Plans In The works To Transform Historic Youngstown Building Into A Boutique Hotel

Have to get back to Youngstown soon and really check it out. For a place that was absolutely flat on it's ass, a lot of low key positive things seem to be happening there exploiting the richly historic and well designed downtown and a good synergistic relationship with Youngstown State University.

Developer Envisions Wick Building as Hotel

"Out-of-town visitors to the Youngstown Business Incubator, the university, and to venues such as the Covelli Centre have no choice but to stay in the suburbs because of the lack of guest lodging downtown, Marchionda said.

"The initial reports suggest there's a need for more rooms than we first intended to build," he elaborated. Just how many rooms the new hotel would provide remains under study. "We're moving aggressively to do what we want to do there -- build a boutique hotel," the developer said.

Marchionda said the new hotel would be similar to Glidden House in Cleveland, an upscale hotel on the campus of Case Western Reserve University. "It would be an independent operation run by a group that invests in these types of things," he said, not a chain. "They would be an owner/operator and partner with us."

Should all go according to plan, Marchionda said he could proceed on the project over the "next few months," and begin work in earnest during the first quarter of 2012."

One problem that usually comes up with hotels on historic urban blocks is that the need for parking often results in tearing down one or more neighboring buildings--as is proposed for the planned renovation of East Liberty's Highland Building-and almost every hotel renovation in Detroit.

Simply Slavic, Pan Slavic Festival in Youngstown Today

This is a cool idea-Youngstown is having a festival celebrating the food, beer, music, art of Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bulgaria, The Czech Republic, Russia, Poland and The Ukraine.

12 noon-8 PM in downtown Youngstown Followed by The Slavic Disco

For more info

Chicago Area Companies Rethink The Corporate Campus & Move Back Into Downtown

A few of the very large old school cities-mostly Chicago and New York have begun to draw back many more of the corporate headquarters that left for suburban campuses. (In NY, this has been going on for a long time)

From Crain's Chicago Business

Today, Sears Holdings Corp. and AT&T Inc. are looking to escape their compounds in northwest suburban Hoffman Estates. A shrunken Motorola has space to let in Schaumburg. Sara Lee Corp. eyes downtown office space after less than a decade in Downers Grove. Companies from Groupon Inc. to GE Capital hire thousands in Chicago while their suburban counterparts shed workers.

All reflect changes in the corporate mindset that spawned the campuses dotting outer suburbia. Empire-building CEOs from the 1970s through the 1990s craved not only cheap real estate but total control of their environments. They created self-contained corporate villages that cut off employees from outside influences.

As the 21st century enters its second decade, many companies are discovering the drawbacks of the isolation they sought. Hard-to-get-to headquarters limit the talent pool a company can draw on and feed a “not-invented-here” insularity that ignores major shifts in industries and markets.

Interestingly, companies and some of their investors are starting to connect suburban settings with a lack of innovation.

Another major factor is that in an era of leaner freelance work environments being tapped into a deep pool of potential workers, contractors and suppliers that central urban areas can provide is ever more important. One also can cut costs by not having to provide cafeterias, gyms and other services to replace the normal services of a city.

Potential employees are making similar calculations in reverse about the potential to find a new job in more remote suburban locations and finding it wiser to locate where the largest number of employers are.

One big problem with these very specially designed and isolated campuses designed around a single company is that they are often very hard to fill if that company shrinks or leaves.

Building an attractive city and a large broad base of small companies can help attract the big ones. Google now has it's second largest offices in NYC and has located next to a company it bought, DoubleClick.

So far, this trend has not happened strongly in many other cities-partly because real urban locations with substantial advantages over office parks are rare. It's a "Catch-22" situation-The city lacks enough density, diversity and energy to have a big network of companies and it can't build up any energy cause 60% of the land area is for parking.

More links

Chicago area businesses looking to move from suburban campuses.

Are the Millennials Driving Downtown Corporate Relocations?

Images Of Old Industrial New York

Industrial Queens



Industrial Brooklyn

Many say you can't compare, NYC with Pittsburgh because New York has no industrial past.

In fact--Every major city in the era before modern transport and refrigeration had a large industrial component--ports where cargo was laboriously off loaded by hand, local factories, slaughterhouses, Breweries and hundreds of local warehouses.

New York was of course, the nation's primary port until the early 1960's and it's leading area for shipbuilding, which was very much a heavy industry. It also was a leading manufacturing area for garments, jewelry, toys, electrical components and many other products.

The neighborhoods of NY, with the closest resemblance to Pittsburgh are on the Brooklyn and Queens waterfront, where long before the subways were built, dense clusters of worker housing sprung up around the ports and factories.

Until about early 1980's Manufacturing still accounted for over a half million NY jobs-a number that today is much, much lower. The city's efforts to protect many former manufacturing districts through strict zoning codes, have only very recently changed. Almost all of New York's famous art districts grew up illegally in these former industrial or warehouse areas.

These are a few shots I took around these now very rapidly changing areas in Queens and Brooklyn.

(FYI--Blacks and Puerto Ricans did not originally migrate to NY "to collect welfare", but to find work mostly in New York area factories.)

Will The Pittsburgh Biennial Get Much National Press?

Finally, a number of major cultural venues, The Warhol, The Carnegie Museum, The Warhol, Pittsburgh Filmmakers and CMU's Miller Gallery are collaborating on a large scale exhibit project similar to what I have long advocated on here.

"We are quickly becoming one of the most dynamic art communities in America, and the Pittsburgh Biennial is going to prove that Pittsburgh is a place that cherishes and supports the arts," says Warhol curator Eric Shiner.

Highlighting a broad spectrum of works and providing increased recognition for more than 60 of the region's top artistic talents, the survey-style show features everything from 2-D work, installation and sculpture, to time-, interactive- and process-based works.

Pittsburgh Filmmakers will dedicate its galleries to a presentation of media arts, while works on view at The Miller Gallery will examine the city's long labor history as well as CMU's legacy of presenting courses that explore the social role of art in public contexts. Featured at the Miller will be collectives and artists who work collaboratively in socially engaged ways, such as in publishing, installation, art education, new media, performance, and printmaking."

Finally, many of the best artists in the city brought together in the kind of large scale show that should allow each to really show off what they are doing.

Now comes the next question--will anyone beyond the immediate Pittsburgh region know about or care about this show? Well, on a positive note-since the show has a somewhat broader definition of a "Pittsburgh artist" and has included several people who no longer live here full time, at least one NY dealer I talked to knew about it.On the negative side, the absence of any artists from a wider region-means that those places have no particular need to pay attention.

I think the show will receive limited out of town coverage and that very little of the wider contact, dialog and recognition will develop. Pittsburgh is like the irritating date who only talks about themselves. My guess is Pittsburgh Foundations and other large funders are behind some of this extreme introversion. They are not doing any serious Pittsburgh artist any favors.

Green Thinking Needs To More About Neighborhoods Than Buildings

Up until very recently, the whole LEED certified green building thing looked and smelled like a bit of a racket to me.

The biggest flaw in LEED is measuring buildings without looking at the context they fit into which is why many of them sit in parking lots with no transit access--or in areas exclusively zoned for single uses-where you will have to get in a car to get a cup of coffee.

This year standards have come out to better evaluate neighborhoods.

First launched as a pilot program in 2009, LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND) was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), in cooperation with the Congress for New Urbanism and the Natural Resources Defense Council, to reward environmentally conscience neighborhood design. The new standards sought to encourage the creation of places that protect fragile land, lower energy use and emission creation, and limit waste. The three umbrella standards which the USGBC ranks new projects;

1) Smart Location and Linkage,

2) Neighborhood Pattern and Design,

3) Green Infrastructure and Buildings;

all seek to create a benchmark for area development. The Smart Location and Linkage standard focuses on limiting newly developed land, rejuvenating brownfields; while conserving bodies of water, erosion susceptible land, animal habitats, and agriculturally rich soil. It encourages the creation of neighborhoods that promote dense and well connected areas that support pedestrian and bike traffic. Neighborhood Pattern and Design focuses on the infrastructure choices made within the community that reduce the carbon footprint created by residents in their day to day lives. And Green Infrastructure and Buildings, much like LEED’s original green building code, uses passive and active designs and tools to reduce water waste, improve energy efficiency, and lessen infrastructure’s environmental impact.

