Brew House troubled waters

Before I moved to my current spacious, if somewhat marginal, studio, I was creating my work at the Brew House on Pittsburgh's Southside. I was a member for five years. Hmm. Maybe six years. It was a small studio, but it was the first time that I had ever had a studio outside of a spare bedroom. I met some wonderful people there and I still keep in touch with my Barely Brunch partners.

Over the past two weeks, there have been a lot of rumors about the imminent demise of the organization and the disbandment of the artists that reside and work there.

The Brew House organization has been quiet, at least until just now --

On September 4, 2009, The Brew House Association, Inc. (BHA) received a letter from the City of Pittsburgh Bureau of Building Inspection (BBI) citing various code violations that force BHA to vacate its building effective September 19, 2009.

The BHA hopes that this is a temporary setback in what has been a long-term rehabilitation project of a home for artists and arts organizations. “The Board of Directors of the Brew House fully intends to comply with the City and current building codes to create a safe and livable building that can continue serving the City of Pittsburgh for years to come,” states Tim Kaulen, President of the BHA's Board of Directors. From the Brew House site.

To be frank, the building is in horrendous shape. The organization's statement declares that $50k is needed to address the remaining code violations. Maybe. It needs a lot more to make it habitable instead of just a squat. But listen, the artists currently in residence will be completely unhomed without some intervention. I think it's going to take a concerted effort to save this behemoth. Not just what can be raised through individual donations, although that would definitely help. I don't know what the solution will be for this organization or for the property that they are trying to maintain. But if somebody out there has some ideas, maybe you can pass them on to the Executive Director, Andie Sharp. You can reach her at asharp@brew-house.org.

Mr Buckethead : Pittsburgh Produced Kid Show Pilot Seeks Actor

I don't vouch for this stuff! I found this on the Pittsburgh Film Office website. No deadline was given and the info is still on their website.

Dream Catchers Films, Inc. is seeking actors for their upcoming project,
The Fabulous Adventures of Mr. Buckethead.

We are looking for actors who are 5'8” to 6'4” atheletic model build.
Don't need to be overly muscular, but looking for someone who has experience in dance/fight choreography,
martial arts, mime and possibly sign language.
Someone who enjoys things that are retro can be a plus.
The actor has NO LINES. The ability to communicate through gesture and movement is very important.
Dream Catchers LLC is a film production company located in Pittsburgh, PA
that has been in operation since 1981.

The Fabulous Adventures of Mr. Buckethead is a broadly humorous TV series for kids based on the adventures
of a live action super hero named Mr. Buckethead.

Principal Filming for Mr. Buckethead would take place in Pittsburgh.
This also includes the majority of the costume building, animation, miniature and model designing.

The pilot film will integrate 3 separate 30 minute episode. A 13-part television series will follow.

If interested, please send head shots and bios BY MAIL ONLY to the following address:

Dream Catchers Films, Inc.
3041 West Liberty Ave.
Pittsburgh, PA 15216

If you have any questions please email: dreamcatchers2@verizon.net.
NO PHONE CALLS PLEASE!

Info here

Call For Art Students In Northeast Ohio

The following opportunity is not open to Pittsburgh artists, but may be useful to some blog readers. Wouldn't it be great and more logical if most opportunities didn't stop at the state line?

Both Ohio and western PA suffer from this childish provincialism.

CALL FOR ARTISTS:

The CWRU Graduate Art History Association invites art students from Northeast Ohio colleges and universities to submit work for presentation at STUDENT SLIDESHOW @ MOCA, Wednesday, October 28th, 2009, at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, 8501 Carnegie Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio.

Monetary awards will be given to the top three artists selected by jurors Ann Albano of the Sculpture Center, Pam Jaffe of the Cleveland Foundation and Seema Rao of the Cleveland Museum of Art. For detailed submission guidelines, please see http://www.facebook.com/slideshowatmoca.

