For Immediate Release
Contact:
Blake Fisher
AmeriCorps VISTA
Phone: 724.785.9331
Fax: 724.785.8626
E-mail: barcinfo@barcpa.org
Local Home-Brewers Wanted
The Brownsville Area Revitalization Corporation (BARC) is hosting BARC on Tap; a beer tasting event on Saturday, June 11, from 7-9:30 PM. BARC on Tap will be held at the Hiller Fire Hall at 937 1st St. and will showcase craft-brewers, micro-brewers, and home-brewers.
BARC is currently in the process of looking for home-brewers to participate in the event to showcase their beer to the public. If you are interested in being a home-brewer for BARC on Tap contact the BARC offices at: 724-785-9331 or P.O. Box 97, 69 Market St., by Friday, May 6th.
BARC is a 501c3 non-profit organization whose mission is to achieve economic development through historic preservation, heritage tourism, outdoor recreation, community stewardship, education, youth advancement and the arts.
###
For additional information or arrange interviews:
Dennis Cremonese, 724.785.9331
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Brownsville Area Revitalization Corp. (BARC) is a 501c3 non-profit organization. Its mission is to achieve economic development through historic preservation, heritage tourism, outdoor recreation, community stewardship, education, youth advancements and the arts. Contact the BARC office, 724.785.9331, for additional information about programs and upcoming events.
Dreamweaver Marketing Associates Blog is a Pittsburgh based press release site published by Pittsburgh based marketing company which specializes in Web 2.0 marketing and social media marketing. Press releases are for local news and client marketing of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Athletics at Pitt: The Forefront of a Century of Change
The University of Pittsburgh Department Of Athletics and the African American Alumni Council of the Pitt Alumni Association presents
Athletics at Pitt:
The Forefront of a Century of Change
@ The Petersen Events Center
3719 Terrace Street, Pgh, PA 15261
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
VIP Reception at 5:30 PM
General Reception at 6 PM
Dinner and Program to begin at 7 PM
Join us as we celebrate the remarkable achievements and advancements since the first African- American student-athletes competed and graduated from Pitt 100 years ago. All former athletes will be invited to attend this monumental celebration, and many Panther greats will be in attendance. The monumental event will be hosted by famed sportscaster Bob Costas.
DID YOU KNOW?
The first African American athletes (Oakdale, Pa. native Harry Ray Wooten and Hubbard Hollensworth from Owego, N.Y) graduated from Pitt in 1911.
Many Panther greats are expected to attend including:
• Ruben Brown - first team All-American and No. 1 selection in 1995 NFL Draft.
• Tony Dorsett - NFL Hall of Famer, three-time first team All-American and Heisman Trophy winner.
• Herb Douglas - bronze medalist in 1948 Olympics, dinner chair for event.
• Bobby Grier - first African-American to play in the Sugar Bowl (1956).
• Trecia Kaye-Smith - 15-time All-American track performer; NCAA Division I Most Outstanding Student-Athlete.
• Billy Knight - men's basketball All-American; 11-year NBA veteran; former Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Atlanta Hawks.
• Brandin Knight - two-time All-America in men's basketball, current assistant coach for the Panthers.
• Julius Pegues - first African-American men's basketball player at Pitt.
• Darrelle Revis - first round NFL draft selection in 2007; All-Pro cornerback for the New York Jets.
• Charles Smith- 10-year NBA veteran, Pitt's all-time leading scorer.
• Roger Kingdom - two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 110 meter hurdles, came to Pitt on a football scholarship.
• Jennifer Bruce Scott - second leading scorer in Pitt men's or women's basketball history.
• Marcedes Walker - all-time rebounding leader in Pitt women's basketball history.
Hosted by:
Bob Costas, NBC Sports
Black Tie Optional
Individual Tickets:
$60 - General Ticket (all Pitt former student athletes)
$60 - General Ticket (recent Pitt graduate - 2006-10)
$100 - General Ticket
$200 - Premium Ticket [Includes VIP Reception Ticket - seated in general seating area]
Table Prices:
$1,000 - General Table of 10
$2,500 - Premium Location Table of 10
[Includes 10 VIP Reception Tickets]
Dinner Chair:
Herb Douglas, EDUC '48, '50G
Track and Field
Football
Co-Chairs:
Dave Garnett, A&S '71
Track and Field
Football
Bryant Salter, A&S '71
Track and Field
Football
Jennifer Bruce Scoot, NURS '86
Basketball
For more information, visit Pitt Athletics
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
AAMI Open House Celebrates Music Education and Entertainment
Afro American Music Institute
Open House
@ AAMI - 7131 Hamilton Ave Pittsburgh PA 15208
Saturday April 30th 1pm - 7pm
Sunday May 1st 2pm - 6pm
AAMI invites you to come visit our facilities. Come join us and celebrate our rich legacy of music education and entertainment. Have a tour, meet the founders, the faculty, the staff, the board members and youth and adult students. Come see the newly renovated loading dock which will serve as the multi purpose room for upcoming events, recitals, meetings, rental space and more!
Performance Schedule
Saturday April 30th 1:00pm - 3:00 pm
AAMI faculty and Youth Jazz Ensemble
4:00pm - 7:00pm - Smooth Groove Band
Sunday May 1st 2:00pm - 6:00pm
Sunday's Best Gospel Featuring Deryck Tines Mitchell and other surprise guest artist.
Held At
AAMI
7131 Hamilton Ave
Pittsburgh PA 15208
Dr. James & Pamela Johnson, Founders of AAMI
For more information call (412)-241-6775 or visit our website at http://www.afroamericanmusic.org/
Couture Fashion to Support Gwen's Girls
UPMC Health Plan and Community Care Behavioral Health Present
GWEN'S GIRLS
PASSIONATE ABOUT PURPLE
Featuring the Couture Violette Fashion Show
at The Frick Art & Historical Center
7227 Reynolds Street, Pgh PA 15208
Saturday, May 14, 2011
6-10 PM
You are cordially invited to attend
Gwen's Girls Signature Event
Passionate About Purple
Saturday, May 14, 2011
6:00 pm to 10:00 pm
Black Tie Optional
Admission: $150
Featuring the Couture Violette Fashion Show With local Pittsburgh Designers
Honorary Co-Chairs:
Mary Beth Jenkins, UPMC Health Plan and
Deborah Wasilchak, Community Care Behavioral Health
Event Chair/Show Producer:
Tara Rieland
Admission Includes:
Admission to The Frick Art Museum
Admission to Clayton (Home of the Henry Clay Frick Family)
Admission to Car and Carriage Museum
Martini Bar & Spirit Tasting by Raise Your Spirits
Music & Dancing
Featuring the Couture Violette Fashion Show at 8:00 pm
Visit www.gwensgirls.org/events for details and to register.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Three Rivers Arts Festival Music Lineup Announced
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Veronica Corpuz
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
412-471-6082
corpuz@pgharts.org
PITTSBURGH, PA: The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust proudly announces the 2011 Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival music schedule that will take place June 3-12, 2011. All headline concerts are presented on the Dollar Bank Stage at Point State Park in downtown Pittsburgh. The free live music series, a 52-year Pittsburgh tradition, is sponsored by Dollar Bank.
J. Kevin McMahon, president and CEO of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust notes, “This year’s Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival promises to have the most eclectic and dynamic mix of music to date. We’re starting with the announcement of the headliners for the Dollar Bank Main Stage, but stay tuned for some more exciting news in the coming weeks. Our thanks to our lead sponsor Dollar Bank for making this diverse and entertaining lineup possible.”
“Dollar Bank has a long history of providing community events in Point State Park, so we are very pleased to continue this tradition of free music at the Festival,” said Robert P. Oeler, President and CEO, Dollar Bank. “The Festival’s programming on the Dollar Bank Stage is a hallmark event of the summer season in downtown Pittsburgh, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the city and Cultural District. We’re proud to ensure the continuity of top-quality, affordable arts programming in our region.”
All concerts at Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival are free and open to the public. Concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. in Point State Park with the exception of the Sunday performances which begin at 6:00 p.m. Additional Festival details will be announced in May, including information on the Artists Market, visual arts, family programming, performing arts and additional music programming. For information, visit 3riversartsfest.org or call 412-456-6666.
Blind Boys of Alabama – June 3rd
The Blind Boys of Alabama are recognized worldwide as living legends of gospel music. Celebrated by The Grammys and The National Endowment for the Arts with Lifetime Achievement Awards, inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, having sung for two U.S. presidents in the White House and winners of five Grammy® Awards, they have attained the highest levels of achievement in a career that spans over 70 years and shows no signs of diminishing.
Tom Tom Club – June 4th
Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth established The Tom Tom Club exactly 30 years ago as a side project during their tenure with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Talking Heads. The group celebrates their anniversary this year by playing shows around the world, reinforcing why their funky musical style has been a staple of the dance music world since the early 1980s.
James McMurtry with special guest Jonny Burke – June 6th
Texan singer-songwriter James McMurtry, son of acclaimed author Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove, Terms of Endearment), grew up on a steady diet of Johnny Cash and Roy Acuff records. McMurtry appears at this year’s Three Rivers Arts Festival just months after reissuing two of his most popular albums, Childish Things and Live in Aught-Three. “James McMurtry is simply fearless,” wrote Elmore magazine. “While many other singer-songwriters make veiled references to difficult subjects, McMurtry courageously lays it out there.”
Jonny Burke is a man on the move. After travelling through every state in the Continental U.S. over the past two years, the young musician has launched his full-length debut Distance and Fortune. While the disc reflects his time on the road, these aren’t your typical “drivin’ and cryin’” road songs. This set of tunes, according to Burke, is about “not playing it safe and practical, but allowing your future to be decided by forces of distance and fortune.”
The Baseball Project with special guest J. Roddy Walston & The Business– June 7th
Rock n' roll vets Scott McCaughey and Steve Wynn share an unhealthy love for music exceeded only by an even more unhealthy obsession for baseball. The compatriots blend their two passions with The Baseball Project -- Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails, an album of buzzing guitars and baseball back stories. Drummer Linda Pitmon and Peter Buck round out the squad, as they spin tales of ill-fated drinking binges ('The Yankee Flipper', 'The Death of Big Ed Delahanty'), folk heroes ('Fernando', 'Satchel Paige Said') and, on 'Gratitude (For Curt Flood)', the overlooked man who changed the game.
Piano slamming alt rockers J. Roddy Walston & The Business, led by the bandleader’s barrelhouse piano stylings, shifts seamlessly through jump-up shout-a-longs (“Used to Did”) to low slung, gritty travelin’ blues (“Use Your Language”), to arena-worthy anthems (“I Don’t Want to Hear It”). The band has built an audience the old fashioned way, through hard work and unrelenting live shows.
Tea Leaf Green – June 8th
San Francisco-based band Tea Leaf Green got their start in the relationship formed between guitarist Josh Clark and drummer Scott Rager, who played in a high-school band together in Arcadia, CA.Sharing some of the style and substance of musical contemporaries My Morning Jacket, Wolfmother, and the Raconteurs, Tea Leaf Green conjures the spirit of bands like '70s Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and The Grateful Dead, taking classic sounds and giving them a present-day polish.
Formula412 – June 9th
Pittsburgh's own Formula412 returns to the Festival just two months after releasing their latest effort, Reality Show, and receiving the “Best Group” award at the 2011 Pittsburgh Hip Hop Awards. By adding live guitar, bass and drums to the traditional set-up of a DJ and an emcee, Formula412 pushes the limits of the genre and remains at the top of the Pittsburgh burgeoning hip-hop scene.
Brandi Carlile – June 10th
Named Rolling Stone's "10 Artists to Watch in 2005,” Brandi Carlile has toured as a headliner and supported other artists including Ray LaMontagne, Jonny Lang, Hanson, Indigo Girls, The Fray, Chris Isaak, Tori Amos and Shawn Colvin. In 2010, she won Seattle’s City of Music Breakthrough Award. As Carlile's fans well know, her concerts are near legendary in their perfect communion between performer and audience. Whether she is rocking out with her full band or standing quietly, tantalizingly close to the edge of the stage singing a capella, Carlile brings a riveting intensity to every performance.
Ricky Skaggs – June 11th
2011 marks the 52nd year since Ricky struck his first chords on a mandolin. This fourteen-time Grammy Award winner continues to do his part to lead the recent roots revival in music. With 12 consecutive Grammy-nominated classics behind him, all from his own Skaggs Family Records label, the diverse and masterful tones made by the gifted Skaggs come from a life dedicated to playing music that is both fed by the soul and felt by the heart.