Copied with links kept.

Location. The centers of regions and older suburbs perform better than the fringe, even if other factors are held constant.

Connected streets. A well-connected street network (featuring smaller blocks and lots of intersections) shortens travel distances and makes walking more feasible and pleasant. It is the single most important determinant of how much walking will take place in a neighborhood and the second most important determinant (after location) of how much driving will take place.

Places to go. A mix of conveniences such as shops, schools, and places to eat and socialize encourages walking, promotes fitness and health, and reduces emissions from driving.

Ways to get around. The more transportation choices, the better. If you’re lucky enough to be within walking distance of rail transit, for example, the number of automobile trips during rush hours can be up to 50 percent lower than what would otherwise be expected under standard engineering forecasts.

Density. As I have said before, it doesn’t necessarily have to be high density to reduce driving and watershed-damaging pavement per household. We see substantial improvements in performance as we move from large-lot sprawl even to ten homes per acre; beyond 40 to 50 homes per acre, we continue to see improvements, but at reduced increments. Moderate density helps a lot.

Green stormwater infrastructure. While runoff per household goes down in denser neighborhoods, runoff per acre can go up unless mitigated. Green infrastructure, when in the form of publically accessible green spaces, can also bring an array of additional benefits to a neighborhood.

In my opinion-real green building certification should give at least equal weight to the buildings context as to the building itself -which is why almost all the buildings, in a walkable, transit oriented place like Manhattan are more than half way to an A.

National Geographic Traveler Includes Pittsburgh On List Of Six Best Cities To Kayak

A lot of lists out there seem bogus, but this one naming Pittsburgh as one of the most interesting and beautiful urban areas to Kayak rings true. The city has yet extract full value from most of it's waterfront.

Did you know you can kayak down the Chicago River in the heart of The Loop?

Supersize NYC, Apartment Buildings Scale Up

When you live in a city or visit often, it's hard to notice how rapidly things are changing. NYC used to always have a whole lot of apartment buildings, averaging between 12 and 25 stories with a relatively small number of really tall ones. Even so by looking at the skyline one could usually know with confidence that most of the tallest buildings of 30 stories and up were office buildings, located in the two main office districts--downtown and midtown. Also, many large areas were mostly made up of much smaller residential buildings. In the last 15 years or so this has radically changed with a new emerging skyline in which both apartment and office buildings regularly top 40 stories.

Spotting the apartments is somewhat easy, since most of these new buildings have tall needle like forms or other tricks meant to maximize window space as opposed to office buildings in which large block floor plans are more desirable.

There are two main factors, the first being that Manhattan as basically the only urban area with a fully supported high capacity subway system and mostly unbroken street grid is just seeing a massive amount of demand.

Another factor is that city government in the Bloomberg era has made a concerted effort to maximize development and tax revenue per dollar of transit investment.

The sum total result is a city that is both increasingly anti car, pro pedestrian and pro growth at the same time. Similar things are happening in the outer boroughs, but the story there is more complex.

Part of Historic Strip Produce Terminal To Be Taken Down

Plans are in the works by the owner of the iconic wholesale produce market on Smallman Street to tear down about a third of the building as part of a larger plan to better connect the Allegheny River waterfront.

It (Buncher) is seeking to tear down a section of the terminal between the 16th Street Bridge and 17th Street, or about 528 feet of the 1,478-foot-long building.

Even as it described the terminal as a "Pittsburgh icon," the URA argued that its length and unbroken nature "inhibits the development of the Allegheny River frontage."

"The combination of the terminal and the 16th Street Bridge creates barriers that limit redevelopment of the area to the 'gated community'-type project, and reduce the opportunity for public access to the river," it wrote in its application to the state.

"Removing a block of the produce terminal allows the riverfront connection, and allows the new development of the riverfront parcel the visual and physical connection to the rest of the city that will allow the new development the greatest chance of success."

Plans for the property include constructing a 75 unit residential building as well as offices and retail. The existing-Pittsburgh Public Market which now occupies the space would move to the remaining part of the building.

Generally, I strongly support the plan. People need to appreciate history while being honest about the current Strip which does not work very well for wholesalers (who originally depended on rail terminals) or support thriving retail beyond very limited hours.

Developing a more normal street grid and integrating the Strip better with the river and the Downtown will improve both by making the area more dense and accessible to pedestrians. When will Buncher start to do the same thing with the hideously ugly superblock buildings it owns on Liberty Ave?

More Bushwick Street Art

The last of the images I took of Street Art in Bushwick, Brooklyn last week during an open studio weekend.

Be back with more thoughts and posts which hopefully will be relevant. Cleveland, in particular has large masses of the building types that make up Bushwick, and is starting to develop the kind of organic mixed use buildings many creatives crave.

Some Bushwick Street Art

Bushwick reminded me of Williamsburg, in perhaps the early 1990's, where the scene mostly made up of hundreds of artists studios, pop up galleries and hit and run parties wasn't obviously visible.

A big clue as to the underlying energy is the mass of high quality street art--something increasingly very rare in the rest of the city or at least Manhattan.

Pittsburgh Urban Chicken Coop Tour Tomorrow

Finally some of the rules about small scale urban farming in Pittsburgh city limits are now clear enough for people to come out of the closet/coop and show off what they have been doing raising chickens and bees in the city and offer advice.

From The Post Gazette

Earlier this year, Pittsburgh City Council enacted legal guidelines for chicken and bee keepers. Simply -- with restrictions on rendering and conditions about food storage and cage size, location and security -- the law allows three chickens and two beehives for every 2,000 square feet of property. One more of each is allowed for each additional 1,000 square feet.

Now that that's all settled, the group that got together to advocate for a progressive city ordinance has stayed together to advocate for the lifestyle and to give people a taste of it.

On Sunday, the first Pittsburgh Urban Chicken Coop Tour, aka "Chicks in the Hood," will focus on East End and North Side neighborhoods, where the bulk of keepers are known to be, from 9 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Tour Tickets are 5 dollars--which goes to The Pittsburgh Community Food Bank's Urban Agriculture Programs. Children can tour for free.

Purchase tickets and the included tour map at...

The Quiet Storm (In Friendship)

Tazza D'Oro (In Highland Park)

Crazy Mocha, 2 East North Ave. (North Side)

Tickets will also be sold at 7665 Lock Way West (at the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Allegheny River Boulevard), Highland Park

There's also a Facebook Group

Discover Cleveland's Gordon Square Arts District Tomorrow

Cleveland has a lot of places that remind me of Bushwick, with lots of grit on the surface and energy beneath locked away in large buildings--or seemingly disconnected until you take a closer look.

Tomorrow might be a good day to check out the emerging Gordon Square area on the West Side.

This Saturday, June 11, the Detroit Shoreway neighborhood will be rolling out the carpet to visitors when it hosts Discover Gordon Square Arts District Day.

Taking place from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Detroit Avenue between W. 54th and W. 69th streets, the family-friendly event will include live music, classic cartoons in the Capitol Theatre, performances by CPT and Near West, local food, beer and fun.