Submissions must be emailed to slideshowatmoca@gmail.com by September 25th, 2009. All selected participants must present the submitted work unless specific arrangements are made otherwise. Selected participants must provide a print out of their current schedule as proof of enrollment. Last years participants must submit a different body of work in order to reenter this year.

This event is made possible by the generosity of the CWRU Department of Art History and Art, the CWRU Friends of Art and MOCA Cleveland.

I found this on The Cleveland Art Project.

Pension Page

Since politicians, like Luke, Tom Murphy and others are falling over themselves to take credit for the very tenuous progress the city has made in recent years, perhaps one or two will admit to their role in it's pension mess.

Chris Briem, of Null Space put up one page with a snapshot of a lot of the available and historical data.

Total Pension Liability

1995 $622,955,188
1997 $667,753,390
1999 $685,248,322
2001 $712,978,251
2003 $765,763,493
2005 $843,382,550
2007 $899,248,578
2009 ?

Unfunded Liability

1995 $515,338,148
1997 $510,778,634
1999 $248,634,632
2001 $289,919,819
2003 $453,292,528
2005 $469,774,143
2007 $523,879,854
2009 ?

Funding Ratio by Year

1995 17.28%
1997 23.51%
1999 63.72%
2001 59.34%
2003 40.81%
2005 44.30%
2007 41.70%
2009 ?

It's not like any of this stuff was as secret. To the extent we didn't know it's cause we didn't want to know. The page links to a post article from 1978 which calls it Pittsburgh's wasting disease.

A root cause of all this was the city's shrinkage from a city of close to 750,000 residents in 1960 to not much over 300,000 today. This brings on two other issues, the first of which is why did the city lose so many residents while retaining so much of the regions job base? The cities shrinkage far outpaces that of the region.

The second, is why didn't the city shrink it's employee base and even more importantly make more realistic deals with it's municipal unions? The pension mess is visible effect of a culture of deception and procrastination which permiates all levels of government. Employees were promised these plush pension and health benefits because these obligations didn't have to be disclosed honestly to the taxpayers.

This isn't just a Pittsburgh thing. Yesterday, the dollar index dropped near an all time low.

Pittsburgh Parking Day 2009 Is September 18th

CommunityWalk Map - PARK(ing) Day 2009 Map

Ever look at a building or place and wonder what else might have been done with it? Usually, you can't go back but some folks in San Fransisco in 2006 lauched a plan to get people to turn sterile parking spaces into mini parks or art projects for one day. One day to see other possibilities for scarce urban land.



Since then, it's taken off and is in 124 cities accross the world. Pittsburgh's first parking day was last year.

More Info here.

Call For Artists : Irma Freeman Center For Imagination Grand Opening Exhibit

No doubt, you may have noticed the mirror mosaic covered storefront in Garfield. It's a new art and community center! And it opens with an open call show of Salvage art.

This is sort of a heads up since if you live in the Pittsburgh area, you will be able to drop off your work on October 3rd 11-3pm.

Call for Salvation Artists:


Invitation for All Media: 2-D, 3-D, Audio, Visual, Installation & Performance Art


for the Grand Gala Opening of


the Irma Freeman Center for Imagination


on Friday October 9th, 2009 from 6 – 10 pm

We will have food, music and merry making! We want to celebrate this grand show inviting Pittsburgh and National Artists who use or reuse, recycle or save things from the gutter. This theme will be loosely interpreted, and may be conceptual. All work should be first time exhibited in the Pittsburgh area, and accompanied with a short statement about the work and the artist. Best in show will be awarded.

Please submit your work to the front or back alley of the Irma Freeman Center for Imagination, 5006 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15224. Mail-ins should have a deadline postmark of September 21st. Drop off date is October 3rd from 11 am – 3 pm. All work must be ready to hang or be free standing. Every type of media will be considered. For more information call 412-418-6208. You may download an entry form for at www.irmafreeman.org under “exhibition”. There is a maximum of 3 pieces per artist, and an entry fee of $10 dollars per piece.

This show is not just for Pittsburgh artists. If you can get your work there and follow the rules you can be in the show, no matter where you live.