Buckwheat Zydeco – June 12th
Legendary zydeco trailblazer Buckwheat Zydeco is celebrating 30 years together with a recently-released and Grammy Award-winning album entitled Lay Your Burden Down. Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural, Jr., bandleader and accordionist, returns to Three Rivers Arts Festival to perform songs from the new album and many of beloved Cajun classics.
###
Contact:
Veronica Corpuz
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
412-471-6082
corpuz@pgharts.org
THE PITTSBURGH CULTURAL TRUST ANNOUNCES MUSIC LINEUP FOR 10-DAY FESTIVAL
Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival
June 3-12, 2011 – Cultural District
PITTSBURGH, PA: The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust proudly announces the 2011 Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival music schedule that will take place June 3-12, 2011. All headline concerts are presented on the Dollar Bank Stage at Point State Park in downtown Pittsburgh. The free live music series, a 52-year Pittsburgh tradition, is sponsored by Dollar Bank.
J. Kevin McMahon, president and CEO of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust notes, “This year’s Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival promises to have the most eclectic and dynamic mix of music to date. We’re starting with the announcement of the headliners for the Dollar Bank Main Stage, but stay tuned for some more exciting news in the coming weeks. Our thanks to our lead sponsor Dollar Bank for making this diverse and entertaining lineup possible.”
“Dollar Bank has a long history of providing community events in Point State Park, so we are very pleased to continue this tradition of free music at the Festival,” said Robert P. Oeler, President and CEO, Dollar Bank. “The Festival’s programming on the Dollar Bank Stage is a hallmark event of the summer season in downtown Pittsburgh, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the city and Cultural District. We’re proud to ensure the continuity of top-quality, affordable arts programming in our region.”
All concerts at Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival are free and open to the public. Concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. in Point State Park with the exception of the Sunday performances which begin at 6:00 p.m. Additional Festival details will be announced in May, including information on the Artists Market, visual arts, family programming, performing arts and additional music programming. For information, visit 3riversartsfest.org or call 412-456-6666.
Blind Boys of Alabama – June 3rd
The Blind Boys of Alabama are recognized worldwide as living legends of gospel music. Celebrated by The Grammys and The National Endowment for the Arts with Lifetime Achievement Awards, inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, having sung for two U.S. presidents in the White House and winners of five Grammy® Awards, they have attained the highest levels of achievement in a career that spans over 70 years and shows no signs of diminishing.
Tom Tom Club – June 4th
Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth established The Tom Tom Club exactly 30 years ago as a side project during their tenure with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Talking Heads. The group celebrates their anniversary this year by playing shows around the world, reinforcing why their funky musical style has been a staple of the dance music world since the early 1980s.
James McMurtry with special guest Jonny Burke – June 6th
Texan singer-songwriter James McMurtry, son of acclaimed author Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove, Terms of Endearment), grew up on a steady diet of Johnny Cash and Roy Acuff records. McMurtry appears at this year’s Three Rivers Arts Festival just months after reissuing two of his most popular albums, Childish Things and Live in Aught-Three. “James McMurtry is simply fearless,” wrote Elmore magazine. “While many other singer-songwriters make veiled references to difficult subjects, McMurtry courageously lays it out there.”
Jonny Burke is a man on the move. After travelling through every state in the Continental U.S. over the past two years, the young musician has launched his full-length debut Distance and Fortune. While the disc reflects his time on the road, these aren’t your typical “drivin’ and cryin’” road songs. This set of tunes, according to Burke, is about “not playing it safe and practical, but allowing your future to be decided by forces of distance and fortune.”
The Baseball Project with special guest J. Roddy Walston & The Business– June 7th
Rock n' roll vets Scott McCaughey and Steve Wynn share an unhealthy love for music exceeded only by an even more unhealthy obsession for baseball. The compatriots blend their two passions with The Baseball Project -- Volume 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails, an album of buzzing guitars and baseball back stories. Drummer Linda Pitmon and Peter Buck round out the squad, as they spin tales of ill-fated drinking binges ('The Yankee Flipper', 'The Death of Big Ed Delahanty'), folk heroes ('Fernando', 'Satchel Paige Said') and, on 'Gratitude (For Curt Flood)', the overlooked man who changed the game.
Piano slamming alt rockers J. Roddy Walston & The Business, led by the bandleader’s barrelhouse piano stylings, shifts seamlessly through jump-up shout-a-longs (“Used to Did”) to low slung, gritty travelin’ blues (“Use Your Language”), to arena-worthy anthems (“I Don’t Want to Hear It”). The band has built an audience the old fashioned way, through hard work and unrelenting live shows.
Tea Leaf Green – June 8th
San Francisco-based band Tea Leaf Green got their start in the relationship formed between guitarist Josh Clark and drummer Scott Rager, who played in a high-school band together in Arcadia, CA.Sharing some of the style and substance of musical contemporaries My Morning Jacket, Wolfmother, and the Raconteurs, Tea Leaf Green conjures the spirit of bands like '70s Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and The Grateful Dead, taking classic sounds and giving them a present-day polish.
Formula412 – June 9th
Pittsburgh's own Formula412 returns to the Festival just two months after releasing their latest effort, Reality Show, and receiving the “Best Group” award at the 2011 Pittsburgh Hip Hop Awards. By adding live guitar, bass and drums to the traditional set-up of a DJ and an emcee, Formula412 pushes the limits of the genre and remains at the top of the Pittsburgh burgeoning hip-hop scene.
Brandi Carlile – June 10th
Named Rolling Stone's "10 Artists to Watch in 2005,” Brandi Carlile has toured as a headliner and supported other artists including Ray LaMontagne, Jonny Lang, Hanson, Indigo Girls, The Fray, Chris Isaak, Tori Amos and Shawn Colvin. In 2010, she won Seattle’s City of Music Breakthrough Award. As Carlile's fans well know, her concerts are near legendary in their perfect communion between performer and audience. Whether she is rocking out with her full band or standing quietly, tantalizingly close to the edge of the stage singing a capella, Carlile brings a riveting intensity to every performance.
Ricky Skaggs – June 11th
2011 marks the 52nd year since Ricky struck his first chords on a mandolin. This fourteen-time Grammy Award winner continues to do his part to lead the recent roots revival in music. With 12 consecutive Grammy-nominated classics behind him, all from his own Skaggs Family Records label, the diverse and masterful tones made by the gifted Skaggs come from a life dedicated to playing music that is both fed by the soul and felt by the heart.
Buckwheat Zydeco – June 12th
Legendary zydeco trailblazer Buckwheat Zydeco is celebrating 30 years together with a recently-released and Grammy Award-winning album entitled Lay Your Burden Down. Stanley “Buckwheat” Dural, Jr., bandleader and accordionist, returns to Three Rivers Arts Festival to perform songs from the new album and many of beloved Cajun classics.
###
Friday, April 22, 2011
Market Street Arts Festival Slated for National Road Festival in Brownsville
April 21, 2011
Market Street Arts Festival: Where Art, History, Heritage Meet as One
BROWNSVILLE, Pa. – The Market Street Arts Festival is emerging as a regional destination for the May 20-22 National Road celebration, building on its past as the only riverfront community along Pennsylvania's 90-mile stretch of historic highway.
As an 18th and 19th century commercial hub, Brownsville's streets will again come alive with arts, history and music as the focal point for activities on the historic North and South sides, downtown Market Street and wharf. The Market Street Arts Festival revives Brownsville's once active participation in the annual National Road Festival and highlights the community's significance as a historic crossroads for river, road and rail in America's Westward Expansion.
"The Market Street Arts Festival is an important first step in our vision to create a Pennsylvania 'Chautauqua' as part of Brownsville's rebuilding process," says Dr. Fred Lapisardi, chairman of the festival's operating committee and local businessman. "As our plans evolved, it became evident the arts festival was gaining momentum as a regional destination for the numerous groups seeking a different type of venue to participate in the National Road Festival."
The first annual Market Street Arts Festival kicks off May 20 with a ceremony feting writers and artists at the award-winning preservation project, Thompson House Restaurant & Tavern. The next two days – May 21 and 22 – will bring together a wide variety of artists, musicians, exhibitors and specialty food vendors set against a backdrop of special events and an archaeological dig at the site of an 1860s steamboat captain's house.
Both days will feature art exhibits by Dr. R. Scott Lloyd, "Artists on the River" of select works from art majors at California University of Pennsylvania; weekend reception and unveiling of the "2011 Artist of the Pike: Art Educators" at the Frank L. Melega Art Museum; and the public's first chance to go inside the historic Rose Mansion (built in 1872 as the Monongahela Bank) and a "sneak peek" of select photography from a 1,140-piece donation to Brownsville Area Revitalization Corp.
Sunday's lineup will be highlighted by the recreation of the historic visit to Brownsville by Jenny Lind, P.T. Barnum's 19th century Swedish Nightingale, as portrayed by Emily Lapisardi, www.historicalimpersonations.com, and "A Note in Time," a musical and historical perspective created by Mark Kovscek as a festival premiere.
Appearing for the first time in Fayette County and only the second time outside Pittsburgh will be Green Gears Pedi-cabs, which will transport festival-goers in the downtown and South Side as an integral part of the Market Street Arts Festival's green initiative. Transportation on the North Side, including rides to the downtown area, will be provided by Brownsville Bus Lines Inc.
Moving across the Mon, the Market Street Arts Festival is supporting activities at Paci's stagecoach stop, built in 1822, and surrounding businesses. The weekend kicks off the opening of the Paranormal Museum, featuring the Biography Channel's film of Paci's "Ghost Story," which first aired in August 2010.
Other highlights of the Market Streets Arts Festival will be:
■ the opportunity to participate in an archaeological dig at the corner of Bank and Prospect streets in the downtown or learn more in classes at the Brownsville Library – sponsored by the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology Mon/Yough Chapter
■ 18th century encampment and tours at Nemacolin Castle
■ 19th century encampment and artillery display at the Thompson House Restaurant & Tavern, where the staff will be dressed in Colonial garb
■ plein air artists at several locations
■ historic church tours
■ book signings by local, regional and national authors at several locations
■ concerts by Outpost, Mr. Hand, Mad Hats, 2 Edged Sword and others
■ strolling musicians, including professional bagpiper, David Olson
■ chuck wagon-style food court with traditional and ethnic cuisines
###
Two Robotic Exhibits by Bill Vorn Featured at Wood St Galleries
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Veronica Corpuz
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
(412) 471-6082
Corpuz@pgharts.org
Opening reception during Gallery Crawl 5:30-9 p.m.
PITTSBURGH, PA: Bill Vorn will exhibit his two robotic works “Red Light” and “Hysterical Machines” at Wood Street Galleries, 601 Wood Street, in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District beginning Friday, April 29, 2011 during The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Gallery Crawl on Friday, April 29, from 5:30-9 p.m. The exhibition will close on Sunday, June 19, 2011.
“The questions posed by Vorn’s work are not about whether the robots have true emotion or intelligence, but rather about what they evoke in us, their users,” notes curator Murray Horne. “In a dramatic fashion, Vorn’s robots respond to our interactivity as ‘state of mind.’ In questioning our relations, connections or fantasies concerning robots, we may end up imagining what the robot is feeling about us.”
ABOUT THE ARTIST AND ARTWORK
Born and living in Montreal, Bill Vorn is active in the field of Robotic Art since 1992. His installation and performance projects involve robotics and motion control, sound, lighting, video and cybernetic processes. He pursues research and creation on Artificial Life and Agent Technologies through artistic work based on the Aesthetics of Artificial Behaviors.
He holds a Ph.D. degree in Communication Studies from UQAM (Montreal) for his thesis on Artificial Life as a Media. He teaches Electronic Arts in the Department of Studio Arts at Concordia University (Intermedia/Cyberarts program) where he holds the rank of Full Professor. He is responsible of the alab, a Robotic Art research-creation lab part of the Hexagram Institute.