2011 Pittsburgh Biennial.

The big event this weekend is the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts Biennial. In addition to its main location (Shady and Fifth Avenue), additional work will be presented at the Carnegie Museum of Art (reception June 16), Pittburgh Filmmakers, The Warhol (reception Sept. 17) , and the Miller Gallery (CMU, reception Sept. 16).The opening reception at the PCA runs this Friday night from 5:30 to 9PM, and Filmmakers picks it up from 8- 11PM. The curatorial staff for this is impressive- Eric Shiner, Astria Suparak, Dan Byers, and Adam Welch. The roster of artists includes Jacob Ciocci (Paper Rad), Paul LeRoy, Chris Kardambikis, Ben Hermstrom, Kim Beck and others. I'm certain it costs money.

June Unblurred

Last week, I posted about Box Heart's 11 Anniversary exhibit. This week, I want to talk a bit about Modern Formation's 10th Anniversary exhibit, ret·ro·spec·tive. From the site --

The anniversary exhibit will feature works from Modernformations private collection and artwork and exhibit documentation from the artists below (see site). Also on display will be documentation and information about significant events during our 10 years – from poetry readings to concerts, film showings to dance, plays to fundraisers, and many other unique gatherings.

It was entirely too crowded to take pictures on Friday evening, but it is an amazing exhibit and lives up to the description. Both Modern Formations and Box Heart make significant contributions to the Pittsburgh art community, mounting exceptional exhibits on a regular basis. Definitely check out these celebratory exhibits while you can.

ret·ro·spec·tive
Modernformations Gallery and Performance Space
4919 Penn Avenue Pittsburgh Pa 15224
Thursdays 7pm - 9pm
Saturdays 1pm - 4pm or by appointment


Olwyn Best - Door Open Door Closed

It was a really active night at the Irma Freedman Center. There is an excellent exhibit of Olwyn Best's paintings mounted in the front gallery. Her work, as she describes it, is spiritual in nature.

“I ask the Great Unseen...Visions and Dreams”
Paintings by Olwyn Best
June 3rd- July 1st, 2011
The Irma Freeman Center for Imagination
5006 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224
412-924-0634
Gallery Hours: Saturdays and Sundays 2 - 5 PM or by appointment

Also at the Irma Freedman Center was
Yamoussa Camara and Camara Drum and Dance. Highly energetic and very, very fun. Especially the crowd watching.


Yamoussa currently resides in Pittsburgh, PA where he teaches dance at Carnegie Mellon University, is on the Culturally Responsive Arts Education (CRAE) Teaching Artist Roster for the Pittsburgh Public Schools, teaches drum and dance workshops for children and adults, and performs with various ensembles in addition to his own ensemble Camara Drum and Dance.

I also stopped in to say hello to Christine Bethea at Artica. Check out that great cabinet behind Christine. It's really fabulous!

New York Likely To Win Back UBS, Affirming The City's Strategy To Focus On Residents--First.

In recent years, NYC has more than got it's groove back as a home for corporate headquarters as more firms find the city's central convenience to more than offset other costs. Even more important in recent years has been that large numbers of their best employees and prospects want to live in or closer to the city.

“A key piece of the mayor’s economic strategy has been to make New York City a place people want to be,” Deputy Mayor Robert K. Steel said, “and more than ever the city is the ideal location for any company, like UBS, that succeeds by attracting a talented, motivated work force.”

A UBS trader in his 20s said that like many of his peers at the firm, he would have preferred a job in New York City, where he lives.

“I mean, it’s annoying,” said the trader, who asked that his name not be used because he was not authorized to speak about the possible relocation. “I take Metro-North. I live pretty close to Grand Central, so it’s not a terrible commute. But it’s not ideal.” The trip takes about 45 minutes to an hour, depending on how many stops the train makes."

How could Stamford lose with an awesome attractive asset like I-95 slicing the city in half--and all those super attractive parking garages? Yuk!

To be honest, the city still does lose some back office space to suburban locations--but other departures tend to be towards the New Jersey waterfront, which is much more like an urban, transit oriented extension of the city itself.

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" First Exhibit of Unsmoke's New Season

The first exhibihit of Unsmoke Systems season (which goes from now til the cold weather starts)opened Saturday. It did indeed feel like a house warming party....maybe in a house with some unusual objects, but homey...and with lots of interesting visual riffs on the topic of home. This included a board in which people were asked to rate the most important things they do at home, and how enjoyable they were (or not). Going to the small upstairs area was quite a surprise (this area is usually not used for exhibits)and finding a very well-appointed kitchen and exhibit attenders at a dining table in a dining room. They looked like they had been invited weeks ago, Thought provoking and playful.
The exhibit is open by appointment only. Contact Laura Marsico at laura.marsico21@gmail.com Also note that John did a post before the exhibit, see below.

If You Are In NYC, Check Out The Bushwick Open Studios

So far my trip to NYC, has shown a city doing well, curating and exhibiting the work of famous dead and living established artists--but not so well keeping the energy in it's living arts community.

The grand exception two this rule is now the 5 or so square mile area of Brooklyn including eastern Williamsburg, Bushwick, Ridgewood and Bedford-Stuyvesant where the arts community may be making it's last stand at least as a large connected, organic entity.

350 artists studios and alternative galleries in this area will be open through the end of Sunday.

Bushwick Open Studio Website.

In Case You Don't Have Enough To Do This Weekend...Great Highland Park Yardsale

See posts by John and Merge below about the plethora of arts events this weeekend. Then on Sunday it is the Great Highland Park Yard Sale. And it is truly great. THe sale has a relatively low profile advertising wise...I always make it a point to not miss it by checking for the sale dates sometime in May. Here are the details...note 130 households! STARTS AT 9 AM

Annual Great Highland Park Yard Sale
For more than 20 years
Sunday, June 5th
130+ Homes
Bargain Opportunities Abound
Held in conjunction with the Bryant Street Festival
Maps and listings available the morning of sale at:
Negley & Hampton St.
Highland & Stanton Ave.
Tazza d'Oro
Stanton-Negley Pharm.
Bryant Street Market

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.

Box Heart: 11th Anniversary

Sonja Sweterlitsch

Box Heart has mounted its annual Anniversary Exhibit, showcasing new works by gallery artists. The show is carefully curated, with an eye for contemporary expressions and fine work.

Box Heart represents a very diverse group of artists, whose practices span formal painting through visionary assemblage. Sonja Sweterlitsch (see above) demonstrates fine control in her portraits; the gallery has severl samples of her work. Tate Hudson's work (see below) was particularly compelling. The surface is rich in layered texture, images and mark shifting across the long format.


Tate Hudson

There are some beautiful and compelling works on display. Box Heart, luckily, documents their exhibits very well and has mounted a slideshow that gives a great tour of the gallery. If you would like to see more of the artists represented by the gallery, check the slideshow for Au Courant. The catalog is available on line. Congratulations to Box Heart on bringing eleven years of their extraordinary vision to the Pittsburgh community.

Although the list doesn't include every artists that is represented by Box Heart, the list is extensive and impressive --

- Kuzana Ogg - Thomas Bigatel - Keith Garubba - David Nelson - Tate Hudson - Gail Beem - Crista Pisano - Robert Bishop - Mark Loebach - Nadim Sabella - Christine Wuenschel - Jackie Hoysted - Shawn Watrous - Lyn Ferlo - Sonja Sweterlitsch - V. Mann - Toby Kreidler - Jason Shorr - Joshua Hogan - Isabelle Garbani - Victoria Goro Rapoport - Kyle Ethan Fischer- Chung Fanky Chak - Sherry Rusinack - Adam Kenney - Seth Clark - George Kollar - Tony Cacalano - Alex Lobus - Sherry Rusinack

May 24 - June 18, 2011
11th Anniversary Exhibition
Group Exhibition and Celebration!
Box Heart Gallery
4523 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15224
Gallery Hours:
Tuesdays: 11 AM - 6 PM
Wednesdays - Saturday: 10 AM - 6 PM
Sunday: 1 PM - 5 PM

Pittsburgh Weekend Arts Events: 6/3-4/11.