Application forms and more info here.

The Road Opens October 16th

Finally, The Road, a big budget film shot in a post apocalyptic world of the future, shot in places like Braddock, Erie and other Pittsburgh regional locations opens. The mayor may not like it but the post apocalyptic business is huge.

They were shooting this way back in 2007 and release has been delayed by about a year. A lot of the film crew started hanging out at Barbs Country Kitchen where I met a few.

The Road joins Night Of the Living Dead, Dawn Of The Dead, Silence Of The Lambs and The Deer Hunter in the list of movies which exploit the regional landscape.

Yinz Links For Sept 7-8

On Outside Erie

Manufacturing falls as percentage of Erie area workforce.

In Wall Street Journal

John Murtha's airport for no one

In Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Former Mayor Tom Murphy also claiming credit for Pittsburgh's rebound. (Taking any credit for it's debts, corruption, pension fund shortfall and poor schools?)

Penn State asks parents of Merit Scholar to consider donating money back

Traditional Jewish Weddings can be madhouses of joy, dancing and sometimes Unicycles.

Marvel purchase an attempt by Disney to win back boys.

Pittsburgh has important place in the specialty coffee business

In The New Republic

Murthaville: The City That Pork Built Looks at the sad prospects for a town dependent on political "bacon".

In Pittsburgh Tribune Review

Bitterness and rage over Terrible Towel desecration remains.



On Slate

Beware The Cupcake Bubble

On Culture Grrl

Photos of and thoughts about the High Line

The Pleasures of Pittsburgh: : Radio Stations

We have so many. SO so many. And lots of other large cities do not. Hokey as it sounds we are really lucky.

WRCT 88.3 (my personal favorite)

You never know what you will hear. CMU's student radio station shows what can happen when you turn loose a bunch of cerebral, adventurous students and let them play music on the radio. From the ridiculous (put on intentionally, ofcourse) and the sublime, it's all here.

By the way, it seems that their signal is stronger in the past couple of years? All I know is I can now hear it in the North Hills while driving home from work as well as at home in Shadyside.

http://wrct.org/

WPTS 91.2
Again, take a bunch of students...who probably have more time than they have ever had, or likely ever will have , to search out great,new, obscure and/or downright odd music, and you get a great listening opportunity.
http://www.wpts.pitt.edu/

WQED 89.3

We have a classical radio station! So many cities do not, or have lost their stations. Always a pleasure to hear what is on WQED.

http://www.wqed.org/fm/

WDUQ 90.5

As they say in their ads, "news, jazz and NPR", a great combo. While Tony Mowad's show doesn't wow me, the rest of the jazz programming is great. And there is always Music from India. This the longest running Indian music program in the country having debuted in 1972 . Generally half of the program is devoted to Indian popular music, and the other half showcases Indian classical music.

http://www.wduq.org/

WYEP 91.3
A great source for new, if often mainstream (ie less risk taking than the university stations) contemporary music. Always something you can listen to. Tremendous community involvement, and instrumental in getting artists to perform here.

Started 35 years ago in a basement in the Oakland area of Pittsburgh by a group of volunteers.
I had a hard time finding names, but I know Tony Navarro was one!

http://www.wyep.org/

So in closing, do you really need that Sirius radio subscription?

G-20 Video 1

Here and there, I may be dropping a video or post related to the G-20. The weird thing to anyone aware of the facts and trends shown in the video is how long it has taken to open up a serious dialog with the nations which are shaping the future.

Prior to a year or two ago, the G8, which included only one Asian nation, Japan was considered the most important forum.

Yinz links for Sept 5th & 6th

On Gluespace

German Foundation hosts workshops in Detroit & Cleveland on lessons learned in Germany's old industrial regions.

On Brewed Fresh Daily

Jobs aren't coming back

Comparing Cleveland Transit fares to the nation

On Cleveland.Com

Not enough help wanted

How goes the Cleveland Institute Of Art, expansion?