His work has been presented in multiple international events, including Ars Electronica, ISEA, DEAF, Sonar, Art Futura, EMAF and Artec. He has been awarded the Life 2.0 award (1999, Madrid), the Leprecon Award for Interactivity (1998, New York), the Prix Ars Electronica Distinction award (1996, Linz) and the International Digital Media Award (1996, Toronto). He has worked in collaboration with many canadian artists (including Edouard Lock, Robert Lepage, Gilles Maheu, LP Demers and Istvan Kantor). He was cofounder of the electronic pop music band Rational Youth with Tracy Howe in 1981. http://billvorn.concordia.ca/menuall.html
Hysterical Machines
Produced with the help of Hexagram, the Institute for Research/Creation in Media Art and Technology
This project is part of a larger research program on the Aesthetics of Artificial Behaviors and is very much inspired of a previous work based on the Misery of the Machines (Bill Vorn, LP Demers, La Cour des Miracles, 1997). It is conceived on the principle of deconstruction, suggesting dysfunctional, absurd and deviant behaviors through a functional machine. It operates on a dual-level process expressing the paradoxal nature of Artificial Life.
The first prototype of the Hysterical Machine (renamed Prehysterical Machine) has been presented at the Sentient Circuitry show at the Walter Philips Gallery (Banff) in 2002, the Fundacion Telefonica kiosk at Arco (Madrid, Spain) in 2003, and at the FILE 2004 festival (Sao Paulo, Brazil). Since then we have built ten more machines inspired by the prehysterical prototype that are part of a larger scale environment (Hysterical Machines).
Each Hysterical Machine has a spherical body and eight arms made of aluminum tubing. It has a sensing system, a motor system and a control system that functions as an autonomous nervous system (entirely reactive). Some machines are suspended from the ceiling and their arms are actuated by pneumatic valves and cylinders. Pyroelectric sensors allow the robots to detect the presence of viewers in the nearby environment. They react to the viewers according to the amount of stimuli they receive. The perceived emergent behaviors of these machines engender a multiplicity of interpretations based on single dynamic pattern of events.
The aim of this project is to induce empathy of the viewer towards characters which are nothing more than articulated metal structures. The strength of the simulacra is emphasized by perverting the perception of the creatures, which are neither animals nor humans, carried through the inevitable instinct of anthropomorphism and projection of our internal sensations, a reflex triggered by any phenomenon that challenges our senses.
Red Light (2005)
Produced with the help of Le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec
Hexagram, the Institute for Research/Creation in Media Art and Technology
RED LIGHT is an interactive robotic environment which aims to question, reformulate and subvert the notions of behavior, projection and empathy that usually characterize the relationship between human beings and machines. Red Light is a following in my artistic practice about creating artificial worlds. This project evokes a certain "deviance of the machines" as it would exist in the hottest areas of a fictive world populated exclusively by these cybernetic creatures. This installation project also explores techniques and technologies related to parallel robotics and to pneumatics with the construction of home-made pneumatic muscles.
Eight machines react to the presence of viewers by generating sound and light and by moving their body in a very organic but unusual way. Each robot is an assembly of four segments joined by twelve McKibben actuators (air muscles). Six machines are hanging from the ceiling and two machines are convulsing on the floor.
The artificial characters in the Red Light environment are complex machines that could generate a wide number of possible behaviors. These behaviors are also adaptive in response to what the machines perceive and the way viewers decide to interact with them: by touching the robots, by moving around them, by simply standing in front of these untamed tentacles. The title of this installation project evokes a particular situation/context where the actors are expressing themselves through unpredictable behaviors that may seem completely wild or crazy, where the interpretation of these behaviors may even lead to believe in their own true existence. Red Light is a place where the human qualities of the machine and the machinic nature of man are intermixed and become blurred.
GALLERY DETAILS:
Hysterical Machines
April 29 – June 19, 2011
Opening reception during Gallery Crawl 5:30-9 p.m.
Wood Street Galleries is located at 601 Wood Street above the T-Station in the Downtown Pittsburgh Cultural District.
Hours:
Wednesday & Thursday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Friday & Saturday, 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Sunday 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Free and open to the public
For more information, call 412-471-5605 or visit woodstreetgalleries.org
Wood Street Galleries is a project of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
###
Contact:
Veronica Corpuz
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
(412) 471-6082
Corpuz@pgharts.org
Bill Vorn: Hysterical Machines
April 29 – June 19, 2011
Wood Street Galleries, 601 Wood Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Downtown Pittsburgh Cultural District
Opening reception during Gallery Crawl 5:30-9 p.m.
PITTSBURGH, PA: Bill Vorn will exhibit his two robotic works “Red Light” and “Hysterical Machines” at Wood Street Galleries, 601 Wood Street, in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District beginning Friday, April 29, 2011 during The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Gallery Crawl on Friday, April 29, from 5:30-9 p.m. The exhibition will close on Sunday, June 19, 2011.
“The questions posed by Vorn’s work are not about whether the robots have true emotion or intelligence, but rather about what they evoke in us, their users,” notes curator Murray Horne. “In a dramatic fashion, Vorn’s robots respond to our interactivity as ‘state of mind.’ In questioning our relations, connections or fantasies concerning robots, we may end up imagining what the robot is feeling about us.”
ABOUT THE ARTIST AND ARTWORK
Born and living in Montreal, Bill Vorn is active in the field of Robotic Art since 1992. His installation and performance projects involve robotics and motion control, sound, lighting, video and cybernetic processes. He pursues research and creation on Artificial Life and Agent Technologies through artistic work based on the Aesthetics of Artificial Behaviors.
He holds a Ph.D. degree in Communication Studies from UQAM (Montreal) for his thesis on Artificial Life as a Media. He teaches Electronic Arts in the Department of Studio Arts at Concordia University (Intermedia/Cyberarts program) where he holds the rank of Full Professor. He is responsible of the alab, a Robotic Art research-creation lab part of the Hexagram Institute.
His work has been presented in multiple international events, including Ars Electronica, ISEA, DEAF, Sonar, Art Futura, EMAF and Artec. He has been awarded the Life 2.0 award (1999, Madrid), the Leprecon Award for Interactivity (1998, New York), the Prix Ars Electronica Distinction award (1996, Linz) and the International Digital Media Award (1996, Toronto). He has worked in collaboration with many canadian artists (including Edouard Lock, Robert Lepage, Gilles Maheu, LP Demers and Istvan Kantor). He was cofounder of the electronic pop music band Rational Youth with Tracy Howe in 1981. http://billvorn.concordia.ca/menuall.html
Hysterical Machines
Produced with the help of Hexagram, the Institute for Research/Creation in Media Art and Technology
This project is part of a larger research program on the Aesthetics of Artificial Behaviors and is very much inspired of a previous work based on the Misery of the Machines (Bill Vorn, LP Demers, La Cour des Miracles, 1997). It is conceived on the principle of deconstruction, suggesting dysfunctional, absurd and deviant behaviors through a functional machine. It operates on a dual-level process expressing the paradoxal nature of Artificial Life.
The first prototype of the Hysterical Machine (renamed Prehysterical Machine) has been presented at the Sentient Circuitry show at the Walter Philips Gallery (Banff) in 2002, the Fundacion Telefonica kiosk at Arco (Madrid, Spain) in 2003, and at the FILE 2004 festival (Sao Paulo, Brazil). Since then we have built ten more machines inspired by the prehysterical prototype that are part of a larger scale environment (Hysterical Machines).
Each Hysterical Machine has a spherical body and eight arms made of aluminum tubing. It has a sensing system, a motor system and a control system that functions as an autonomous nervous system (entirely reactive). Some machines are suspended from the ceiling and their arms are actuated by pneumatic valves and cylinders. Pyroelectric sensors allow the robots to detect the presence of viewers in the nearby environment. They react to the viewers according to the amount of stimuli they receive. The perceived emergent behaviors of these machines engender a multiplicity of interpretations based on single dynamic pattern of events.
The aim of this project is to induce empathy of the viewer towards characters which are nothing more than articulated metal structures. The strength of the simulacra is emphasized by perverting the perception of the creatures, which are neither animals nor humans, carried through the inevitable instinct of anthropomorphism and projection of our internal sensations, a reflex triggered by any phenomenon that challenges our senses.
Red Light (2005)
Produced with the help of Le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec
Hexagram, the Institute for Research/Creation in Media Art and Technology
RED LIGHT is an interactive robotic environment which aims to question, reformulate and subvert the notions of behavior, projection and empathy that usually characterize the relationship between human beings and machines. Red Light is a following in my artistic practice about creating artificial worlds. This project evokes a certain "deviance of the machines" as it would exist in the hottest areas of a fictive world populated exclusively by these cybernetic creatures. This installation project also explores techniques and technologies related to parallel robotics and to pneumatics with the construction of home-made pneumatic muscles.
Eight machines react to the presence of viewers by generating sound and light and by moving their body in a very organic but unusual way. Each robot is an assembly of four segments joined by twelve McKibben actuators (air muscles). Six machines are hanging from the ceiling and two machines are convulsing on the floor.
The artificial characters in the Red Light environment are complex machines that could generate a wide number of possible behaviors. These behaviors are also adaptive in response to what the machines perceive and the way viewers decide to interact with them: by touching the robots, by moving around them, by simply standing in front of these untamed tentacles. The title of this installation project evokes a particular situation/context where the actors are expressing themselves through unpredictable behaviors that may seem completely wild or crazy, where the interpretation of these behaviors may even lead to believe in their own true existence. Red Light is a place where the human qualities of the machine and the machinic nature of man are intermixed and become blurred.
GALLERY DETAILS:
Hysterical Machines
April 29 – June 19, 2011
Opening reception during Gallery Crawl 5:30-9 p.m.
Wood Street Galleries is located at 601 Wood Street above the T-Station in the Downtown Pittsburgh Cultural District.
Hours:
Wednesday & Thursday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Friday & Saturday, 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Sunday 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Free and open to the public
For more information, call 412-471-5605 or visit woodstreetgalleries.org
Wood Street Galleries is a project of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
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WEST SIDE STORY RETURNS TO PITTSBURGH
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Veronica Corpuz
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
corpuz@pgharts.org
412-471-6082
GRAMMY AWARD WINNING BROADWAY SMASH HIT
WEST SIDE STORY
IS COMING TO PITTSBURGH
MAY 17-22, 2011
BENEDUM CENTER
The tour of the current smash hit Broadway production of WEST SIDE STORY is coming to Pittsburgh, Penn. WEST SIDE STORY will open at the Benedum Center on Tuesday, May 11, 2011. Tony Award-winning librettist Arthur Laurents’ Broadway direction will be recreated for the tour by David Saint, the Associate Director on Broadway. The original Jerome Robbins choreography is reproduced by Tony Award-nominee Joey McKneely (The Boy from Oz, The Life). WEST SIDE STORY is part of the PNC Broadway Across America – Pittsburgh series, presented by The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh Symphony and Broadway Across America.
The new Broadway cast album of WEST SIDE STORY won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album on January 31, 2010. The Bernstein and Sondheim score is considered to be one of Broadway’s finest and features such classics of the American musical theatre as “Something’s Coming,” “Tonight,” “America,” “I Feel Pretty” and “Somewhere.”
The new Broadway production began previews at the Palace Theatre on Broadway Monday, February 23, 2009, opened to critical acclaim breaking box office records at the Palace Theatre on Thursday, March 19, 2009, and recouped its $14 million investment after running only 30 weeks. The Broadway production played its final performance January 2, 2011. The musical played 27 previews and 748 regular performances, making it the longest-running production of the groundbreaking musical in Broadway history. The original production, which had held the record, played 732 performances on Broadway.
WEST SIDE STORY features scenic designs by James Youmans (Gypsy), costumes by Tony Award nominee David C. Woolard (The Farnsworth Invention, The Who’s Tommy), lighting by Tony Award winner Howell Binkley (Gypsy, Jersey Boys), sound design by Tony Award nominee Dan Moses Schreier (Gypsy, A Catered Affair) and hair by Mark Adam Rampmeyer (The Farnsworth Invention).
WEST SIDE STORY is written by three theatrical luminaries: two-time Tony Award winner Arthur Laurents (book) and multiple Tony and Grammy Award winners Leonard Bernstein (music) and Stephen Sondheim (lyrics) in his Broadway debut.
WEST SIDE STORY is produced by Kevin McCollum, James L. Nederlander, Jeffrey Seller with Terry Allen Kramer, Sander Jacobs, Roy Furman / Jill Furman Willis, Robyn Goodman / Walt Grossman, Hal Luftig, Roy Miller and Broadway Across America.
WEST SIDE STORY tickets ($22-$69) are available at the Box Office at Theater Square, online at pgharts.org and by calling 412-456-6666. Groups of 10 or more may purchase tickets by calling 412-471-6930. Performances are: Tuesday-Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m.; and Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m.