Friday

It should be a nice night to stroll along Penn Avenue and take in the sights and sounds of Unblurred. The highlight of this month's event is SURE to be Modern Formations' Retrospective, featuring a selection of work from some of the many outstanding artists that have appeared at the gallery (4919 Penn)over the last ten years. They include Mike Budai, Andy Kehoe, Ben Kehoe, Rick Byerly, and Masha Vereshchenko.

David Matthews appears at Garfield Artworks with an exhibit documenting his performance art project (1995-2002) whereby he posted advertisements in which he claimed to be seeking a girlfriend. Alongside this work are a collection of his drawings called "Profitable Cute Kid".

Erick Brockmeyer and Kuan Ju are at work with low level electronbics at Assemble (5125 Penn), and Brian James Gonnella shows his paintings at ImageBox (4933 Penn). You can also see a decade of drawings by Cameron Clayton at The Shop (4312 Main Street, Bloomfield) from 7-11PM. Gabe Felice opens up the "Blurred Series" (curated by Dean Cercone) at 4810 Penn. Weekly installments follow throughout the summer. And as always, there is plenty of other stuff to discover just by showing up and walking up and down the street.

If you want to venture to another part of town, you can stop by Silver Eye (1015 East Carson Street, South Side) for their first annual Pennsylvania Photography Biennial, Keystone.1. There will be 16 photographers from all over the state participating, and the reception runs from 6:30-8:30PM. And it's FREE.

Also- check out the release (finally) of Black Forest. The Andy Warhol Museum will be officially rolling out the third collection of Unicorn Mountain artists with a bit of fanfare, as a part of their Good Friday series (6-10PM).

Saturday

Gallery 4 (206 S. Highland, Shadyside) is featuring "Wunderball", an exhibition of sculpture and paintings by Anthony Purcell. The opening reception starts at 7PM.

AND don't forget the Three Rivers Arts Festival starts this weekend. I'm not going to point out any highlights... just check out their site HERE for your favorites.

Giant Teddy Bear Public On Park Ave

Came across this huge sculpture on Park Ave and 53rd St, which is there temporarily and interestingly--is for sale.

Personally, this openly capitalist merger of public art and the marketplace doesn't bother me at all and only reflects the city's prime role as a grand theater to display anything. Also, the work is just weird enough to take the edge off a building that's more than a little too full of itself.

The guard standing by it adds just the right touch of strange. Did this thing sell?

Big Box Retail In an Urban NY: Can A City Have Both?

This post may irritate many old school New Yorkers and traditional urbanists who decry the growing chain store and large scale retail trends in NYC. These images may dispel the myth that a city can't really have a normal, urban, walkable street grid and attract large scale retail chains.

Not every major chain operates in Manhattan--Costco, Ikea, Target and Walmart are at this time only in the outer boroughs or New Jersey. However, there is at least one major K Mart at Astor place, and chains like Staples, Barnes and Noble, Best Buy, Marshalls, TJ Max, H&M and Whole Foods are very common in the city. There is even a large Home Depot in a beautiful historic building in the heart of Chelsea. Add to this many locally famous stores with large scale formats like B&H Photo, Pearl Paint, Zabars, Fairway, Utrecht, The Strand Bookstore and ABC Carpet and Home.

A great strength of New York has been to make people and retailers adopt to it's urban nature-love it or leave it. Pittsburgh, currently seems a bit too ecstatic to see any major retail at all in the heart of some it's most critical areas--like East Liberty and downtown. The issue as we see it --is retail or housing or offices. Why not create the kind of dense mixed use buildings which combine many uses like we see in these pictures? Perhaps, then we would need fewer cars to get from one place to another.

P.S. There are no parking garages in the back, under or across the street from these buildings.

When Did New York Become New York? The Street Grid

Many, if not most think New York's huge, deep, wide harbor and early founding ensured it's spot as a great city; but clearly things could have gone quite differently. The cosmopolitan and highly convenient character of at least, Manhattan is the product of a far sighted design-conceived just a little over 200 years ago.

From The New York Times,

"The grid certified by the city’s street commissioners on March 22, 1811, spurred development by establishing seven miles of regular, predictable street access. It also laid the groundwork for nearly 2,000 acres of landfill that would be added to the island over the next two centuries. The commissioners concluded that New York “is to be composed principally of the habitations of men, and that straight-sided and right-angled houses are the most cheap to build and the most convenient to live in.”

The grid, which incorporated some existing roads, would also prove surprisingly resilient. It accommodated motor vehicles (after sidewalks and stoops were pruned). It allowed planners to superimpose Central Park in the 19th century and superblocks like those of Stuyvesant Town and Lincoln Center in the 20th. In the 21st, the grid was extended west to include apartment houses on Riverside Boulevard."

Again--you might consider this a "duh moment"--the grid concept was very ancient, perhaps dating to the very first cities. "The urban grid goes back beyond Hippodamus of Miletus, the Greek urban planner, who, like the street commissioners, viewed the matrix as a manifestation of “the rationality of civilized life.” New York’s grid inspired planners elsewhere. But nowhere, wrote Edward K. Spann, an urban historian, “was the triumph of the grid as decisive as in America’s greatest city.”" Manhattan's long shape and reasonably flat landscape also suggested this layout.

One is struck, walking around Manhattan at just how few times the simple structure of the grid is violated--usually for a very good reason- a large public building like The Central Library; Grand Central Station; the old Penn Station or parks. Even in these cases, almost all these buildings or parks are easily traversed by footpaths.

The grid places the resident's ability to navigate and interact above the needs of the occasional visitor--who can always use public transit. This has limited Manhattan as a location for certain very large research facilities and has restrained the fantasies of architects, but it has provided widest degree of social interaction and the highest degree of convenience to New Yorkers.

Weapons Of Mass Creation Festival In Cleveland Brings Together Designers, Bands In Free Form Festival

From Freshwater

Equal parts conference, art exhibit and music festival, Weapons of Mass Creation is the brainchild of Jeff Finley, a partner in the Cleveland-based agency Go Media. He launched the gathering last year as a way of uniting the local creative community.

"We want people to come to Weapons of Mass Creation to share their ideas," Finley explains. "Most are designers or work in the industry in some way."

This year's Fest features a line-up of 20 speakers, 20 designers and 20 bands, who will fill the two days and nights with compelling thoughts, images and sounds. Talks will be held at Gordon Square's Reinberger Auditorium, exhibits at Wall Eye Gallery, and bands at Happy Dog.

The WMC Fest website

Where: Cleveland, OH in the Gordon Square Arts District on Detroit Ave.

Admission: $5-$15/day

Speakers:
Reinberger Auditorium
5209 Detroit Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44102
NOON-8pm, $10/day

Art/Design Show:
Wall Eye Gallery
5304 Detroit Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44102
NOON-8pm, FREE Admission

Bands:
Happy Dog
5801 Detroit Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44102
NOON-11pm, $5/day

Anybody going to or checking this thing out? Really looks amazing.

Stettheimer Doll House, A Great Look At New York's Cosmpolitan Upper Class

The Museum Of the City Of New York is an under visited gem on upper Fifth Ave, which in spite of undergoing renovations offered lots of surprises--and seemingly no opposition to picture taking. I didn't go expecting to run into an artifact attached to one of my new favorite artists-Florine Stettheimer.

"When it became clear that World War I was approaching, the Stettheimers returned to the United States and moved to a house on New York’s Upper West Side. Shortly, their home became the premier New York salon, a center of the city’s artistic and intellectual life. Regular guests of the Stettheimer sisters included artists such as Francis Picabia, Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Charles Demuth, Marsden Hartley, and writers and critics, including Henry McBride and Carl Van Vechten. The sisters also regularly threw parties at rented mansions on the New Jersey shore or in the country, taking their friends away from the city for long weekends."

