago? The closing is Friday from 6PM to around 10PM (or so). Take your time and read the words on his paintings. It seems like a bit of a risky choice to write directly on your visual work. But in this case, I found it rather inspiring.

The Brew House Distillery program annually offers emerging artists six-month residencies at their facility on 2100 Mary Street in the South Side. Stop by at Space 101 (from 7-11PM) for the opening reception starring the latest batch of home-grown creators. Just get out of that hood before the suburban tools start to flood in with their cheap beer piss and whiskey-muscles.

Friday/Saturday

My buddy Tom Henry is performing his wryly wacky form of comedy at the Improv in Homestead for a three night stretch (starting Thursday @ 8PM, with shows @ 8PM and 10PM on Fri and 7PM and 9PM on Sat), opening for national comic T.J. Miller. It’s $15 per show, plus money enough for the two drink minimum. Drop in and show support for the local jokester. If you don’t laugh at least once, then… well, um… then you’re a douchebag?!

Saturday

Ok, I haven’t really ridden a bike in years. But I do appreciate it when I see others doing so. That’s why I’m mentioning the pancake breakfast at the East Liberty Whole Foods on Saturday morning (8 AM). It’s $7, sponsored by the Community Design Center, and offers guests a chance to register for Pedal Pittsburgh. I can only speculate, but I imagine there’s nothing more pleasant than having a stomach full of griddle cakes expanding in your belly as you two-wheel up-and-down the hills of the ‘Burgh.

If you need to sit after your ride, stop by (11AM) at Fe Gallery in the L-Ville and find out “how art stuff happens” @ the Workshop for the Working Artist. It’s $5 (which should give you an essential clue in solving the thematic problem posed herein), and features local scenesters including Jennifer Baron, Susan Blackman, Eric Shiner, and T Foley. Then at 2PM you can check out the Ralph Munn Creative Writing Workshop, led by photo-essayist and memoirist Sandra Gould Ford, @ the Carnegie Library in Oakland. That one’s free.

Permit me to say that one of the major highlights this weekend should be the reception for the one-week run of CMU –grad Olga Brindar’s “Sketchbook Release: Moments and Minutiae” at the Panza gallery in Millvale (115 Sedgwick Street). I’ve been checking out her drawings for a few years now, and I’m excited for her first solo exhibition. Olga is a young artist who’s not afraid to put herself on display, and we are all the better off for it. It is imperative that you fit this into your Saturday agenda (6-9PM).

The aforementioned Remedy (5121 Butler St) is hosting an opening/reception (from 11PM-1AM) for their in-house muralist Emmeric Konrad. The theme is “Drawings Done in Bars & the Paintings They've Inspired”. Make sure to visit the dining room and learn what his art does for your appetite(s). Have their fine cooks make you somethin’ good while you are at it. I recommend most everything.

Saturday/Sunday

Art all Night, Pittsburgh’s premiere non-juried visual and auditory extravaganza starts at 6PM on Saturday night and runs until Sunday @ 2PM. It’s a Lawrenceville annual tradition, and takes place at the Red Warehouse (3510 Smallman Street) this year. According to the “official” numbers, last year saw 810 participating artists and attracted over 10,000 guests. Get there early for parking and refreshments. And if you want to display your work, drop off is Saturday afternoon (Noon-4PM). See the website for all the details you need. And yes… it’s all free.