PRODUCTION HISTORY
WEST SIDE STORY had a long journey to Broadway. Six years elapsed between Jerome Robbins's first idea of a modern musical adaptation of Romeo and Juliet and its actual Broadway debut in 1957. Originally, the action of the musical was to take place on New York's Lower East Side with tensions flaring between Jews and Catholics during the Passover and Easter holidays. The original setting left the authors uninspired and the project was put on hold. Years later, when Arthur Laurents proposed changing the basis of conflict from religion to race, the show gained creative momentum and WEST SIDE STORY was born.
Originally directed and choreographed by Jerome Robbins, WEST SIDE STORY opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on September 26, 1957 and garnered passionate reactions from critics and audiences alike. The piece has often been credited with changing the entire course of the American musical theatre. Applauding the creators’ innovation in dance and musical style, TIME Magazine exclaimed “Robbins’ energetic choreography and Bernstein’s grand score accentuate the satiric, hard-edged lyrics of Sondheim and Laurents’ capture of the angry voice of urban youth.” New York Times critic Brooks Atkinson described the show as “profoundly moving; an incandescent piece of work where theatre people, engrossed in an original project, are all in top form.”
The original production starred Larry Kert as “Tony,” Carol Lawrence as “Maria,” Chita Rivera as “Anita,” and won six Tony Award nominations including Best Musical of 1957. Jerome Robbins won the Award for his groundbreaking choreography and Oliver Smith took home the prize for Best Scenic Design. Also nominated were Carol Lawrence for Best Supporting Actress, Max Goberman for Best Musical Director and Irene Sharaff for Best Costume Design. WEST SIDE STORY ran for 732 performances before launching national and international tours and a successful mounting at London’s Majesty Theatre in 1958. The first revival of the musical opened on April 8, 1964 at New York City Center by the New York City Center Light Opera Company. The production closed on May 3, 1964 after a limited engagement of 31 performances. The City Center production was staged by Gerald Freedman based on Robbins' original concept. A Broadway revival opened at the Minskoff Theatre on February 14, 1980 directed and choreographed by Robbins with the assistance of Tom Abbott and Lee Becker Theodore. The revival was nominated for a 1980 Tony Award for Best Revival as well as nods for Debbie Allen as “Anita” and Josie de Guzman as “Maria.”
The revival of WEST SIDE STORY on which this tour is based began previews at the Palace Theatre on Broadway Monday, February 23, 2009, opened to critical acclaim breaking box office records on Thursday, March 19, 2009, recouped its $14 million investment after running only 30 weeks. The musical played 27 previews and 748 regular performances, making it the longest-running production of the groundbreaking musical in Broadway history.
An exciting and innovative motion picture version, directed by Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, was released in 1961 and starred Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer as the star-crossed lovers “Maria and Tony” and Rita Moreno as “Anita.” The film also received wide praise from critics, winning ten Academy Awards out of its eleven nominated categories (including Best Picture) as well as a special award for Robbins. The film’s soundtrack grossed more than any other album before it.
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Wednesday, April 20, 2011
The Real Housewives of the Bible
Macedonia Church of Pittsburgh Presents
THE REAL HOUSEWIVES
OF THE BIBLE
A Biblical Drama
Friday, April 22 7 PM & Saturday, April 23 7 PM
@ Macedonia Church
2225 Bedford Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 15219
There is no charge for Admission!
Did you think that baby mama drama was a new phenomenon?! Did you think that you were the only one having trouble in your marriage?! This drama is a fast-paced, modernized retelling of the stories of four of the most well-known women in the Bible. As you take a more intimate look at these women and their struggles, you will find some of your friends, family and even yourself; but don't worry, every spiritual condition has a cure. You don't have to be a housewife to take this journey and find the cure for what ails YOU!
There is no charge for Admission!
For More Information Call
412.281.8437
Macedonia Church in the Hill
2225 Bedford Avenue
http://www.macedoniapgh.org/
Jason A. Barr, Jr. - Senior Pastor
Bio Ritmo Performs Live at Salsa Fridays
 |
| Bio Ritmo |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Veronica Corpuz
412-471-6082
corpuz@pgharts.org
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Salsa Fridays
Presents
Special Live Performance by Bio Ritmo
Friday, April 29, 2011
10:30 p.m., Cabaret at Theater Square
Performance follows Gallery Crawl in the Cultural District
PITTSBURGH, PA: There is no other Salsa band quite like Bio Ritmo. Recognized as a leader of the “new ‘old school’” Salsa movement, Bio Ritmo will make a rare Pittsburgh appearance as part of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Salsa Fridays on Friday, April 29, 10:30 p.m. at the Trust’s Cabaret at Theater Square. The performance by Bio Ritmo follows the Trust’s Gallery Crawl in the Cultural District.
Bio Ritmo attracts a far-reaching listening audience while earning the respect and admiration of traditional Latin music aficionados. The band fuses Salsa Dura, Afro-Latin and Funk with a touch of Samba, Arabic and Afro-Beat, and is leading a renewed global interest in the raw, experimental 70's style Salsa sound. Besides their collective appreciation and understanding of Afro-Latin music, Bio Ritmo's members come from an eclectic mix of musical backgrounds contributing to the band's fresh, unique and soulful sound. Bio Ritmo is one of the few Salsa bands successfully pushing the boundaries of Latino music while preserving its rich musical heritage.
Event Details:
· Tickets for Bio Ritmo are $20.75
· To purchase tickets: visit pgharts.org, the Box Office at Theater Square or call 412-456-6666. Tickets will be available for purchase at the door the night of the show (based on availability)
Salsa Fridays is a weekly Salsa happening hosted by The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust at the Trust’s Cabaret at Theater Square. Salsa Fridays is a 21+ event. The Cabaret at Theater Square is located at 655 Penn Avenue in the heart of the Downtown Pittsburgh Cultural District. For more information on the Cabaret at Theater Square’s late night, weekend entertainment, visit pgharts.org or call 412-456-6666.
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Monday, April 18, 2011
Katherine Young Exhibits In Waiting
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Katherine Young
katherinelyoung@gmail.com
412.638.1492
Pittsburgh, PA: Katherine Young's exhibition of new work, In Waiting, will open on April 15, 2011 at The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s 707 Penn Gallery, 707 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh 15222.
Katherine Young’s work serves as her quiet retreat from distraction and disharmony, where girlish whim finds form. Operating in her invented pageants, momentary struggles are concealed, identities are blurred, and her visions of womanhood are celebrated. The works exhibited in “In Waiting” are from her new series, Ladies in Waiting. Each individual piece is named after a variant of roses, which are named after the gardeners who pursued excellence in each rose’s breed. Similarly, “In Waiting” regards the feminine form, pursues perfection in variation, and explores individuality in archetypes.
In these idyllic escapes, feminine traits are overtly personified in lush flora until the effect is of gilding a lily. Removed from their original context, the ladies are isolated from the pomp of court life. They loiter in groundless atmospheres of gold and flowers. Layering effects allow viewers to meander through new perspectives. Arrangements of petals and pattern, drawn in pen and ink, create their own earthly language revealing new poetic possibilities for the figure.
In Waiting will remain open during regular gallery hours until May 22nd, including the gallery crawl Friday, April 29th. The exhibition is free and open to the public.
Katherine Young is a graduate of the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (2005). She works mostly in pen and ink, and has participated in several notable group shows including “Behind Our Scenes” at SPACE Gallery. She has had work published in Encyclopedia Destructica and Unicorn Mountain, and served as a muralist with the Sprout Fund Public Art Program. She holds the position of Program Manager for the Fellows Program in Public Affairs at the Coro Center for Civic Leadership. Through her work in public affairs and the arts, she is committed to helping citizens engage in dialogue about their communities. Katherine also follows fashion, appreciates melodrama, and listens to opera
For more information contact woodstreetgalleries@pgharts.org or call 412.471.5605
Gallery Details:
707 Penn Gallery is a Visual Arts project of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.
Located at 707 Penn Avenue in the Downtown Pittsburgh Cultural District, 707 Penn Gallery is free and open to the public
Gallery Hours:
Wednesday & Thursday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Friday & Saturday, 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Sunday 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
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Katherine Young
katherinelyoung@gmail.com
412.638.1492
In Waiting
New work by Katherine Young
707 Penn Gallery, 707 Penn Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Downtown Pittsburgh Cultural District
April 15-May 22, 2011
Pittsburgh, PA: Katherine Young's exhibition of new work, In Waiting, will open on April 15, 2011 at The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s 707 Penn Gallery, 707 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh 15222.
Katherine Young’s work serves as her quiet retreat from distraction and disharmony, where girlish whim finds form. Operating in her invented pageants, momentary struggles are concealed, identities are blurred, and her visions of womanhood are celebrated. The works exhibited in “In Waiting” are from her new series, Ladies in Waiting. Each individual piece is named after a variant of roses, which are named after the gardeners who pursued excellence in each rose’s breed. Similarly, “In Waiting” regards the feminine form, pursues perfection in variation, and explores individuality in archetypes.
In these idyllic escapes, feminine traits are overtly personified in lush flora until the effect is of gilding a lily. Removed from their original context, the ladies are isolated from the pomp of court life. They loiter in groundless atmospheres of gold and flowers. Layering effects allow viewers to meander through new perspectives. Arrangements of petals and pattern, drawn in pen and ink, create their own earthly language revealing new poetic possibilities for the figure.
In Waiting will remain open during regular gallery hours until May 22nd, including the gallery crawl Friday, April 29th. The exhibition is free and open to the public.
Katherine Young is a graduate of the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (2005). She works mostly in pen and ink, and has participated in several notable group shows including “Behind Our Scenes” at SPACE Gallery. She has had work published in Encyclopedia Destructica and Unicorn Mountain, and served as a muralist with the Sprout Fund Public Art Program. She holds the position of Program Manager for the Fellows Program in Public Affairs at the Coro Center for Civic Leadership. Through her work in public affairs and the arts, she is committed to helping citizens engage in dialogue about their communities. Katherine also follows fashion, appreciates melodrama, and listens to opera
For more information contact woodstreetgalleries@pgharts.org or call 412.471.5605
Gallery Details:
707 Penn Gallery is a Visual Arts project of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.
Located at 707 Penn Avenue in the Downtown Pittsburgh Cultural District, 707 Penn Gallery is free and open to the public
Gallery Hours:
Wednesday & Thursday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Friday & Saturday, 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.
Sunday 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.
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Thursday, April 14, 2011
Pittsburgh International Children's Festival Celebrates 25th Anniversary
Media Contact:
Diana Roth
(412) 471-8717
roth@pgharts.org
Veronica Corpuz
(412) 471-6082
corpuz@pgharts.org
PITTSBURGH, PA: The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust presents the 25th anniversary of the Pittsburgh International Children’s Festival, Wednesday, May 11, through Sunday, May 15, 2011. The special anniversary programming will showcase international and local theater premieres, including two brand new interactive installations in the green spaces surrounding Schenley Plaza and the University of Pittsburgh. Giant Eagle is the lead sponsor of the 2011 Pittsburgh International Children’s Festival.
“The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is proud to carry on the legacy of presenting award-winning international, national, and local performing artists in an affordable and festive setting. As one of only four such festivals in the nation, the Children’s Festival provides young audiences the opportunity to experience enriching performances of a high caliber that will appeal to parents, teachers and caregivers, ” says J. Kevin McMahon, President and CEO, The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.
“For 25 years, the International Children’s Festival has provided Pittsburgh’s young people with opportunities to understand different cultures through fun and interactive performing arts activities. This wonderful collaboration amongst many partners, including The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and our Citiparks Department, is yet another reason why Pittsburgh is America’s ‘most livable city,’” remarks Mayor of Pittsburgh, Luke Ravenstahl.
In addition to the City of Pittsburgh and Citiparks, the Children’s International Festival is made possible through collaborative partnerships with the University of Pittsburgh School of Arts & Sciences, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
“This anniversary year advances the goal of providing educational opportunities in the performing and visual arts for children and families so they can experience first-hand the impactful value of the arts,” notes Pamela K. Lieberman, Executive Director, Pittsburgh International Children’s Theater & Festival, and Manager of Children’s Theater Programming, The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.
