Friday, August 29, 2014

Fragments Fractals At 709 Penn Gallery

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contacts:
Jessica Warchall, Visual Arts Publicist, 412-471-8712/Warchall@TrustArts.org
Shaunda Miles, Director of Public Relations, 412-471-1578/Miles@TrustArts.org        
Diana Roth, Communications Manager, 412-471-8717/Roth@TrustArts.org
Images available: TrustArts.org/press
Search: Quilt 2014

PITTSBURGH CULTURAL TRUST PRESENTS
FRAGMENTS, FRACTALS: WRITE IT, PRINT IT, SEW IT

September 12 – November 16, 2014 | 709 Penn Gallery | 709 Penn Avenue
Exhibition Opening & Reception | September 12, 5:30 – 9 p.m.

Pittsburgh, PA—The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust presents Fragments, Fractals: Write It, Print It, Sew It, an exhibition of story quilts by artist Tina Williams Brewer. The exhibition is on view September 12–November 16, 2014, at the Trust’s 709 Penn Gallery. An opening reception and artist talk take place September 12, 2014, from 5:30 to 9 p.m.

Brewer’s ten quilts—with titles such as Natural Migration, Cosmic Endeavors, and Rosetta Stone—tell stories of the natural movement of migration, from a simple view of water migration to a more complicated visual approach to forced migration. The layered, overlapping, and decorative imagery is achieved through quilting fabrics that have been printed with Brewer’s designs.

“Everything gets lost in the movement of migration,” Brewer says. “In order to simplify so that we may understand, there is a need to peel back the layers and explore the beginnings of the original water currents.”

As an artistic inspiration, Brewer used fragments of novelist John Edgar Wideman’s “Cry In” from Briefs: Stories for the Palm of the Mind and Rachel Goldstein’s poetry to inform her work. The inspiration from both artists are in integral part of the exhibition.

Tina Williams Brewer is known for her artistic exploration of African-American history and the personal experiences associated with it. She uses symbolism, textile, and fabrics to create story quilts that are motivated by issues focusing on family, women and children, and the spirituality of the culture. Her work has been displayed internationally at the United States Embassy in Ghana, and in more than 50 major venues across the United States, including Tampa Museum of Art and Science, Tampa, FL; Heinz Regional History Center, Pittsburgh, PA; African American Museum, Philadelphia, PA; African American Museum, Dallas, TX; Reginald Lewis Museum of African American Art in Baltimore, MD; and Huntington Museum of Art, Huntington, WV. Brewer is a member of the Fiber Arts Guild of Pittsburgh, Women of Visions, Inc., and an emeritus board member of Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, and she earned a bachelor of arts from Columbus College of Art and Design.

Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

Calliope Presents Paul Ellis

For Immediate Release                  
Contact:  Lisa Alexander, PR Marketing Manager
Calliope
(412) 361-1915, lalexander@calliopehouse.org        

CALLIOPE PRESENTS
ELLIS PAUL



(Pittsburgh, PA)- Calliope: The Pittsburgh Folk Music Society welcomes Ellis Paul to THE ROOTS CELLAR, Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Shadyside, on Thursday, September 25, 2014, 7:30 PM.
More information is available online at www.calliopehouse.org or by contacting the Calliope office at (412) 361-1915. Tickets are $28 / $12 (w/ student ID) *handling fees included.

“Despite his success and sense of history, Mr. Paul remains an artist with his eye on the future and an interest in discovering the transformative potential in his music.”
– The New York Times

Ellis Paul’s songwriting credentials are unassailable. They are as genuine as the 14 Boston music Awards he has earned, as indelible as the tattoo of Woody Guthrie that adorns his arm, and as authentic as the musical roots he draws upon with every note he plays.

Since emerging from the Boston music scene, Ellis Paul’s music has been consistently recognized and celebrated worldwide, his 16 releases and loyal, enthusiastic audiences reinforce this acclaim and have since cemented his place as one of America’s most talented songwriters.

Happily, his music has been shared with a wider audience as well, through commercials,
documentaries, TV shows and in the soundtracks of several blockbuster films, among them three by the Farrelly Brothers -- “Hall Pass” (starring Owen Wilson and Alyssa Milano), “Me, Myself, & Irene” (starring Jim Carrey) and “Shallow Hal” (starring Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow). Peter Farrelly summed up the sentiments of all those who have come to know and appreciate Paul’s music by referring to him as “a national treasure.”