Review Of Chuck Close show @ The Akron Art Museum

In NY Times

36 Hours In Zagreb, Croatia

Scrap Heap Animated Short

Boo Hoo!!!! Famous photographer Ann Leibovitz's financial woes.

In LA Times

A travel trip to Gettysburg

Long Beach Museum Of Art in $3 million dispute with broke local government.

On Culture Grrl

Rose Art Museum's new picture catalog or is it a sales catalog?

Glenn Beck may be right about the Obama administration's meddling in the arts.

In Pittsburgh Post Gazette

Pitt Destroys Youngstown State (sorry)

Attack Theater's new season in a new home

In Pittsburgh Tribune

Penn State Beats Up Akron (sorry)

Monuments honor Western Pennsylvania's industrial roots

On Pop City

Franklin Toker writer of the 1986 classic, Pittsburgh: An Urban Portrait is coming out with Pittsburgh: A New Portrait.

On Carnegie Mellon Allumni Reviving Economic Growth: Action Plan for Pittsburgh G20 Summit

Social Media Revolution

I saw this posted on Brewed Fresh Daily and elsewhere. Of course it's heavy on the hype and has an agenda, but the underlying force of facts is pretty undeniable and transcends any one hot fad or single company.

Perhaps the average age of most twitter users is the best indicator that Social Media as a concept has buried deep roots in society.

My perception is that the real cultural potential of these technologies has yet to be felt.

We Need Bloggers

It's kind official- Pittsburgh now has way too much stuff going on be covered by one or two unpaid people-- or even paid full time people. It was always my hope that we could have a large number of people- at least 10 posting on all the diverse events, opportunities and issues in the Pittsburgh regional art scene.This would then allow us time to redesign the blog into a possible magazine format and perhaps figure out ways to get a little compensation for our efforts through advertising.

I am trying very hard to keep the energy going through the G20. As thousands of reporters, bloggers and others turn their googly eyes and web browsers in our direction, it's important they get a good look at all the great things going on here.

We really need posters! See the side for details and if you think you can do one post a month on here about Pittsburgh's broad cultural scene- send an email.

Looking For Extras, Standins, Photo Doubles And Silent Bit Parts for THE NEXT THREE DAYS, Staring Russell Crowe

Another major film to be shot in Pittsburgh and another very slim chance of stardom for Yinz. Haddad trucks everywhere.

Plot

"A married couple's life is turned upside down when the wife is accused of a murder." |

The production company for "The Next Three Days" has hired Nancy Mosser Casting to head up the extras casting department. The film starring Russell Crowe and directed by Paul Haggis will start shooting on October 2nd with all locations in the Pittsburgh area.

To participate you must have a profile on www.mossercasting.com. Go to the homepage and click on "Talent" or "Talent Login" and enter all of your information, then upload two photo jpegs of yourself. Preferably a medium shot (waist up) or closeup and full-length shot.

Or mail a photo to: Nancy Mosser Casting, 3583 Butler Street, Pgh. PA 15201.
Please include: Height, Weight, Hair Color, Eye Color, phone numbers, and email address to reach you.

We will be working out of the production office for this job, so we will post phone numbers to reach us as soon as we start prep on Monday, Sept. 14th.

More info here.

The Pittsburgh Beautification Project Wants You!

The Pittsburgh Beautification Project is on a mission to beautify abandoned/neglected buildings
throughout the city - by painting artwork on chipboard, and then installing the artwork on boarded
up windows and doors on empty buildings. (There is an attachment to this email for reference,
an empty building that was "beautified" at the foot of the Birmingham Bridge in Uptown.

During the first phase, up to the G-20 summit, a homage to hometown art hero
Andy Warhol will be enacted by placing renderings of his Flower paintings around town.
The paintings will be done by community volunteers, like you, at publicly held Painting Parties.
At the parties, templates of the paintings will be filled in, much like a coloring book - easy enough
for kids and non-artists to have fun and participate.