For the 25th anniversary, the Pittsburgh International Children’s Festival will extend the quality performance of a traditional theater setting to the outdoor festival grounds with two featured interactive installations: luminaria, Amococo(UK) sponsored by Equitable Gas, and Silent Disco, acollaboration with University of Pittsburgh combining electronic and music technologies.
For information and tickets, visit the Box Office at Theater Square, pghkids.orgor call 412-456-6666. In addition to the featured ticketed performances, the Festival will include over 30 free hands-on academic, cultural, and international activities, as well as performances at the free outdoor K-12 Community Stage (Thurs.-Sun.), located in Schenley Plaza and outdoors storytelling at The Story Corner located adjacent to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Free outdoor activities and performances are weekdays: 9:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.; Saturday: 9:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.; Sunday: 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Featured, ticketed performances by artists from Canada, Ireland, Mali, the United Kingdom, and the United States include:
Amococo (Architects of Air, Nottingham, UK) Cathedral of Learning Lawn, All Ages, Performances every half hour, May 11, 12 & 13: 9:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.; May 14: 9:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.; May 15: 1:00 – 5:30 p.m. This giant inflatable structure will astonish you as you walk into an incredible Luminaria sculpture. Sponsored by Equitable Gas.
Silent Disco (collaboration with University of Pittsburgh Department of Theatre Arts and The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust) Schenley Plaza, All Ages, 45 minutes, Sessions every hour, May 14: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; May 15: 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. Enter a magical forest where special wireless technology headsets allow attendees to choose between the family-friendly tunes of two very different DJs.
Knuffle Bunny (The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, USA) Alumni Hall Theatre, Ages 2 – 8, 50 minutes, May 11, 12, & 13: 9:45 & 11:15 a.m.; May 14: 9:30 a.m. & 12:30 p.m.; May 15: 1:00 & 4:00 p.m. Just a quick trip to the Laundromat with Daddy, Trixie, and her beloved Knuffle Bunny, things go horribly, hilariously wrong during a family visit to the local Laundromat. This is a stage adaptation of Mo Willems’ beloved award-winning children’s book.
Baobab (Le Théâtre Motus and The Sô Company, Canada and Mali) Alumni Hall Theatre, Ages 5+, 50 minutes, May 11, 12 & 13: 12:45 p.m.; May 14: 4:00 p.m.; May 15: 5:30 p.m. Baobab is an incredible journey inspired by African folklore where ancient drums become lively animal puppets, masks transform into trickster spirits, and shadows dance across the sky.
Room on the Broom (Tall Stories, UK) Bellefield Hall Auditorium, Ages 4+, 55 minutes, May 11, 12 & 13: 9:45 a.m. & 12:45 p.m.; May 14: 11:00 a.m. & 2:00 p.m.; May 15: 2:30 p.m. & 5:30 p.m. Showcasing Tall Stories’ distinctive physical and visual performance style, this playful and lively musical adaptation of Julia Donaldson’s award-winning book features incredible puppets, original songs and a lot of laughs.
See Saw (Ciotóg, Ireland) Henry Heymann Theatre, Ages 18 months – 5 years, 40 minutes, May 12: 11:15 a.m. & 12:45 p.m.; May 13: 9:45 & 11:15 a.m.; May 14: 9:30 a.m. & 12:30 p.m.; May 15: 1:00 & 4:00 p.m. See Saw gently rocks the balance between looking and being looked at and breaks the boundaries of how to look and who is doing the looking.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a non-profit organization whose mission is the cultural and economic development of Pittsburgh’s 14-block Cultural District through public and private support. The Trust presents and encourages diverse performing and visual arts programs within the District, and is an impetus for additional development in downtown Pittsburgh. In addition to the Pittsburgh International Children’s Theater and Children’s Festival, The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust presents the PNC Broadway Across America-Pittsburgh series Pittsburgh Dance Council, Trust Presents, CD Live, JazzLive, First Night Pittsburgh, Gallery Crawl, and Three Rivers Arts Festival, among other Cultural District and arts events. www.pgharts.org
Pittsburgh International Children’s Theater, a division of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, opens the door for children to experience professional performing arts programming for children which inspires, challenges, educates, and stimulates respect for and an understanding of all cultures in an entertaining and enlightening way. Pittsburgh International Children's Festival is one of only four international children's festivals in the nation. www.pghkids.org
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Diana Roth
(412) 471-8717
roth@pgharts.org
Veronica Corpuz
(412) 471-6082
corpuz@pgharts.org
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
Presents the 25th Anniversary of the
Pittsburgh International Children’s Festival
May 11-15, 2011
Featuring World and Pittsburgh Premieres from
Canada, Ireland, Mali, United Kingdom, and United States
PITTSBURGH, PA: The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust presents the 25th anniversary of the Pittsburgh International Children’s Festival, Wednesday, May 11, through Sunday, May 15, 2011. The special anniversary programming will showcase international and local theater premieres, including two brand new interactive installations in the green spaces surrounding Schenley Plaza and the University of Pittsburgh. Giant Eagle is the lead sponsor of the 2011 Pittsburgh International Children’s Festival.
“The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is proud to carry on the legacy of presenting award-winning international, national, and local performing artists in an affordable and festive setting. As one of only four such festivals in the nation, the Children’s Festival provides young audiences the opportunity to experience enriching performances of a high caliber that will appeal to parents, teachers and caregivers, ” says J. Kevin McMahon, President and CEO, The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.
“For 25 years, the International Children’s Festival has provided Pittsburgh’s young people with opportunities to understand different cultures through fun and interactive performing arts activities. This wonderful collaboration amongst many partners, including The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and our Citiparks Department, is yet another reason why Pittsburgh is America’s ‘most livable city,’” remarks Mayor of Pittsburgh, Luke Ravenstahl.
In addition to the City of Pittsburgh and Citiparks, the Children’s International Festival is made possible through collaborative partnerships with the University of Pittsburgh School of Arts & Sciences, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
“This anniversary year advances the goal of providing educational opportunities in the performing and visual arts for children and families so they can experience first-hand the impactful value of the arts,” notes Pamela K. Lieberman, Executive Director, Pittsburgh International Children’s Theater & Festival, and Manager of Children’s Theater Programming, The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.
For the 25th anniversary, the Pittsburgh International Children’s Festival will extend the quality performance of a traditional theater setting to the outdoor festival grounds with two featured interactive installations: luminaria, Amococo(UK) sponsored by Equitable Gas, and Silent Disco, acollaboration with University of Pittsburgh combining electronic and music technologies.
For information and tickets, visit the Box Office at Theater Square, pghkids.orgor call 412-456-6666. In addition to the featured ticketed performances, the Festival will include over 30 free hands-on academic, cultural, and international activities, as well as performances at the free outdoor K-12 Community Stage (Thurs.-Sun.), located in Schenley Plaza and outdoors storytelling at The Story Corner located adjacent to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Free outdoor activities and performances are weekdays: 9:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.; Saturday: 9:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.; Sunday: 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Featured, ticketed performances by artists from Canada, Ireland, Mali, the United Kingdom, and the United States include:
Amococo (Architects of Air, Nottingham, UK) Cathedral of Learning Lawn, All Ages, Performances every half hour, May 11, 12 & 13: 9:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.; May 14: 9:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.; May 15: 1:00 – 5:30 p.m. This giant inflatable structure will astonish you as you walk into an incredible Luminaria sculpture. Sponsored by Equitable Gas.
Silent Disco (collaboration with University of Pittsburgh Department of Theatre Arts and The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust) Schenley Plaza, All Ages, 45 minutes, Sessions every hour, May 14: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; May 15: 1:00 – 5:00 p.m. Enter a magical forest where special wireless technology headsets allow attendees to choose between the family-friendly tunes of two very different DJs.
Knuffle Bunny (The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, USA) Alumni Hall Theatre, Ages 2 – 8, 50 minutes, May 11, 12, & 13: 9:45 & 11:15 a.m.; May 14: 9:30 a.m. & 12:30 p.m.; May 15: 1:00 & 4:00 p.m. Just a quick trip to the Laundromat with Daddy, Trixie, and her beloved Knuffle Bunny, things go horribly, hilariously wrong during a family visit to the local Laundromat. This is a stage adaptation of Mo Willems’ beloved award-winning children’s book.
Baobab (Le Théâtre Motus and The Sô Company, Canada and Mali) Alumni Hall Theatre, Ages 5+, 50 minutes, May 11, 12 & 13: 12:45 p.m.; May 14: 4:00 p.m.; May 15: 5:30 p.m. Baobab is an incredible journey inspired by African folklore where ancient drums become lively animal puppets, masks transform into trickster spirits, and shadows dance across the sky.
Room on the Broom (Tall Stories, UK) Bellefield Hall Auditorium, Ages 4+, 55 minutes, May 11, 12 & 13: 9:45 a.m. & 12:45 p.m.; May 14: 11:00 a.m. & 2:00 p.m.; May 15: 2:30 p.m. & 5:30 p.m. Showcasing Tall Stories’ distinctive physical and visual performance style, this playful and lively musical adaptation of Julia Donaldson’s award-winning book features incredible puppets, original songs and a lot of laughs.
See Saw (Ciotóg, Ireland) Henry Heymann Theatre, Ages 18 months – 5 years, 40 minutes, May 12: 11:15 a.m. & 12:45 p.m.; May 13: 9:45 & 11:15 a.m.; May 14: 9:30 a.m. & 12:30 p.m.; May 15: 1:00 & 4:00 p.m. See Saw gently rocks the balance between looking and being looked at and breaks the boundaries of how to look and who is doing the looking.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a non-profit organization whose mission is the cultural and economic development of Pittsburgh’s 14-block Cultural District through public and private support. The Trust presents and encourages diverse performing and visual arts programs within the District, and is an impetus for additional development in downtown Pittsburgh. In addition to the Pittsburgh International Children’s Theater and Children’s Festival, The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust presents the PNC Broadway Across America-Pittsburgh series Pittsburgh Dance Council, Trust Presents, CD Live, JazzLive, First Night Pittsburgh, Gallery Crawl, and Three Rivers Arts Festival, among other Cultural District and arts events. www.pgharts.org
Pittsburgh International Children’s Theater, a division of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, opens the door for children to experience professional performing arts programming for children which inspires, challenges, educates, and stimulates respect for and an understanding of all cultures in an entertaining and enlightening way. Pittsburgh International Children's Festival is one of only four international children's festivals in the nation. www.pghkids.org
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WorldBlu Certifies 52 Organizations as Democratic Workplaces
CONTACT
Ms. Traci Fenton
Founder and CEO
Phone: + 1 202 251 8099
E-Mail: traci@worldblu.com
(also available for interview)
WorldBlu Certifies 52 Organizations as “Democratic Workplaces”
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA (April 12, 2011) – Fifty-two organizations have been recognized for the fifth annual “WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces™ 2011,” a global certification given by WorldBlu, a company specializing in organizational democracy.
The announcement came as part of the fifth annual “Democracy in the Workplace Day” on April 12th. For-profit and non-profit organizations from across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the UK, India, the Netherlands, Denmark, Haiti and Malaysia made the WorldBlu List from a diversity of industries including aerospace, technology, manufacturing, healthcare, telecommunications, retail, services and energy, ranging in size from five to over 80,000 employees and representing over $15 billion in combined annual revenue.
Well-known companies to make the WorldBlu List include Groupon, Zappos.com, HCL Technologies, 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, New Belgium Brewery, 3i Infotech, DaVita, Great Harvest Bread Company and WD-40 Company.
Since first launching the WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces in 2007, the number of organizations certified has grown steadily from 34 to 52, with combined annual revenues increasing from just $3 billion to over $15 billion. WorldBlu has now either certified organizational members or has individual members in 55 countries worldwide, up from just four countries when it first began.
Organizations from the for-profit and non-profit sectors that have been in operation for at least one full year and have five or more employees can apply for WorldBlu certification.
The standard for certification is high, and requires a large number of employees to complete a survey evaluating their organization’s practice of ten democratic principles, such as transparency, dialogue and listening, integrity, accountability and choice on a leadership, individual, and systems and processes level. WorldBlu developed the survey tool based on a decade of research into what makes a world-class democratic organization. Not all organizations that apply receive certification.
This year’s WorldBlu List contains eight organizations that sustained their place on the WorldBlu List for their fifth consecutive year since the certification process began in 2007. They include: AIESEC International, Axiom News, Betterworld Telecom, Beyond Borders, Great Harvest Bread Company, Guayaki Yerba Mate, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and Taking IT Global.