Ellis Paul

Not surprisingly, Paul’s consistently been heralded by others as well. One writer noted “that it reminds you how much we need storytellers back in pop music -- storytellers with empathy, fine eyes and an understanding that even though we live in a soulless, indifferent would, out music doesn’t have to reflect our culture." Another reviewer was even more pointed. “Ellis Paul is one of the best singer/songwriters of his generation,” she commented. “And for many of us he is the face of contemporary folk music. Few are as smart, as literate, as poetic as Paul. I cannot think of another artist on the acoustic music scene is better loved by fans, or more respected by his contemporaries.”
Indeed, he is all that, and in a very real sense, even more. He’s an observer, a philosopher, and an astute storyteller who shares with his listeners the life lessons he’s learned, and in turn, life lessons they ought to heed as well. By affirming and defining who he is, Ellis Paul affirms and uncovers the essence of us all.

With 16 CD’s, a concert DVD, and a book of poems and short stories to his credit, Ellis’ songs have been featured on the soundtracks to documentaries, TV shows and big Hollywood films such as The Farrelly Brother’s ‘Hall Pass’, ‘Me, Myself & Irene’, and ‘Shallow Hal’. Ellis is a true American troubadour, performing over 150 tour dates a year, for over 20 years all around the world. He has shared the stage with some of the top names in the music world including: Pete Seeger, John Mayer, Arlo Gutherie, Richie Havens, Dar Williams, Shawn Colvin and multi-platinum band Sugerland, among others.

“Ellis has a voice that’s so powerful that you know who it is the second he comes through your radio. His music and songs are a new birth in American sound that makes me want to go see concerts again.” -Kristian Bush / Sugerland

Here’s his website: http://www.ellispaul.com/
_________________________________________________________________________
Founded in 1976, Calliope is a non-profit music organization that organizes and administers a variety of concert series, a folk music school, and educational outreach programs.  As the premier promoter of roots music in southwestern Pennsylvania, Calliope’s mission is to promote and preserve traditional and contemporary heritage-based music and its allied arts.  Calliope programs are supported in part by the A.W. Mellon Education and Charitable Trust Fund of the Pittsburgh Foundation, The Allegheny County sales tax revenues awarded by the Allegheny Regional Asset District, The Heinz endowments, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, University of Pittsburgh Library System, and an anonymous donor. Calliope also thanks the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and Chatham University.
--
Lisa Alexander, MFA
PR Marketing Manager
Calliope
6300 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor
Pittsburgh, PA 15232
412-361-1915
www.calliopehouse.org
Posted on behalf of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates.  Joyce Kane is the owner of Cybertary Pittsburgh, a Virtual Administrative support company, providing virtual office support, personal and executive assistance, creative design services and light bookkeeping.  Cybertary works with businesses and busy individuals to help them work 'on' their business rather than 'in' their business.  www.Cybertary.com/Pittsburgh

PSO Announces Neighborhood Chamber Music Concerts

For Immediate Release
Aug. 14, 2014

PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA’S MUSIC FOR THE SPIRIT EXPANDS TO INCLUDE THREE SEPTEMBER NEIGHBORHOOD CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERTS


PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Music for the Spirit program is expanding to include three chamber music concerts at local churches in the North Side, East Liberty and Wilkinsburg in September.

The Music for the Spirit program explores the connection between music and spirituality during free Pittsburgh Symphony concerts, at both Heinz Hall as part of the BNY Mellon Grand Classics series and in rotating community venues. In September, the Music for the Spirit program adds three concerts featuring the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Brass and which follow the Music for the Spirit concert format, melding music, poetry, readings and other spoken word pieces.

Monday Night Neighborhood Concerts will take place at Allegheny Center Alliance Church on the North Side on September 8, East Liberty Presbyterian Church on September 15 and Deliverance Baptist Church in Wilkinsburg on September 22. Each Monday Night Neighborhood Concert will present the same program.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Brass includes Craig Knox, tuba; Murray Crewe, bass trombone; Neal Berntsen, trumpet; William Caballero, horn; Peter Sullivan, trombone; and George Vosburgh, trumpet.

All concerts start at 8 p.m. and are free and open to the public. Reservations are required and can be made at pittsburghsymphony.org/neighborhoodseries or 412-392-8991.

The annual Music for the Spirit concerts will take place on November 20 at Westminster Presbyterian in Upper St. Clair and November 22 at Cardinal Wuerl High School in Cranberry. More details about these concerts will be released in the fall.

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Contact: Louise Sciannameo, Vice President for Communications and External Relations
Phone: 412.392.4866 | email: lsciannameo@pittsburghsymphony.org
Contact: Joyce DeFrancesco, Director of Media Relations
Phone: 412.392.4827 | email: jdefrancesco@pittsburghsymphony.org
Twitter: @pghsymphony |Facebook: facebook.com/PittsburghSymphonyOrchestra