The sisters were wealthy but put their time to good use--the doll house itself being mostly built and furnished by Florine's siter Carrie over 19 years. The second sister, Ettie was the grand conversationalist and a committed writer. Florine herself created paintings filled with imaginative, light, colorful fantasies loosely based on her life. She considered the works to be personal and had wished them destroyed. Not fitting into any obvious style, from the period, they have only in recent years been taken more seriously. A great post about Florine's work.

"In addition to the considerable artistry with which Carrie Stettheimer managed the Stettheimer household, planning imaginative meals including such unlikely dishes as feather soup, she created a replica of the sisters’ home in miniature—a remarkable two story, sixteen-room dollhouse that recreated the Stettheimer’s own imaginatively decorated rooms. Carrie Stettheimer worked on this project for more than twenty-five years, filling the dollhouse with detailed miniature reproductions of period furniture and replica light fixtures and lampshades. She recreated her sisters’ rooms—Ettie’s was painted in bright red and blue and outfitted with Chinese furniture; Florine’s was draped in cellophane and lace. Artist friends made small copies of their paintings and sculptures for the dollhouse including the miniature copy Marcel Duchamp made of his Nude Descending a Staircase. Carrie Stettheimer’s dollhouse is on permanent display at the Museum of the City of New York."

Sol LeWitt Mini Outdoor Sculpture Retrospective In City Hall Park

In recent years the city and the various private conservancy groups have put together temporary sculpture and other public art installations in many of New York's private parks--creating often fascinating interactions among a larger group of people who might never go into a museum.

This mini retrospective of Sol Lewitt sculpture is in City Hall Park. The final shots are of the more typical "art world", crowd that was there for the opening where mayor Bloomberg spoke, which I didn't stick around for.

While open space in Manhattan is at an extreme premium, one of the great things is that a good deal of it is available for parks. In Pittsburgh, this would almost certainly be a parking lot.

Things to do in the Burgh this Weekend

My own long weekend is going to be close to home, as I have Stella the adorable pitbull staying with me. She is recuperating from ACL sugery. But I will get out some...there's lots to do. In additional to more traditional Memorial Day activities, consider:
Fleeting Pages (Popup Bookstore at old Border's Books site). This is the last weekend...I am not sure when they close, but it is sometime next week.They have tons of books and zines, and lots of talks and activities.This venture has gotten a lot of press, including national press, and deservedly so. For events, look at left side of page here
Movie: Bill Cunningham New York. Will make me sad as I just left NYC after a 5 day visit. But I have been looking forward to this movie for a while. It is about the long time style and event photographer for the NYT.....whose transportation is a bike,and who is still working hard every day...in his early 80s! Because he loves what he does. It appears to be his whole life, and he seems very happy indeed. A review from CP can be found here AND BETTER YET SEE TRAILER HERE
Movie:The Princess of Montpensier. A drama set in 16th century France. Got a nice write up in the NYT,here
The Shadyside Nursery. A new plant and flower nursey has sprouted across from the 5801 Bar/Restaurant. It is near the corner of Elmer and Maryland,as if towards the busway. Nice to see a new small business in the area, and the prices seemed quite reasonable.They don't seem to have a web presence yet.
TONIGHT and Saturday Hip Hop at the Shadow Longue. Artists from DC, Philly and Pittsburgh. Cornell WEst, Crstal Seth, etc. Comes highly recommended so I am going.....tonight,9pm and 12 midnight. More info here

When Did New York Become New York? The Apartment Building

I'm gonna try to do a series of posts about NY-in no particular order many of which will be illustrated with images I took. They are sort of meditations and not fully supported with links--however the general facts are mostly right.

Many, or most would say that New York was destined by history and geography to be a great city--but at various points decisions were made about how land was used; space was organised that affected every aspect of it's history.

Early New York was very much a port and manufacturing city--insanely dense, dirty, overcrowded yet filled with opportunity. In 1857, Central Park was laid out--in what was at the time a fairly remote northern stretch of land. Soon, the elaborate mansions and townhouses of America's richest families, Vanderbilt, Carnegie, Rockefeller, Whitney, Frick, Duke, lined Fifth and Park Avenues.

Just judging from the ones left, the area must have been very beautiful. Then in a period of often not much more than 20 years, the very wealthy folks who had spent so much cash and care on these homes decided--to tear them down, or in some cases donate them to create museums or schools. The motivation of course, was largely about making more money-not that they needed it. Most could have stayed and resisted the northern progress of the city upward as the subway lines were built-instead they saw the market for a new type of building--the elaborate, elegant building types that line Park and Fifth Ave today, offering a luxuriant but practical lifestyle to a larger group of the aspiring rich and upper class. Similar neighborhoods developed along the upper west side--creating the density to support great shopping streets--and the cosmopolitan, businesslike character we now associate with NY.

In the years afterward, when NY was physically assaulted and undermined by bad planners--this large group of New Yorkers-largely stayed in the city.

Mobile App Unveiled Highlighting Cleveland History

The story on Cleveland.Com

"It also includes "tours" of the city's neighborhoods, industrial areas and historical sites.

"We're trying to curate the city as a living museum," said CSU history professor Mark Tebeau. "Cleveland has such a rich past and we're trying to expose that past layer by layer."

Available videos range from old newsreel footage of the National Air Races at Cleveland Hopkins Airport to a 1930s film clip of Herman Pirchner, owner of the Alpine Village restaurant downtown, setting a world record by carrying 50 steins of beer at one time."

Even more interesting is that this App which connects to videos and oral histories from more than 700 Clevelanders is not just the product of one college, library, museum or institution-though it looks like Cleveland State spearheaded it.

Building content for the new app has been a community-wide project, said Tebeau, noting that teachers across the region, along with students, nonprofits and historical societies have all contributed.

And that mass contribution, said Nancy Proctor, head of mobile strategy and initiatives at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., is what makes the Cleveland Historical app unique.

Check out the free app on clevelandhistorical.org

Several Posts About New York, History, Transit and Urbanism On The Way

Hope it isn't too annoying to Pittsburgh and Cleveland readers if a bunch of reflections about my trip in NY show up here. My stated goal here was always to not just talk about any one place but create a forum to contrast, compare and learn about all cities both inside and outside the region. Also, this was supposed to be a group blog in which many people are posting about events, opinions and experiences.

New York is sort of the Rosetta Stone of American urbanism, in that at least in part it learned many of the basic rules of being a city and applied them very well.

For starters--one must admit that some part of the city's success as a financial center in recent years has had a lot to do with corrupt, insider political connections and that a large number of it's largest banks should have failed.

Even so the city's dominance in so many fields; finance, insurance, real estate, law, accounting, publishing, film, music, theater, food, fashion, design, journalism architecture, Art, medicine, education, consulting, tourism and it's ability to both evolve and attract new people and regenerate itself over a long period is something few U.S. cities can claim.

BTW, NYC was until fairly recently also a very, very large manufacturing city and is now an important location for technology companies.

Some would say, New York's deep large harbor; solid rock for large scale skyscrapers and early settlement gave it a huge leg up, but clearly something about the way the city formed--the early adoption of a clear simple street grid, investments in transit played a huge role.

I will post some of my thoughts-as someone who knows the city pretty well. Obviously, I see some lessons to be learned in both it's life, and near death experience in the late 20th century.

More Answers and Questions About Keith Haring In Pittsburgh: Did He Paint a Bathroom at The Center For the Arts?

From the Keith Haring Archives website.

"...I went to a huge retrospective by Pierre Alechinsky at the Carnegie Museum of Art. It was the first time that I had seen someone who was older and established doing something that was vaguely similar to my little abstract drawings. It gave me this whole new boost of confidence."3

"...I used the library at Carnegie all the time. I was reading a lot. I was really into Dubuffet at the time... the last works that he did were very similar to the little shaped things I was doing...."

The drawings from this time do relate strongly to Dubuffet's late graphic style--which in his case were painted on large sculptures and shaped environments.