“One out of four Americans feel like they work in a dictatorship, yet 80 percent of employees feel that if they had more freedom at work, their overall performance would improve,” comments WorldBlu Founder and CEO, Traci Fenton. “WorldBlu-certified organizations model how more freedom – rather than fear and control in the workplace – increases innovation and employee engagement, as well as boosting the bottom-line.”
Why Democracy in the Workplace
Mike Ferretti, CEO of Great Harvest Bread Company, a five-time WorldBlu List awardee company with over 230 franchises operating in the US says, “We’re into our third decade in business and truly believe the democratic principles we follow have kept Great Harvest relevant and agile.”
“Businesses that are open to organizational democracy are usually nimble, resourceful and actively maximizing their human potential,” comments Kim Jordan, CEO of Fort Collins-based New Belgium Brewery, which has over 350 employees and boasts a 97 percent retention rate. “When people feel knowledgeable about the process and that their views are respected and heard, then you have created a community where good ideas and talent can flourish without restraint.”
Groupon, named "the fastest growing company ever" by Forbes, is celebrating the first time it has made the WorldBlu List. "At Groupon, we operate using the same democratic values that our Founding Fathers did when they gave the right to vote to every man, woman, and child," explains Andrew Mason, Founder and CEO.
“DaVita is honored to once again be recognized as the only healthcare and FORTUNE 500 company on WorldBlu’s List of Most Democratic Workplaces,” said Kent Thiry, chairman and CEO of DaVita. “At DaVita, we are proud to be a community first and a company second.”
Namasté Solar, based in Boulder, CO, has nearly 60 employees and has sustained over 300 percent growth in the past three years. They attribute much of their rapid growth since inception in 2005 to their democratic decision-making model. “Namasté Solar implements conscientious and democratic business practices because we recognize the interconnectedness of all stakeholders and all individuals, and have experienced firsthand how this fundamental integrity can translate into financial viability, consumer loyalty, community recognition and support,” comments Blake Jones, co-founder and CEO.
Best Practices in Organizational Democracy
WorldBlu-certified organizations make use of a variety of unique practices that are distinctly democratic and contribute to profitability, high performance and employee engagement.
At Zappos.com, headquartered in Henderson, NV, all employees are invited to contribute their thoughts and voice about the organization’s democratic design to their annual “culture book.” All submissions are unedited (except for typos), and distributed to employees, vendors and even customers. They believe this level of transparency and authenticity contributes directly to their social as well as financial bottom-line. Thousands of people from around the world have flocked to tour Zappos.com to experience their democratic workplace. During one tour, a guest even proposed to his girlfriend, and six months later they were married in the Zappos office.
DaVita Inc., a $6 billion healthcare company located in Denver, CO, understands that open and transparent communications is key to maintaining a democratic workplace. They have regular two-way dialogue between executives and more than 35,000 teammates (employees) across the country. Their communication forums include local Town Hall meetings and a bi-monthly “Voice of the Village” call, to which all teammates are invited and more than 3,000 teammates regularly attend. On the call, questions are fielded by the CEO, the COO, the Chief Medical Officer, as well as other leaders from core business areas.
Brainpark, based in San Francisco, CA, has periodic reviews of their senior management that include the option of removing the company’s CEO through a vote if they are not adequately performing their roles.
In sharp contrast to massive lay-offs globally, HCL, a $5 billion company based in Nodia, India, with nearly 80,000 employees located in 25 countries worldwide, took a different approach. Employees were told that the company had to save $100 million during the recession in order to avoid lay-offs, so they came up with 76 ideas as to how the company could save money, totaling $260 million in savings. By being transparent with employees as to the financial picture of the company, HCL was able to leverage the ideas of its employees to turn the recession into an opportunity – and as a result not one employee was let go. HCL has since tripled its revenue and income and doubled its overall market capitalization.
In Vancouver, Canada, at 1-800-GOT-JUNK?’s daily “Huddles,” there is an activity called “Missing Systems and Opportunities” where employees can bring up what they believe is a missing system within the workplace. Someone else in the room is then expected to take ownership of finding a solution. Alternately, individuals can identify opportunities that they see and ownership for the opportunity can be claimed the same way. By addressing these issues in an open venue, it creates public accountability for everyone to work towards improving the workplace experience overall.
Dreamhost, based just outside of Los Angeles, California, knows how to give real power to their people. After a recent service outage, they authorized their support technicians to provide service credits to individual customers based on their own judgment.
At I Love Rewards, based in the US and Canada, their “MasterPlan” vision document isn’t created in the C-suite, it’s drafted, reviewed and updated annually by employees, the Board of Directors, and even clients. When faced with a recent expansion opportunity, in order to maintain their democratic culture, I Love Rewards created an internal committee of old and new employees called “Culture Up The Office” to spearhead scaling up the culture. One result of their democratic workplace is a 108 percent increase in gross billings.
At Dialog, an Austin, Texas-based marketing consultancy, they have figured out how to fire people and still have them maintain a sense of dignity. Dialog offers the terminated employee the opportunity to come back and meet with them once the dust settles and the emotional feelings around losing their job have subsided. They call this process “cleaning the files.” All employees also vote if they want a company on their client roster – or not.
At social media firm NixonMcInnes, based in Brighton, England, they have two open seats at company board meetings which any employee is invited to fill in order to avoid a culture of secrecy and to boost overall participation and voice. Happiness is measured in the company daily by employees dropping tennis balls in one of several buckets to indicate how happy they are as they leave the office that day, with the results visible to everyone, prompting conversations about how people are feeling. An employee-elected ‘rewards team’ scrutinizes and approves all applications for pay rises (right up to the CEO). Despite the difficult financial climate in the UK, the company is achieving double-digit revenue growth.
Before the explosion of social media, Billings, MT-based Great Harvest Bread was harnessing technology to allow bakery owners to communicate online, 24/7. The Great Harvest "social network" is called “The Breadboard” and the company has been using it for decades to facilitate conversations, great ideas, criticism, and solutions. In contrast to other franchises, Great Harvest is a “freedom-centered” franchise where bakery owners speak system-wide without fear of censorship.
At The Happy at Work Project, a consulting and training firm focused on employee happiness based just outside of Copenhagen, Denmark, all employees are free to pick the projects they want to work on with the rule that if you don't want to work on something, you're not allowed to.
Future Considerations, based in Madison, WI and London, England, first applied for WorldBlu certification in 2009 and did not receive it. They used their results, however, to help transition the organization into a more democratic workplace. They reapplied for certification in 2010 and received it and are now in the process of becoming 100 percent employee-owned.
The Grammy® Award-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, based in New York City, is completely conductorless and rotates leadership amongst orchestra members.
At Integritive, a 15-person website development and marketing agency based in Asheville, NC, any employee can call a “pow-wow” meeting with any other person on the team to talk about something that may be bothering them or that they need to discuss. Everyone is free to choose their own job title and amend it as often as they’d like, and there is complete flextime so employees can create and modify their work schedules as needed.
Axiom News, headquartered in Peterborough, Canada, understands that newsrooms are traditionally quite hierarchical with a multitude of editors for each journalist. However, due to its democratic design, all stories instead are peer reviewed for proofreading and the writer makes the final edits, as opposed to in a traditional newsroom where that would be the editor’s role.
At Menlo Innovations, based in Ann Arbor, MI, the company encourages transparency, knowledge sharing, and feedback by having each team member share a computer with another team member while they work together on projects. They then rotate partners weekly.
Organizational democracy isn’t just practiced at brick and mortar companies either. At American Support, a 100 percent virtual customer service company, all employees have access to one another’s quarterly goals and Key Performance Indicators. With this practice, they not only foster transparency within and across departments, they also reinforce alignment from the organizational level to the individual level. As a result, American Support has tripled in size during the last two years and expects continued growth.
Non-profit Haiti Partners, which is based in Vero Beach, FL, and Port-au-Prince, Haiti, uses a horizontal structure and participatory approach to decision-making and is teaching their internal model externally to organizations throughout Haiti in order to help combat the poverty, injustice and misery faced by the overwhelming majority of people there.
“Democratic organizations operate on the principles of freedom rather than fear and control,” explains Fenton. “They understand that a democratic design, rather than the traditional pyramid structure that still characterizes most workplaces, will be a key to their ability to attract and retain top talent, particularly Gen Y top candidates in this new, Democratic Age.”
Several of the organizations not only operate democratically, they also have developed software enabling other companies to do so. Rypple, based in Toronto, Canada, lets employees take control of their professional development with an easy way to get anonymous feedback, recognition for achievements and receive continuous coaching from their managers.
Brainpark produces an “intelligent” software platform that heightens transparency by learning from the social interactions of a company to connect people and resources around relevant tasks. Podio is a flexible online management platform designed to empower individuals and teams to design work streams in a way that works best for them.
Calgary, Canada-based Chaordix has developed technology that enables organizations to adopt crowd-sourcing for a competitive advantage, inviting crowds to submit, discuss, vote on, and often refine and rank contributions through the web. This empowers employees, partners and customers to be co-creation agents for new products and services, and help solve problems. Clients include IBM, PwC and Orange.
The Link School, a small high school based in Buena Vista, Colorado, models the future of education. It uses consensus-based democracy, where all staff as well as students have an equal input in core decisions. From the small daily decisions to big decisions such as staff hiring, every member of the community must be on board before they move forward. Students are listened to and their vote matters as well. A “thumbs down” vote from the students can stop a project or potential new hire in its tracks, causing the staff to really think through and thoroughly communicate their ideas to the community.
All of the WorldBlu List organizations practice open-book management techniques and some companies, such as Future Considerations and Nixon McInnes, both headquartered in the UK, and The Happy at Work Project, based in Denmark, are also transparent about employee salaries. At Namasté Solar, no employee earns more than twice what any other employee earns. For Glassdoor.com, which hosts an on-line forum where people can anonymously share and review salary levels for thousands of companies, this practice also reflects a central value of the company.
“Organizational democracy is inevitable,” comments Fenton. “The Internet, the demands of Generations X and Y to have a voice in the workplace, and the Gallup Organization’s report that nearly two-thirds of US workers are disengaged at work are causing businesses to rethink their management models and embrace a more democratic style. The companies that choose organizational democracy will lead their industries, boost their bottom-lines, and ultimately build a more democratic world.”
WorldBlu LIVE: Spreading Freedom at Work, an annual two-day event for leaders of democratic workplaces from around the globe, will be held May 19-20th in San Francisco at the St. Regis Hotel. There are over 30 confirmed speakers, including Dan Jessup, Head of Talent at Groupon, Gary Ridge, CEO of WD-40 Company, John Foster, Head of Talent at Hulu, Rob Richman, Product Manager at Zappos Insights, Traci Fenton, CEO of WorldBlu, Glen Lubbert, CEO of Mojo Interactive, Daniel Debow, CEO of Rypple and Vishen Lakhiani, Founder of MindValley. The overall program will explore the WorldBlu 10 Principles of Democratic Design™ as well as topics such as how to start or transition to a democratic workplace, how to scale up democratically, open-book management and salary transparency, “confessions” of democratic CEOs, how to build more democratic schools, leading technology for democratic workplaces, and more.
WorldBlu has offices throughout the US and UK and specializes in organizational democracy and freedom-centered leadership. Founded in 1997, WorldBlu’s vision is to see one billion people working in free and democratic workplaces worldwide. For more information, visit the WorldBlu website at http://www.worldblu.com or http://www.worldblulive.com
(Note to editors: Ms. Traci Fenton is available for interviews. Contact information is at the top of the release. The complete list of certified organizations follows.)
The WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces™ 2011: (A list, not a ranking.)
