Art @ The Pittsburgh Children's Museum: Tim Kaulen, One Great Blue

Since I don't have kids, I feel a little weird going to the Pittsburgh Children's Museum. Don't let that stop you, the museum is filled with all kinds art and large scale creative projects that might appeal to all ages.

We finally got there for the Pittsburgh Mini Maker Faire and didn't scope the whole place out.



You may have seen this large Tim Kaulen work at Space Gallery a number of years ago. It's found a permanent home in the Museum's entrance lobby.

Tim Kaulen Artist Of The Year Opening Tonight @ PCA

Finally, Tim Kaulen has been named the PCA's artist of the year. Tim has really made himself the city's defacto king of outdoor sculpture in spite of almost never receiving official commissions. Obviously, a lot of his work deals with and plays with the materials, history and scrap from the region's industrial past. He and other members of The Industrial Arts Co-Op have been placing temporary and often not exactly legal exhibitions of large scale sculpture in abandoned industrial sites in places like Akron, Ohio, Pittsburgh and even Fort Wayne, Indiana.

I tried to dig up a few videos that document a few of Tim's projects, the most amazing of which might be the Carrie Furnace deer. See a Gigapan of it here.



The Owl
Temporary Installation - Carrie Furnace
Rankin, Pittsburgh, PA (image from IAC site)

The Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, 2009 Artist of the Year Exhibition offers exciting challenges. It is my intention to propose an equally creative solution using elements of sculpture, both organic and architectural, recycled materials and objects, and the play between history and the contemporary world. I am honored to present the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and surrounding communities of Pittsburgh with the opportunity for the public to engage in outdoor sculpture and this historic setting at Mellon Park.

I wish to create a series or family of large-scale public sculptures using classic American wooden and tin toy designs as the central theme. The grounds of Mellon Park are an excellent option for this concept as it flanks environments where play or play-like activity occurs on a daily basis. A final, topiary element will be used to physically blend the structural geometry of the toy theme to the landscape itself, giving the pieces a slow but changing personality.

The relationship this particular site has to the 19th century urban industry lends itself to connecting with mechanical toys of that era in both a whimsical and celebratory manner. There is a natural fit and relationship between the two, the site and the concept, which will further be exemplified through the work itself as it celebrates the glorious past of Pittsburgh, the evolving present, and the exciting future of urban spaces and man-made elements fusing with the natural world.



Sign piece on construction site Penn Ave in Bloomfield 2005.

The 2009 PCA Artist of the Year, Tim Kaulen, and the 2009 Emerging Artist, Dylan Vitone, are the featured exhibits this fall at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts (PCA). Both shows are on view from September 25 through November 8. An opening reception will be held on Friday, September 25, from 5:30 – 8:00 pm. The reception is open to the public; a $5 donation is requested; free to members.

'In Full Bloom' thru May 12th

There's still time to see the downtown group show, "In Full Bloom," at SPACE Gallery, 812 Liberty Avenue, and I recommend it highly. Seen here are details from: (top two) Laura Jean McLaughlin, "Little Red"; Ashley Hodder, "Here Comes the Bride"; and Tim Kaulen, "Steel Heron #1" and "Steel Heron #2."

Through May 12th.
412.325.7723
Tues-Thurs. 11am-6pm
Fri/Sat 11am-8pm
Space Gallery Online

Flux Braddock

FLUX 14: Braddock
Saturday, April 14, 2007
8PM to 1AM
entrance located at the corner of Braddock Ave. and Library St.

A project of the Three Rivers Arts Festival in partnership with the Braddock Borough Council and the Mayor’s Office of Braddock

Artistic Direction by: Omar Abdul, DJ Brewer, Edgar Um Bucholtz, Michele de la Reza, Lea Donatelli, Curt Gettman/Unicorn Mountain, Chris Ivey, Patrick Jordan, Osman Kahn, Thad Kellstadt, Peter Kope, Merissa Lombardo, Lauri Mancuso, and Matthew Wellins

Featuring artwork and installations by: Beano, Jennifer Birch, Tony Buba, destroy/destroyer, Brian Dougherty, the Hospital Food project (featuring artists from the Ohringer Building), Chris Ivey, I.R.E., Tim Kaulen, Jennifer Lee, Mule Kicked Visions, New Guild Studios, Obsolete, Owl Kahol, Rivercubes ATM, Tom Sarver, James Simon, Joshua Space, and Andreas Tapias-Urzua

Performances by: Attack Theater, barebones Productions, Centipede E’ est, Charon Don & DJ Huggy, DBL D, Dutchmasters, Daryl Fleming & the Public Domain, Flotilla Way, Joy Ike, Jmalls, Lucid Music, Pandemic! Deejays, Nate the Phat Barber, Aesir St. James, Steel City Poetry Slam Team, and the Weakness

Sponsored by: The Richard King Mellon Foundation, The Heinz Endowments, Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development, the Henry John Simonds Foundation, Wall to Wall Studios, Penn Brewery, WYEP, Vincent Lighting, East End Food Co Op, B.P.O.E. Braddock Lodge #883, the A.J. Silberman Company and the Braddock Carnegie Library

Tickets $10 at the door cash only, $8 for students (with valid ID), Kids under 10 free
All door proceeds benefit participating artists.

Must be 21+ with valid id to purchase alcohol. Limited handicap accessibility.