Later Haring heard a talk Christo gave in Pittsburgh about his projects that was even more eye opening.

"...The thing I responded to most was [Christo's] belief that art could reach all kinds of people, as opposed to the traditional view, which has art as this elitist thing..."

In the end, Haring's time in Pittsburgh was capped by a solo show at the Pittsburgh Art's and Craft Center-as The Center For The Arts was then known.

Still, I have so many questions. Someone responded on twitter, saying he worked as a janitor at The Center and was actually given permission to paint a bathroom there, which was later painted over. Is this true? Has anyone read Haring's journals? Looks like I should.

Jaume Plensa, Echo in New York's Madison Square Park

Well, I'm in NY visiting my mom, trying to reconnect with the art world and generally enjoying the city--which is easy to do without a car here.

One thing NYC really lacks is a formal public sculpture garden of any size. (sorry Socrates Sculpture Park doesn't really qualify)

In recent years the city has really made up for this through a range of permanent and temporary site specific public art projects spread throughout the city.

This is the giant ethereal head, Jaume Plensa placed in Madison Square Park, creating an unreal dreamlike peaceful experience in the heart of the city.

"Clearly, though, more than poetry has gone into “Echo,” his 44-foot-high sculpture of a girl’s head, which was raised in Madison Square Park last week. (With a budget of $620,000, it is the Madison Square Park Conservancy’s costliest project to date.) The work is made from an amalgam of polyester resin, white pigment and marble dust, and its glittering neck rises straight from the grass, creating an otherworldly beacon amid the furor of the Flatiron district."

NY Times article

Keith Haring Show @ NY's Barbara Gladstone Gallery Sheds Light On The Artist's Stay In Pittsburgh

Gladstone's 21st space had a very pleasant surprise. The show was centered around two large Haring drawings from of his mature style (1982)--but the real interesting part was the long tables of notebook drawings dated from 1978 in the period he was an unknown 19 year old "drop out" from the Ivy School of Commercial Art in Pittsburgh and the time he first arrived in New York City.

notes on the margins--

"At the Nexus Cafe/ Pittsburgh 1977"

"The First Drawing At The Mattress Factory"

"January 1978 in Steel City Snowstorm"

"At the laundromat on Atwood again."

"At The Carnegie Museum of Art"

"Study Two-Forbes Field Revisited"

"Bieber Bus Drawing to NY City"

Haring's stay in Pittsburgh was short, but given that his overall growth was so rapid, it looks like a period worthy of a fuller exploration. Don't get me wrong, these works have a value and interest that goes beyond their historical value.

Upon graduation from high school in 1976, Haring enrolled in the Ivy School of Professional Art in Pittsburgh, a commercial arts school. He soon realized that he had little interest in becoming a commercial graphic artist and, after two semesters, dropped out. While in Pittsburgh, Haring continued to study and work on his own and in 1978 had a solo exhibition of his work at the Pittsburgh Arts and Crafts Center.

Keith Haring

Gladstone Gallery

530 West 21st New York

May 4 - July 1, 2011

Update--someone responded with a tweet saying that Haring did a work in a Pittsburgh bathroom that was painted over. Anyone know anything about this?

Milton Glaser Talks About Fear Of Failure

Milton Glaser – on the fear of failure. from Berghs' Exhibition '11 on Vimeo.

This video has been rolling around twitter a lot over the last few days.

By way of background, Milton Glaser is a legendary graphic design innovator but his thoughts about the sources of creative stagnation and why artists must constantly deal with and confront them is likely of value to all.

As this blogger wrote--watch the whole video.

Should We Have A Panther Hollow Design Competition?

New York's High Line project took a space that was already there but that was rarely noticed or thought about and used it to transform and add to the way people thought about a whole part of Manhattan.

So, does Pittsburgh have a single space which with potentially small amount of effort and rethinking could be transformed in a huge way? An obvious concept is extending the waterfront parks--but this is already being thought about. Fixing and Allegheny Center is also a transformative project but no easy task.

However, the deep ravine in the center of Oakland is a place where the creation of a few amazing buildings which creatively use the rim, or a series of interesting paths or well who knows--could change the entire way we think about Oakland and all the neighborhoods that border the Hollow. Should Pittsburgh really try to ignore and evade some of the most interesting parts of it's geography in the way it's design does now?

As you can see from these images, soil erosion along large chunks of the rim is creating issues that must be dealt with anyway and soon.

What I have in mind is to hold some kind of design competition allowing an open ended contemplation of any and all ideas people might have for buildings, paths, ecological designs for any and all parts of The Hollow.

My personal guess is that many students at CMU, Pitt or the other schools in Oakland have drawn up an idea or two. Needless to say, this could easily then be tied to an exhibition at The Carnegie Museum Of Art and or The Miller Gallery. The Carnegie and area museums also have many paintings and historic objects that relate to this iconic yet mostly ignored urban space which could provide context.

No guarantee of executing or using any of the designs would be implied but most likely some type of cash prizes would be granted. Public voting on designs might also be considered. Using any of these ideas--would be a separate issue. The goal would be to invite all Pittsburghers and designers from around the world to publicly meditate on this unique space we should think about more.

Editorial in The NY Times About The High Line and What Makes A Great Public Park

The buzz about New York's new High Line Park is promting a large number of cities to think about new copycat projects. Mostly, this is awesome--but most seem to lack an understanding of what makes this space so amazing.

A great public space doesn't create a city- by definition-an urban park is not about just a well designed park--or about a well designed city, but about the sensitive interaction between the two.

"And herein lies the problem. The High Line may be a landscaping project, but a good part of its success is due to its architectural setting, which, like the 12th Arrondissement, is crowded with interesting old and new buildings. The park courses through the meatpacking district and Chelsea, heavily populated, high-energy residential neighborhoods. Very few American cities — and Manhattan is the densest urban area in the country — can offer the same combination of history and density.

In other words, while the High Line’s success may seem to be an instance of “build it and they will come,” in New York, as in Paris, “they” are already there — living in the surrounding neighborhoods, working in the close-packed office buildings, touristing.

Moreover, while the High Line may have become a fashionable distraction for out-of-town visitors, it succeeds because it offers a green outlet to its many neighbors, who, like Parisians, live in small apartments. In no other American city do residents rely so much on communal green space, rather than backyards, for relaxation."

What's so great about the High Line is that it doesn't require new construction--or parking or the tear down of any existing buildings or block a working street grid, yet allows New Yorkers to experience the area in a new way. It adds but doesn't subtract. But this synergistic relationship can't just be brought into existence anywhere.

For example, the promenade isn't just a great park, actively used when a game or major event is happening. It's also not just active when area offices are open or just in the evenings and weekends--when residents and tourists use it. It lives and changes through the day because it's located in a place with many different land uses--in a city well served by public transit.

I will be back with more thoughts about this.

New Yorkers Turn Union Square Warhol Statue Into an Evolving Shrine

Just south of Pittsburgh, lies Andy Warhol's actual grave which attracts a steady stream of fairly dedicated fans paying personal tribute--still, something quite different and open ended happened when the new-glam Andy Statue was placed in a central downtown, New York Square for all to respond and add to.

"The statue, which looks a bit like the young Mr. Warhol dipped in silver paint, is fast becoming a favorite downtown attraction. One visitor said she thought it was one of those painted humans who startle tourists in Times Square. She kept waiting for The Andy to move.

For Warholians, a more loyal army of fans, the statue is a shrine. And within days after it appeared, they began adapting the monument in that organic way that is so much a part of the city ethos. One day there was a box of Brillo pads at The Andy’s feet. Last weekend there were cans of Campbell’s tomato soup, including one that had “Andy for President” added to the label."

My earlier post about the statue.