1. 1-800-GOT-JUNK? – Vancouver, Canada
2. 3i Infotech – Mumbai, India
3. AIESEC International – Rotterdam, Netherlands
4. American Support – Chapel Hill, NC*
5. Axiom News – Ontario, Canada
6. BetterWorld – Telecom Reston, VA
7. Beyond Borders – Washington DC
8. Brainpark – Alamo, CA
9. Bucket Brigade – Milwaukee, WI*
10. The Bump Network – La Jolla, CA*
11. Chaordix – Calgary, Canada
12. Chroma Technology – Corp Bellows Falls, VT
13. DaVita – Denver, CO
14. Dialog – Austin, TX
15. DreamHost – Brea, CA
16. Explore Communications – Denver, CO
17. Future Considerations – London, UK and Madison, WI
18. Glassdoor – Sausalito, CA
19. Great Harvest Bread Company – Dillon, MT
20. Greenleaf Book Group – Austin, TX*
21. Groupon – Chicago, IL*
22. Guayaki Yerba Mate – Sebastopol, CA
23. Haiti Partners – Port au Prince, Haiti
24. HCL Technologies – Noida, India
25. Hulu – Los Angeles, CA*
26. I Love Rewards – San Francisco, CA
27. Innovation Partners International – Washington, DC
28. Integritive – Asheville, NC*
29. LEARN – Laval, Canada*
30. Menlo Innovations – Ann Arbor, MI
31. Messiah Village – Mechanicsburg, PA
32. MindValley – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
33. Mojo Interactive – Orlando, FL*
34. Namaste Solar – Boulder, CO
35. Nearsoft – Hermosillo, Mexico
36. New Belgium Brewing Company – Fort Collins, CO
37. NixonMcInnes – Brighton, UK
38. Orpheus Chamber Orchestra – New York, NY
39. Podio – Copenhagen, Denmark*
40. Productivity Associates – San Diego, CA*
41. Rabbit – London, UK*
42. Rypple – Toronto, Canada
43. Statsit – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
44. sweetriot – New York, NY
45. TakingITGlobal – Toronto, Canada
46. The Happy at Work Project (Projekt Arbejdsglæde) – Copenhagen, Denmark*
47. The Link School – Buena Vista, CO
48. Total Debt Freedom – Markham, Canada*
49. Tracer – Milwaukee, WI
50. Valtech – Copenhagen, Denmark*
51. WD-40 Company – San Diego, CA*
52. Zappos.com – Las Vegas, NV
* = indicates the first year an organization has received WorldBlu certification.
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A Red Hot Gala Ushers in The Public's Upcoming Season
 |
| Hayden Tee |
Pittsburgh Public Theater’s Red Hot Gala
Pittsburgh Public Theater’s A Red Hot Gala takes place on Saturday, May 7, at Downtown’s Westin Convention Center Hotel, co-chaired by J. Rich Alexander, Executive Vice President of PPG Industries and Kari & Steven Guy, President and CEO of Oxford Development Company.
The theme of this year’s fundraiser anticipates The Public’s upcoming season, which will include a new production of Red, John Logan’s 2010 Tony Award-winner about the artist Mark Rothko.
Set to a hot Latin beat, Cocktail Hour will feature exquisite hors d’oeuvres, performances by ballroom dancers, living art works, and interactive digital photography that will allow guests to “star” in next season’s shows. This will be followed by A Dinner to Arouse Your Palate, An Auction to Awaken Your Desire, and A Performance to Electrify Your Senses starring Hayden Tee, the king of Camelot.
At 9 pm, the guests will become the stars of the ballroom and dance the night away. All proceeds benefit Pittsburgh Public Theater programming. Tickets are available by contacting Maureen Keane at 412.316.8200 ext. 723 or mkeane@ppt.org.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
David Dorfman Dance at the Byham Theater
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Veronica Corpuz
(412) 471-6082
corpuz@pgharts.org
Diana Roth
(412) 471-8717
roth@pgharts.org
Pittsburgh, PA: The Pittsburgh Dance Council, a division of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, is proud to present David Dorfman Dance, at the Byham Theater, on Saturday, April 30, 2011, at 8:00 p.m. David Dorman Dance will perform the Pittsburgh premiere, Prophets of Funk/Dance to the Music, a dance celebration that honors the music of prophetic love by Sly and the Family Stone, one of the first racially and gender-integrated bands (late ‘60’s – mid ‘70’s) in America.
The piece celebrates, through powerful music, the struggles and celebration of everyday people, lifting the spirit and going off the idea that “in the face of the funk of life, there are still hopes and aspirations that reside in all of us.” Prophets of Funk/Dance to the Music premiered on February 4, 2011 at Connecticut College andwasconceived and directed by David Dorfman, choreography and text by David Dorfman Dance, sound design by Samuel Crawford, music by Sly and the Family Stone, lighting design by David Weiner in association with Dans Sheehan, media design by Jacob Pinholster, costumes by Amanda Bujak and dramaturgy by Alex Timbers.
Tickets ($19-$45) may be purchased at the Box Office at Theater Square, 655 Penn Avenue, online at www.pgharts.org, or by calling (412) 456-6666. First Commonwealth is the proud season sponsor of Pittsburgh Dance Council, and WDUQ 90.5 FM is the media sponsor.
About David Dorfman Dance
Founded in 1985, the 26 year old company has performed in New York City and throughout North and South America, Great Britain and Europe. During these years, the dance company has received eight New York Dance and Performance (“Bessie”) Awards.
David Dorfman Dance has the vision to create innovative, inclusive, radically humanistic and movement-based performances. The company is also committed to exploring enlivening topics and questions that generate critical dialogues and debates amongst its audiences. Through this unique interpretation, David Dorfman Dance is recognized as “one of the nation’s leading modern dance companies” (The New York Times).
About David Dorfman
Founder and performer, David Dorfman is a Chicago native. Dorfman received a BS in Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis, and an MFA in Dance from Connecticut College, where he joined the faculty in 2004 and is currently Professor of Dance and Department Chair.
Dorfman has received many awards for his works, including the 2005 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship, an American Choreographer’s Award, the first Paul Taylor Fellowship from The Yard, and a New York Dance and Performance (“Bessie”) Award for David Dorfman Dance’s community-based project Familiar Movements. Through his choreography, David Dorfman seeks to “get the whole world dancing.”
Each year the Pittsburgh Dance Council, a division of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, showcases a world-class season of dance. As the largest presenter of international performances in the city, the Dance Council continues to help make our Cultural District one of the country’s leading arts and entertainment centers.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a non-profit organization whose mission is the cultural and economic development of Pittsburgh’s 14-block Cultural District through public and private support. The Trust presents and encourages diverse performing and visual arts programs within the District, and is an impetus for additional development in downtown Pittsburgh. In addition to the Pittsburgh Dance Council, The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust presents the PNC Broadway Across America-Pittsburgh series, Trust Presents, Pittsburgh International Children’s Theater and Children’s Festival, CD Live, JazzLive, First Night Pittsburgh, Gallery Crawl, and Three Rivers Arts Festival, among other Cultural District and arts events. The Trust owns Theater Square and the Cabaret at Theater Square; James E. Rohr Building & Arts Education Center; the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts; Byham, O’Reilly, and Harris Theaters; visual arts galleries: Wood Street Galleries, at 601 Wood Street; SPACE, at 812 Liberty Avenue and 937 Liberty: a multipurpose performance and exhibit space, among other downtown arts facilities.
###
Media Contact:
Veronica Corpuz
(412) 471-6082
corpuz@pgharts.org
Diana Roth
(412) 471-8717
roth@pgharts.org
Pittsburgh Dance Council presents
David Dorfman Dance
Saturday, April 30, 2011, at 8:00 p.m.
Byham Theater, 101 Sixth Street
Pittsburgh, PA: The Pittsburgh Dance Council, a division of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, is proud to present David Dorfman Dance, at the Byham Theater, on Saturday, April 30, 2011, at 8:00 p.m. David Dorman Dance will perform the Pittsburgh premiere, Prophets of Funk/Dance to the Music, a dance celebration that honors the music of prophetic love by Sly and the Family Stone, one of the first racially and gender-integrated bands (late ‘60’s – mid ‘70’s) in America.
The piece celebrates, through powerful music, the struggles and celebration of everyday people, lifting the spirit and going off the idea that “in the face of the funk of life, there are still hopes and aspirations that reside in all of us.” Prophets of Funk/Dance to the Music premiered on February 4, 2011 at Connecticut College andwasconceived and directed by David Dorfman, choreography and text by David Dorfman Dance, sound design by Samuel Crawford, music by Sly and the Family Stone, lighting design by David Weiner in association with Dans Sheehan, media design by Jacob Pinholster, costumes by Amanda Bujak and dramaturgy by Alex Timbers.
Tickets ($19-$45) may be purchased at the Box Office at Theater Square, 655 Penn Avenue, online at www.pgharts.org, or by calling (412) 456-6666. First Commonwealth is the proud season sponsor of Pittsburgh Dance Council, and WDUQ 90.5 FM is the media sponsor.
About David Dorfman Dance
Founded in 1985, the 26 year old company has performed in New York City and throughout North and South America, Great Britain and Europe. During these years, the dance company has received eight New York Dance and Performance (“Bessie”) Awards.
David Dorfman Dance has the vision to create innovative, inclusive, radically humanistic and movement-based performances. The company is also committed to exploring enlivening topics and questions that generate critical dialogues and debates amongst its audiences. Through this unique interpretation, David Dorfman Dance is recognized as “one of the nation’s leading modern dance companies” (The New York Times).
About David Dorfman
Founder and performer, David Dorfman is a Chicago native. Dorfman received a BS in Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis, and an MFA in Dance from Connecticut College, where he joined the faculty in 2004 and is currently Professor of Dance and Department Chair.
Dorfman has received many awards for his works, including the 2005 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship, an American Choreographer’s Award, the first Paul Taylor Fellowship from The Yard, and a New York Dance and Performance (“Bessie”) Award for David Dorfman Dance’s community-based project Familiar Movements. Through his choreography, David Dorfman seeks to “get the whole world dancing.”
Each year the Pittsburgh Dance Council, a division of The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, showcases a world-class season of dance. As the largest presenter of international performances in the city, the Dance Council continues to help make our Cultural District one of the country’s leading arts and entertainment centers.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a non-profit organization whose mission is the cultural and economic development of Pittsburgh’s 14-block Cultural District through public and private support. The Trust presents and encourages diverse performing and visual arts programs within the District, and is an impetus for additional development in downtown Pittsburgh. In addition to the Pittsburgh Dance Council, The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust presents the PNC Broadway Across America-Pittsburgh series, Trust Presents, Pittsburgh International Children’s Theater and Children’s Festival, CD Live, JazzLive, First Night Pittsburgh, Gallery Crawl, and Three Rivers Arts Festival, among other Cultural District and arts events. The Trust owns Theater Square and the Cabaret at Theater Square; James E. Rohr Building & Arts Education Center; the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts; Byham, O’Reilly, and Harris Theaters; visual arts galleries: Wood Street Galleries, at 601 Wood Street; SPACE, at 812 Liberty Avenue and 937 Liberty: a multipurpose performance and exhibit space, among other downtown arts facilities.
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Gallery Crawl Ignites the Cultural District
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Veronica Corpuz
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
(412) 471-6082
corpuz@pgharts.org
PITTSBURGH, PA: The Cultural District springs into action as The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Gallery Crawl fills the theaters, galleries and streets of Downtown Pittsburgh’s Cultural District. The free and art-and-fun-filled Gallery Crawl takes place on Friday, April 29, from 5:30 - 9 p.m. The arts open house showcases an eclectic mix of visual art, dance, music and more in 22 venues throughout the Cultural District.
All Gallery Crawl events are free and open to the public. For more information and a map of the Gallery Crawl events, visit pgharts.org or call 412-456-6666. The Gallery Crawl in the Cultural District is sponsored by First Commonwealth with media support from City Paper and 91.3fm WYEP.
The following is a line-up of Gallery Crawl highlights and happenings:
GALLERY CRAWL in the CULTURAL DISTRICT
April 29, 2011 5:30-9 pm
Presented by The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
Wood Street Galleries
601 Wood Street
Hysterical Machines: Bill Vorn
Montreal-based artist Bill Vorn creates installations involving robotics and motion control, sound, lighting, video and cybernetic process that evoke human qualities in structures that are nothing more than articulated metal structures.
SPACE
812 Liberty Avenue
STRAIGHT OUTTA CompUSA: Conversations on the Picturesque
See Jesse Hulcher having the time of his iLife as he tries to find a use for the Internet
Music by DJ DZ
WYEP Music Station
WYEP Live Remote Broadcast outside of SPACE
Le Cordon Bleu Institute of Culinary Arts
808 Liberty Avenue
Culinary Sculptures
Tito and Exchange Way
Cell Phone Disco
A surface that visualizes the electromagnetic field of an active mobile phone. Several thousand lights illuminate when you make or receive a phone call in the vicinity of the installation.
Shaw Galleries
805 Liberty Avenue
Beauty-Strength-Reflection: Five Perspectives on the Female Form: paintings focused on feminine form and style by five local female artists.