The Painting Parties will be held at 4810 Penn Avenue (the old Red Star Iron Works garage),
on the following dates:

First Friday, Sept. 4th, 7 pm - midnight
Sat. & Sun., Sept. 5 - 6, noon - 6 pm.
Sat. & Sun., Sept. 12 -13, noon - 6 pm.

Hope to see you there!
Thanks,
Bob Ziller

The preceding was cut and pasted from an email Bob Ziller sent.

As YOU CAN SEE THE FIRST ONE IS TONIGHT DURING AND AFTER UNBLURRED

Pittsburgh On A Pogo Stick

The following little music video can either be taken as a fun awesome, exiting tour of Pittsburgh; the best available argument against nationalized health care or perhaps the best one for mandatory mental health care.

I caught the end part of Pogopalooza 6 @ Schenley Plaza as they were doing the high jump contest.

I think the creator's name is Cody Bluett

Yinz Links For September 4th & 5th

More I found trolling around. Some are G20 related; some urban and bike related; some art, comics, media and some weirdness. September is imperial dictator month- all month.

In NY Times

Many green buildings not living up to the label

Small British bookstore blames giant charity, Oxfam for it's demise.

Roberta Smith looks at the health and mood of NY galleries as they face the recession

India & China square off on Tibetan border region

In The Times Online

Gordon Brown's triumphant $trillion dollar rescue falling flat.

On Pittsblog

South Side Ghost Tours

On Urban Places And Spaces

Portland, Oregon puts in real "European Style" separated bike lane downtown.

On City Walkabout

Lawrenceville Accordion Pool Party!!???

On Libertarian Republican

PA Democrat switches to Libertarian Party to run for open state senate seat.

In Pittsburgh Post Gazette

City's pension fantasies might work-- when pigs fly.

Stan Lee still wielding power in the comic book world.

National Unemployment rate now @ 9.7% (don't ask about U6)

In Pittsburgh Tribune Review

Craig Street,Oakland merchants lobby city for help.

Theater project 'Yinzerspielen' merges two schools of acting

Biden to Pittsburgh one week before Obama. Holy crap!!! Motorcade allert. (My guess-- photo-Op @ Primanti's)

On Null Space

Pension fund procrastination and denial.

On Brewed Fresh Daily

Social Media Revolution

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.

This Blog In New York Magazine And Buzz All Around

OK, Pittsburgh is finally having a few moments in the sun- or at least the camera glare. As much as Luke and others might want to take credit for this, the biggest factor is that the city, itself, it's hills, it's vistas, it's colleges, cultural institutions and diverse and often quirky art scene have been worthy of press for sometime. Um the Steelers don't hurt.

But why now? Are there factors at work that make us more interesting now than before? IMHO- Yes.

Here's my little theory.

Factor One: Costs Matter

As awake from the Dot Com bubble and then the bigger housing/consumer debt bubble that replaced it, individuals and small and large businesses are seeing that a new bubble is not coming to fill our wallets. "The New Normal" is about finding prudent rational ways to make the most of what you have. Of course, I've known this was coming for some time-- which is why I invested in an Indian mutual fund riding the outsourcing trend in 1998 and also why I decided to move to Pittsburgh to start a gallery. The world needs places like Pittsburgh and it's looking for them.

This cost push factor, I think also inspired Karen Lillis and many other creative folks to move here or stay after college. Many, sincere hardcore artists like Swoon's crew see that low costs and cheap buildings can offer a freedom they can't have otherwise. Cheap is the secret behind the startups in Youngstown and the major variable that puts the region high on lists of livable places.Even Detroit is finding a price range ($100 for a house) at which it looks good.