Karen, The Small Press Librarian and Her Boyfriend, Tom Talk About Small Press and Bookstores

Thursday night, Fleeting Pages held a public reading of writers experiences working in bookstores--real writers--who use words beyond great and "awesome" to describe everything. The readings were awesome and hopefully they will be up soon.

A supporter came by to tape the event and do some interviews related to the creation and importance of Fleeting Pages--and bookstores in general.

Here Karen Lillis and her longtime boyfriend Tom who have long experience in all sides of the literary world talk about it.

Fleeting Pages Founder, Jodi Morrison Talks About Fleeting Pages

Here's a great video taped last night in which Jodi Morrison, the main force behind the East Liberty Pop Up bookstore, Fleeting Pages talks about the store, what it's doing and the motivation behind it.

If you haven't gotten over there yet, you are missing something--actually you should visit as often as you can since the inventory and long list of events continues to grow. Quite literally, almost anything could happen here for as long as it lasts.

No Joke--this is just what's going on tomorrow

12 – 2 pm: Workshop: Making Your Own Zines and Minicomics – by Bill Volk; A crash course on cartoon storytelling, presentation, and basic bookbinding. How to put your words and pictures in print, make them read clearly, and get in touch with others who do the same. Free.

3pm- Workshop- Want to learn how seIf-publishing happens? ‘Publish, Perish or Languish? NOT!’ Three of my self-published titles are in stock at Fleeting Pages: The Alchymical Zoodiac, Stitchburgh, and The Little Sheep Who Couldn’t Sleep. Come and get your signed copy! Everyone welcome!

8pm- Film: the WORLD PREMIER of tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE’s 348th movie: “Selectric Piano; Po, Li, Ou; & Anagrammatic Variations” tENT’s friend in Greensboro, NC, Mark Dixon, took an IBM Selectric Typewriter & repurposed it so that typing each key has a one-to-one correspondence to an 88-key keyboard which is played as a result of the typing. This device is called the “Selectric Piano”.

tENT wrote 4 highly abstruse & formally exacting texts that 2 typists
then typed using the Selectric. The combination of these texts + the (M)Usic
their typing produces + the overall claustrophobia of the situation
is quasi-documented in this experimental feature.

A teaser for it can be witnessed here:”Mark Dixon’s Selectric Piano”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x6AJ6ssJsk

Idora Park Carousel Update

Photo by Brent Burket

Well, the bittersweet moment has come for lovers of one of the last remaining pieces of Youngstown's lost Idora Park.

The wealthy woman who bought the wonderful, historic carousel and painstakingly restored it has finally gotten her wish and is placing it in a concrete and glass pavilion almost under The Brooklyn Bridge.

This should be a happy tale, but partly because the park is so small and needs no further attraction beyond the views of New York and the Brooklyn Bridge itself, many resent this addition--underlying this is a lot of subtext about gentrification. It's all worthy of a book or a documentary.

Here are my two earlier posts about the carousel and Idora Park.

See The Idora Park Carousel in New York

Letter From Youngstown : Can The Idora Park Carousel Return?

Only God Could Hear Me: A Film About Opening Up New Worlds For The Disabled Through Technology

Sorry, I'm not articulate, but this sure looks like a great film which follows four people as their world's are opened up through the use of new technologies and they can finally communicate.

As you can see--It's very much set in Pittsburgh and should also give a peak at many of the great scientists and technologists working on problems like this here.

Starring and narrated by Chris Klein and Jennifer Lowe, 'Only God Could Hear Me' offers a portrait of the lives and souls of "non-speakers," looking beyond just how they communicate, into why they are driven to do so. Follow several AAC users as they navigate the daily challenges of their disabilities. Brought to you by Bruce Baker and Semantic Compaction Systems, the creation story of the "Minspeak" method is told in parallel. Directed by Colin Sanders.

5 Special Screenings:

Sunday, May 15th - 2pm & 7:15pm

Tuesday, May 17th - Thursday, May 19th - 7:15pm

SouthSide Works Cinema

"All proceeds will benefit the Pittsburgh Employment Conference for Augmented Communicators through SHOUT, a western Pennsylvania 501(c)3 organization. The mission of SHOUT is to advocate for full and meaningful employment for people with disabilities who rely on augmentative communication."

Great Calendar Of Events @ Fleeting Pages: Tonight at 7, Bookstore Clerks Who Write About It

Thursday May, 7 – 9pm: Reading – “Bookstore Clerks Who Write About It”

Bookstore clerks, bookstore owners, and former bookstore workers read from their own writings on the bookstore biz, as well as the writings of others. Great indie bookstores represented include: Powell’s Portland and Powell’s Chicago, St Mark’s Bookshop, East Side Books, Jay’s Bookstall, Caliban Books, Awesome Books, Maelstrom Books, Burke’s Book Store, and more.- Free

See the large calendar and growing calendar of events planned at Fleeting Pages this month. Here.

The M.C. Escher Show @ Akron Art Museum Breaks Museum Attendance Records & Expectations--Extended Through June 5

From Artdaily

"Surpassing attendance expectations, M.C. Escher: Impossible Realities has drawn record crowds to the Akron Art Museum. As the last of only two venues in the United States to show this once-in-a-lifetime loan from Athens, Greece, Impossible Realities drew visitors from across the country. Escher fans came from as far away as Alaska, California and Washington, with most of the out-of-state visitors hailing from Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan and Illinois.

Because of its overwhelming popularity, the museum, in an unprecedented move, is extending the exhibition’s closing date. Visitors now have until Sunday, June 5, 2011to examine first-hand the masterworks of Maurits Cornelis Escher before the collection returns to Greece."

We saw this fantastic show on our trip to Cleveland. Due to bad weather and some kind of camera screw up I don't have any exterior shots of the great new museum building--which to a large extent is the main reason we dropped in.

I also thought the Escher show would be great and had some idea the museum's overall collection was worth a look. In total everything was way better than expected.

Escher, is an artist I love but since his primary work is geared towards graphic reproduction, I felt that seeing things in person might be redundant. One can see all this in a book. To some extent this is true. Even so, the show includes some more obscure works you may not know, examples of his process like some 3 D models, cancelled Lithography stones and many working drawings. They also made several large scale models of his impossible architectural constructions that were even more trippy when brought to life. The feeling of stepping into someones head and being surrounded and immersed in their world makes it worth seeing the prints in person.

An even bigger treat was the permanent collection which is heavily tilted towards contemporary art and worthy of a whole other post.

I do wonder exactly why the museum didn't think the show would be that popular. Escher is a huge cult figure, one of the few who's work attracts and influences people who normally pay no attention to art.

Pittsburgh Is Art Day Of Giving Today! Consider The Artist Opportunity Fund Of The Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council

As You know, Today if you give to a large list of local organizations--using your credit card through The Pittsburgh Gives Site, your donation will be matched with funds from The Pittsburgh Foundation.

Grants to Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council through the site will help support individual artists.

"Funds raised during the Pittsburgh is Art Day of Giving will be directed entirely to GPAC's Artist Opportunity Fund which helps advance the careers of individual artists by providing funds to support specific extraordinary opportunities that have the potential to significantly impact an artist's

work and professional development."

Follow the link to the full list of arts organizations available for matching funds.

Remember, all donations must be through that site and be made Today!

Pittsburgh is Art Day of Giving - 5.11.11 Make Your Donations To Local Arts Oragnizations Go Further By Donating Tomorrow

The Pittsburgh is Art Day of Giving is a 24-hour donation match campaign and opportunity to increase giving to our thriving arts and culture sector. Initiated by the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council and the Heinz Endowments, it is sponsored by The Pittsburgh Foundation and modeled after their October 2010 Pittsburgh Gives Day of Giving. Other contributing foundations include: Hillman Foundation, Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, The Buhl Foundation, and The Grable Foundation.

The match pool will contain between $475,000-500,000 from The Heinz Endowments, The Pittsburgh Foundation, The Hillman Foundation, The Buhl Foundation, The Benedum Foundation and The Grable Foundation. Every organization that receives donations during the match period will receive a portion of the match. The matching dollars will be pro-rated.