Trust Arts Education Center
805-807 Liberty Avenue
Lower Level (Peirce Studio):
The TypewriterGirls Poetry Cabaret
Audience interactive, collage-work theatre formed from poetry, performance art, typewriter games, improv comedy, dancing, and a little magic.
3rd floor:
Homo Dignitas: Reviving a Departed Essence (Carlow University)
Artists' perilous fight to restore and maintain human dignity before the concept is as lifeless as the Latin language.
Pittsburgh’s Rising
Exhibition showcasing Pittsburgh’s upcoming collegiate artists. Enjoy refreshments while viewing the latest works by the area’s fine-art, architecture and design students.
4th floor:
60/40 Series presents: Outspoken, a benefit for BikePGH
An art show and sale featuring local artists, benefiting Bike Pittsburgh. Preview at sixtyfortyseries.com
Harris Theater
809 Liberty Avenue
In the Theater: Short films by local filmmakers
Tiny Harris Gallery: Photography by Sue Abramson and Kevin Clark
Above the Marquee: Silhouettes by Mike Bonello
Shaw Galleries
805 Liberty Avenue
BEAUTY - STRENGTH - REFLECTION: Five Perspectives on the Female Form
An exhibit of paintings that focus on feminine form and style by five women artists from Pittsburgh.
707 Penn Gallery
707 Penn Avenue
Conversations on the Picturesque: Work by Katherine Young
Drawings of patterned feminine portraits in lush flora.
709 Penn Gallery
709 Penn Avenue
Paper Streets: Solo exhibit by Bovey Lee
Using cut paper as her medium, Lee’s installations explore resolute themes such as the geography's influence on life in the region
Le Cordon Bleu Institute of Culinary Arts
808 Liberty Avenue
Culinary Sculptures
Various sugar and tallow sculpture pieces created by PCI faculty. Hot food and beverages prepared by PCI students available for a donation.
937 Liberty Avenue
1st floor – Bricolage:
Bricolage presents The Awkward Dinner Party
An interactive experiment in social performance and fine dining (5:30-7:30).
2nd floor
Named-UnNamed
Herman Pearl - PearlArts: movement and sound. A space of otherworldly, haunting, immersive sound . Continuously renewing and ever-changing sound-scapes derived from readings of the names of Iraqi civilian war casualties.
Toonseum
945 Liberty
Brenda Starr, Reporter: The Art of Dale Messick
The ToonSeum celebrates legendary cartoonist Dale Messick and the retirement of her greatest creation, Brenda Starr, Reporter, after 70 years of publication
Tonic**
971 Liberty (2nd floor gallery space)
It Is What It Is
People. Art. Music. Drinks. Food.
August Wilson Center for African American Culture
980 Liberty Avenue
Various Exhibitions: Voices: African American and Latina Women in Pennsylvania Share Their Stories of Success (new exhibition), In My Father's House; Sculptures by Thaddeus G. Mosley; Pittsburgh: Reclaim, Renew, Remix; Bridging the Blood: Your Blood Line is Mine
Northside Urban Pathways Gallery
914 Penn Avenue
Reinterpreting African Arts
Student artwork reflecting themes and symbols of Ancient and Modern African Arts. Sounds of Steel steelpan band play throughout the night with special guests including the UP Stomp Team at 6:30 pm
907 Penn Avenue
Bon Voyage
Looking In Looking Out (LILO) presents a painting and photography exhibition based on the theme of goodbye/farewell/bon voyage.
Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12 Gallery
111 Ninth St.
THE UPSIDE
A curated collection of senior artwork
Future Tenant
819 Penn Avenue
URBANIC III: expanding the microcosm
Group Show co-curated by Kyle Ethan Fischer and Nicole Capozzi of Mox Box Consulting
Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council
810 Penn Avenue, Suite 200
Art on the Walls
Featuring the stunning black and white photography of artist Brian Sesack. Enjoy light refreshments and meet the artists.
Backstage Bar
655 Penn Avenue
Live music by Pittsburgh’s only all-female jazz ensemble, Cool Breeze 5:30-7:30
Katz Plaza
7th St. and Penn Avenue
First Commonwealth Hospitality Spot
Stop by our hospitality station for free drinks and snacks. We’ll also have chances to win baskets and Starbucks cards!
Live samba music and dance by Timbeleza
Arthur Murray Dance Studio**
136 Sixth Street
Free Dance Classes and Demonstrations!
Get started dancing tonight! 7:30 Swing, 8:00 Tango, 8:30 Merengue
Verve Wellness
142 6th St., 3rd floor
Bare Bones Dance Series
Stripped down to the bare essentials in an warm intimate venue, kNOTDance reviews works from the past 3 years at this Bare Bones presentation. Stop in, Why kNOT?
**All locations are wheelchair accessible unless otherwise noted
Contact:
Veronica Corpuz
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
(412) 471-6082
corpuz@pgharts.org
Cultural District springs into action with Gallery Crawl
Friday, April 29, 2011
5:30 - 9pm
Presented by The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
PITTSBURGH, PA: The Cultural District springs into action as The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Gallery Crawl fills the theaters, galleries and streets of Downtown Pittsburgh’s Cultural District. The free and art-and-fun-filled Gallery Crawl takes place on Friday, April 29, from 5:30 - 9 p.m. The arts open house showcases an eclectic mix of visual art, dance, music and more in 22 venues throughout the Cultural District.
All Gallery Crawl events are free and open to the public. For more information and a map of the Gallery Crawl events, visit pgharts.org or call 412-456-6666. The Gallery Crawl in the Cultural District is sponsored by First Commonwealth with media support from City Paper and 91.3fm WYEP.
The following is a line-up of Gallery Crawl highlights and happenings:
GALLERY CRAWL in the CULTURAL DISTRICT
April 29, 2011 5:30-9 pm
Presented by The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
Wood Street Galleries
601 Wood Street
Hysterical Machines: Bill Vorn
Montreal-based artist Bill Vorn creates installations involving robotics and motion control, sound, lighting, video and cybernetic process that evoke human qualities in structures that are nothing more than articulated metal structures.
SPACE
812 Liberty Avenue
STRAIGHT OUTTA CompUSA: Conversations on the Picturesque
See Jesse Hulcher having the time of his iLife as he tries to find a use for the Internet
Music by DJ DZ
WYEP Music Station
WYEP Live Remote Broadcast outside of SPACE
Le Cordon Bleu Institute of Culinary Arts
808 Liberty Avenue
Culinary Sculptures
Tito and Exchange Way
Cell Phone Disco
A surface that visualizes the electromagnetic field of an active mobile phone. Several thousand lights illuminate when you make or receive a phone call in the vicinity of the installation.
Shaw Galleries
805 Liberty Avenue
Beauty-Strength-Reflection: Five Perspectives on the Female Form: paintings focused on feminine form and style by five local female artists.
Trust Arts Education Center
805-807 Liberty Avenue
Lower Level (Peirce Studio):
The TypewriterGirls Poetry Cabaret
Audience interactive, collage-work theatre formed from poetry, performance art, typewriter games, improv comedy, dancing, and a little magic.
3rd floor:
Homo Dignitas: Reviving a Departed Essence (Carlow University)
Artists' perilous fight to restore and maintain human dignity before the concept is as lifeless as the Latin language.
Pittsburgh’s Rising
Exhibition showcasing Pittsburgh’s upcoming collegiate artists. Enjoy refreshments while viewing the latest works by the area’s fine-art, architecture and design students.
4th floor:
60/40 Series presents: Outspoken, a benefit for BikePGH
An art show and sale featuring local artists, benefiting Bike Pittsburgh. Preview at sixtyfortyseries.com
Harris Theater
809 Liberty Avenue
In the Theater: Short films by local filmmakers
Tiny Harris Gallery: Photography by Sue Abramson and Kevin Clark
Above the Marquee: Silhouettes by Mike Bonello
Shaw Galleries
805 Liberty Avenue
BEAUTY - STRENGTH - REFLECTION: Five Perspectives on the Female Form
An exhibit of paintings that focus on feminine form and style by five women artists from Pittsburgh.
707 Penn Gallery
707 Penn Avenue
Conversations on the Picturesque: Work by Katherine Young
Drawings of patterned feminine portraits in lush flora.
709 Penn Gallery
709 Penn Avenue
Paper Streets: Solo exhibit by Bovey Lee
Using cut paper as her medium, Lee’s installations explore resolute themes such as the geography's influence on life in the region
Le Cordon Bleu Institute of Culinary Arts
808 Liberty Avenue
Culinary Sculptures
Various sugar and tallow sculpture pieces created by PCI faculty. Hot food and beverages prepared by PCI students available for a donation.
937 Liberty Avenue
1st floor – Bricolage:
Bricolage presents The Awkward Dinner Party
An interactive experiment in social performance and fine dining (5:30-7:30).
2nd floor
Named-UnNamed
Herman Pearl - PearlArts: movement and sound. A space of otherworldly, haunting, immersive sound . Continuously renewing and ever-changing sound-scapes derived from readings of the names of Iraqi civilian war casualties.
Toonseum
945 Liberty
Brenda Starr, Reporter: The Art of Dale Messick
The ToonSeum celebrates legendary cartoonist Dale Messick and the retirement of her greatest creation, Brenda Starr, Reporter, after 70 years of publication
Tonic**
971 Liberty (2nd floor gallery space)
It Is What It Is
People. Art. Music. Drinks. Food.
August Wilson Center for African American Culture
980 Liberty Avenue
Various Exhibitions: Voices: African American and Latina Women in Pennsylvania Share Their Stories of Success (new exhibition), In My Father's House; Sculptures by Thaddeus G. Mosley; Pittsburgh: Reclaim, Renew, Remix; Bridging the Blood: Your Blood Line is Mine
Northside Urban Pathways Gallery
914 Penn Avenue
Reinterpreting African Arts
Student artwork reflecting themes and symbols of Ancient and Modern African Arts. Sounds of Steel steelpan band play throughout the night with special guests including the UP Stomp Team at 6:30 pm
907 Penn Avenue
Bon Voyage
Looking In Looking Out (LILO) presents a painting and photography exhibition based on the theme of goodbye/farewell/bon voyage.
Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12 Gallery
111 Ninth St.
THE UPSIDE
A curated collection of senior artwork
Future Tenant
819 Penn Avenue
URBANIC III: expanding the microcosm
Group Show co-curated by Kyle Ethan Fischer and Nicole Capozzi of Mox Box Consulting
Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council
810 Penn Avenue, Suite 200
Art on the Walls
Featuring the stunning black and white photography of artist Brian Sesack. Enjoy light refreshments and meet the artists.
Backstage Bar
655 Penn Avenue
Live music by Pittsburgh’s only all-female jazz ensemble, Cool Breeze 5:30-7:30
Katz Plaza
7th St. and Penn Avenue
First Commonwealth Hospitality Spot
Stop by our hospitality station for free drinks and snacks. We’ll also have chances to win baskets and Starbucks cards!
Live samba music and dance by Timbeleza
Arthur Murray Dance Studio**
136 Sixth Street
Free Dance Classes and Demonstrations!
Get started dancing tonight! 7:30 Swing, 8:00 Tango, 8:30 Merengue
Verve Wellness
142 6th St., 3rd floor
Bare Bones Dance Series
Stripped down to the bare essentials in an warm intimate venue, kNOTDance reviews works from the past 3 years at this Bare Bones presentation. Stop in, Why kNOT?
**All locations are wheelchair accessible unless otherwise noted
Thursday, April 7, 2011
The Bold & The Sanctified at The Byham
Herron Enterprises Presents
A Stage Play Written and Directed
By Sherri Lynn
THE BOLD &THE SANCTIFIED
The Byham Theater
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Doors Open at 7PM
Show Starts at 8PM
The hit radio soap opera "The Bold and the Sanctified" storms the stage!
Heard in over 30 markets across the country, "The Bold and the Sanctified" is a story of love, compromise, betrayal and survival all in the most complex organization in the world: The Church.
This musical drama/comedy chronicles the woes of a small town and church hit hard by the recession. The financial desperation of each characters drives them to compromise, lust, politicking and more as they all struggle to survive while remaining Bold and Sanctified.
For tickets call 412-456-6666
Tickets are $23.25 (balcony) and $28.75 (floor).
Tickets are also available at
Dorsey's, Stedeford's and the Byham Box Office
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