Factor Two: Connections Matter

If costs are such a big deal, why has it taken so long for things to catch on?(and they are barely starting)

Great cities are about trade, in skills, in goods and in ideas and that means they can be measured best by the ease at which they are connected internaly and to the world. When I opened my gallery, I quickly realised something big was missing. It was just too hard to make connections here-to link to new people to get news out and especially to get make any links to the outside world. Of course, geography pleyed it's part but something weird and toxic was going on. The Internet wasn't new and Pittsburgh was where a chunk of it's technology was born, so why did so few galleries and institutions like the cultural trust have good websites? Why didn't the tourism bureau or someone- anyone try to at least provide small bare links to the tiny broke galleries and institutions. Why was there no comprehensive online culture guides? Why was there no printed gallery and Museum Guide? A lot of money was being spent, so that wasn't the reason. It had to be something cultural.

Since then, a rapid and significant bursting of blogs, guides, wiki-pages and web magazines has taken place that has helped Pittsburgh artists, writers and filmmakers tell their story to the wider world and link better to each other.

So now things are starting to pay off. Thanks to Blogs like I Heart Pittsburgh, This blog and Bittersweet Harvest as well as great online newsletters like POP City, it's now much easier to find out what's going on where which is helping generate more out of town press coverage that goes beyond a few major events and attractions.

May's New York Magazine arts travel story, mentioned both POP City, this blog and The Original (which I hadn't heard of!) as sources of info.

Factor Three: Diaspora's can help

I won't go into it but the fact that Yinzer nation is so huge and spread across the globe hasn't hurt too much. A lot of people- are secretly pulling for or at least curious about their old hometown. Not all will move back but that dosn't mean that are not usefull. Any inventory of Pittsburgh's assets has to account for them.

Will get back with more thoughts and stuff about recent Burgh Buzz.

Yinz Weekly Links For September 3rd

I't's been less than a week but the stack too full for the gumband. Here's some stuff I found on the the art and Yinzosphere. Also thrown in is a random selection of economic news/opinion from around the web.

This is planned as a weekly thing but as usual-- things will be random and chaotic. Many of these posts are not from today but just freshly discovered.

In The New Yorker

The Hills Are Alive- Catches the buzz of Pittsburgh's small press scene

On Tube City Almanac

Eyesore Hotel Was Work of Celebrated Architect

On Pittsblog

Cities are not computer brands

On Bike Pittsburgh

Planning Commission passes bike parking ordinance

New bike commuting guide

In Post Gazette

Rivers Casino revenues well below projections.

Sales tax drop likely means less RAD money for the arts.

Pirates will have a record 17th straight losing season

Two women artists look @ Braddock

Swine Flue cases piling up at local Universities

Pittsburgh Tribune Review

Farmers markets are hot.

Arts and Crafts Colonial Festival

More reasons we are most livable city

On Rust Wire

Mural In Cleveland

100 days of pain for David Bing, new mayor of Detroit

On Pittsburgh Comet

G20 musings

I Will Shout Youngstown

Polish Day In Youngstown

In Kansas City Star

Mahoning Valley produces football coaches.

On Defend Youngstown

Youngstown State University enrollment of 14,500 is highest in 16 years.

On Outside Erie

Thoughts on the Rehab of Erie's Union Station

On I Heart Pittsburgh

On CNN Money

Workers know times are tough and accept or ask for pay cuts

On Calculated Risk

Personal Bankruptcy filings up 24% since last August

On Cleveland.Com

Small theater company in Cleveland and Akron defaults on loan and closes down

Pay cuts @ Cleveland Orchestra (old news- from March)

In New York Times

Publisher of Orange County Register files for Chapter 11

In NYC, the government runs a money losing bookie operation

On Streetsblog NY

NYC Principles Union sues to protect free parking perks

In Forbes

Steelers ranked #16 in NFL for estimated team value

In Site Selection Magazine

Pittsburgh cover story. Interesting- but looks like an advertorial

On Culture Grrl

More on the Cleveland Museum donor intent mess

Concerns about Obama and the arts as a "tool of the state."

In Buffalo News

Reaction and thoughts about the Cleveland Museum's move and The Albright Knox Gallery

On Two Coats Of Paint

Latest Art Star contest

On The James Kalm Chanel

James checks out the latest fring hood for galleries in NYC-- Sunset Park