Donors will have 24 hours to give. Only credit card gifts through PittsburghGives.org will be eligible for matching funds. No gifts from checks, cash, gift card redemptions, or donor-advised fund grants will be eligible for matching funds.Minimum gift eligible for match: $15

Maximum gift to a single organization: $10,000

Each participating organization is eligible to receive funds with no maximum limit for the organization. Organizations are prohibited from donating to themselves.

Participating organizations will receive pre- and post-event surveys which they must complete and return. Organizations are also required to report gift results including size of donor pool, average gift size, number of new donors, total amount of gifts received from returning donors.

Should have posted and hyped this much earlier--partly I didn't because I wanted to hype the great Kickstarter project by Fleeting Pages (only donations to registered Non Profit Arts Orgs in the region are eligable)

Please remember many of the less known and smaller arts organizations in The region--as well as the larger ones. A few suggestions of some you might not think of.

Future Tenant (not sure why website is down)

Artists Image Resource

The Waffle Shop

The Braddock Carnegie Library Arts Program

City Of Asylum, Pittsburgh

The Manchester Craftman's Guild, Youth and Arts Programs

The Silver Eye Center For Photography

Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival

The Union Project

Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka

The Sprout Fund

The Westmoreland Museum Of Art

Some Images Of Pittsburgh's Panther Hollow

So many things going on and a dozen posts I need to do.

Here are some images of Panther Hollow which I am partly posting because they relate to an idea I have in my head. Without a little context,I could have tried to tell you this was West Virginia. Such a weirdly magical and strangely isolated place in the heart of the city. Pittsburgh often doesn't play this up and make the best us of it's strange geography.

WDUQ's Artists On-Air Series Profiles The Great Pittsburgh Wood Artist, John Metzler

It's right around this time last year when a tragic accident took away one of the most promising and ultimately influential artists in the city.

"Pittsburgh loses lots of trees to development, disease and pests every year and the Urban Tree Forge gives some of the timber a second life as building material, furniture and art. The woodworker John Metzler founded the organization. He was killed in May 2010 by a runaway U-haul trailer as he cut wood outside the Forge. Larkin Page-Jacobs has his artist profile."

See the full story and listen here.

Some Images From Pittsburgh's Shadyside Neighborhood

Depending on where you live in the wider region, these pictures may either interest or bore you. Hopefully, at this point some Clevelander's or other regional residents now read the blog who may not know this beautiful part of Pittsburgh.

My goal is to sort of think of the region as a menu-which many people leave the region or live in without fully looking at. If you live in Pittsburgh and don't know or explore places like Johnstown, Erie, Youngstown, Akron, Canton, Wheeling, Morgantown and Cleveland you don't know all the options available. If seeing how great the South Side or Tremont is causes some people or businesses to move around the region--great. No place is perfect for everyone or everything. The key thing is that people have seen the menu and all the potential the area holds. For the most part, it's likely better you move to Columbus than move to Los Angeles. Of course better awareness of regional assets may also attract new people from outside the area.

Likewise, greater knowledge of what has worked and not worked in various places is of great value.

These shots were taken yesterday in one of the more gorgeous parts of Shadyside and give some idea of the amazing quality of much of the city's housing stock.

I will try to get back with more images of the area as well as other parts of Pittsburgh.

More Images From Fleeting Pages Pop Up Bookstore In East Liberty

Swung by Fleetingpages again to help Jean install her art. Lots of good news and expanding inventory. The Big Idea, alternative bookstore in Bloomfield now has a section in the store with perhaps 100 titles--most strongly political.

By tomorrow, Bob Ziller will have a selection of titles from Awesome Books in Garfield, which has a very broad selection of fiction, history and art titles. The Fleetingpages inventory has also expanded. My guess is there might now be 1000 titles in the store, which might not sound like much relative to a large bookstore. This however is a significant amount great stuff you are highly unlikely to find elsewhere.

Swing by often as the space evolves and changes. As you can see from the in store calendar, many events are planned--with many more on the way.

FYI Fleeting Pages is still open to new stuff but it must be brought in by May 13.

Images From East Liberty Pop Up Bookstore, Fleeting Pages

Checked out Fleeting Pages yesterday and got some shots of their unique inventory of Books, comics, zines and all kinds of things book and print related.

Right now the selection of several hundred books and magazines trends towards poetry, short stories, off beat fiction,Horror, political non fiction, travel and wonderfully strange and beautiful comics and zines. Also, there's a growing selection of books written by local authors exploring many aspects of local lore, you may not know about.

The inventory is still growing and being put out--You can still bring your stuff over--till May 13! Also, Fleetingpages is still open to ideas for lectures, readings, workshops, film screenings and performance events. Where's Tom Sarver?

Got a screed, a rant, a new set of lovely recipes or tips on growing arugula-bring it over. Also, they are open to a bigger selection of art.

Some Shots of Case Western's Frank Gehry Designed, Peter B Lewis Building

Sort of by the grace of god, Pittsburgh's major college and art museum complex ended up within the city, while Cleveland's ended up right on the city's edge and just across the city line. For the most part, I think the motivation to build a clean, new place away from the dirty industrial core was similar to Pittsburgh's except, in our case, the bulk of really heavy industry was never in the city itself--but outside in the huge complexes along the Mon and Ohio Valleys.

A high percent of visitors to Cleveland spend some time in the area called University Circle, home to or bordering on such major institutions as The Cleveland Clinic, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Cleveland Botanical Garden, The Children's Museum Of Cleveland, The Cleveland Institute Of Art, The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Severance Hall, The Cleveland Institute Of Music and Case Western Reserve University--many of them housed in beautiful and often uniquely designed buildings, some of which are icons of modernist design.

The good aspect of lots of good modernism is it's sensitivity to the landscape--the bad part is often it's total ignorance and insensitivity to human needs and human scale. Architecture must be judged on both the aesthetic value of how it looks, but on the social level of how it works, as a place for people to live and interact.

I can't fully judge, University Circle having spent too little time in and around it in the surrounding neighborhoods. We did walk around Little Italy which is close by.

The area around the museums is windy which obviously works well for cars. However, at least in nice weather, there are wonderfully landscaped wide walkways and lots of maps making it a great place to walk from place to place.

Here are images of the new Peter B Lewis Building, home to Case Western's Weatherhead School of Management. From the exterior, I have a very good impression of this building, although the huge Peter B Lewis name sloping over the front entrance is pretty overwhelming. Would love to have been a fly in some of those design meetings with Gehry.

Images From 2011 Art All Night

Here are some shots I took at this Years Art All Night. Each year, I plan to do a major post, identifying the work and doing a review. This year, I decided just getting the stuff off my camera would be a good goal.

Depending on the space--timing and level of volunteers that come forward, it can sometimes look like this 14 year long Pittsburgh tradition is dying or not worth the effort. This year was a near knockout blow to the pessimists.

I spent about an hour and a half there but should have gone back--there's even a chance I missed an entire area. From what I could tell, a decision was made to put the performers outside the space this year, allowing even more space for art work. It's always a judgement call--clearly this limited bands who need to plug in and kept things more low key and acoustic. IMHO, the amount of new space for artists more than made up for this. Lucky the weather was nice.

One great thing about Art All Night, is seeing the vast amount of great work by artists who don't normally try to show their work. Pittsburgh as a city pumps out many well trained artists, who often don't have time or the mentality to pursue traditional exhibition opportunities. One theme this year seemed to be self portraits. Also many artists grab this chance to make an uncensored political statement or push the limits of humor. The extra space allowed for several good installation type statements like the one from Just Seeds about America's Prison Industrial complex.

Art All Night Website

Deep apologies for not crediting the artists, it was simply way too difficult. You know who you are.