Pittsburgh, PA

The Pittsburgh women showcased today are not in a traditional sense from Pittsburgh; Willa Cather moved here from Nebraska in 1895 and Gertrude Stein left the city shortly after birth, but that does not make either of them less of a local as far as history is concerned.

“The fact that I was a girl never damaged my ambitions to be a pope or an emperor.” -Willa Cather

Willa Cather moved to Pittsburgh in 1895 where she felt she could enjoy our music and intellectual culture. In Pittsburgh she supported herself by becoming a high school teacher and journalist. In 1922 she won the Pulitizer prize for One of Ours, and is also notable for her novels and short stories, which include My Antonia, O Pioneers, Death Comes for the Archbishop and The Professors House. Cather considered Pittsburgh to be the “birthplace” of her writing career and if you research the amount of literature written during her lifetime you can see that this is true.

For more information on Willa Cather, refer to the websites I used for this bio at the Carnegie Library’s website and the Outlaw Women website.

“But the problem is that when I go around and speak on campuses, I still don’t get young men standing up and saying, ‘How can I combine career and family?’” -Gertrude Stein

Gertrude Stein was born in 1874 in her Pittsburgh home in the North Side. She was to leave the city shortly after her birth, but we still celebrate her hometown with a plaque on her former home at 850 Beech Avenue.

Stein is most famous for her experimental literature and her private art gallery/salon located in Paris, where she moved to in 1903. She had a wide circle of friends, including Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, Matisse and Thornton Wilder. Her most famous works include Tender Buttons, The Making of Americans and the Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas.

Please visit the Carnegie Library’s website for more information on Stein’s life in Pittsburgh.

For more information on this series, visit my previous post here.

Pittsburgh, Willa Cather, Gertrude Stein, Women’s History Month

Starting with today, I suggest everyone check out the Alternative Transportation Festival!

According to the festival’s website:

The Alternative Transportation Festival (ATF) is an event to raise public awareness of alternative means of transportation and advocate for the increased use of public transportation, car-sharing, alternative fuels, fuel efficient, hybrid and advanced vehicles, boats, bikes and other human-powered technologies.

Driven by locally-led innovation and a growing community of activists and operators, Pittsburgh has become a leader in the development of alternative transportation solutions to pressing national and international issues that arise from America’s fossil fuel dependence, including rising fuel costs, air pollution and global warming, economic and National security concerns.

The festival is being organized by Pittsburgh Region Clean Cities with support from Steel City Biofuels, Bike Pittsburgh, Restorative Events and Nakturnal.

If you’ve ridden the bus lately, you should have seen the flyer for this event, but just in case you didn’t, here’s some more info.

The event is taking place in three locations: Market Square, Schenley Plaza and South Side Works. Each location will feature live music and entertainment, as well as information on alternative transportation options and a chance to meet with other like minded individuals.

Schenley Plaza:
11am-1:30pm & 3-8pm
Music of Coz Serrapere, DJ Omar Abdul and the Zany Umbrella Circus

Market Square:
11am-1:30pm & 3-5pm
Music of DJ Zimmie

South Side Works:
11am-1:30pm & 3-8pm
Music by The Metropolitans

I am all for increasing public awareness on this issue. I think it’s nice that we participate in the National Dump the Pump Day and that more and more people are riding their bikes to work and despite most of them doing it to save gas money, it is still saving the environment and this is a step in the right direction.

I’m not sure Pittsburgh will ever be as non-reliant on cars as other cities, just because of how the city is laid out and the suburbs, but a step in this direction makes me happy. And since there’s no way we’re going to eliminate commuting to work via cars, I hope in the future there is at least a trend towards the usage of energy efficient cars.

And as for Saturday…

The Tom Museum is celebrating its one year anniversary!!

The event will be split into two halves; the first being a pre-event fundraiser for the Tom Museum with special guest Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, which will take place from 6 – 7 PM and will be in the lobby of the New Hazlett Theater. (Allegheny Square East)
Admission to this part of the event/fundraiser is $65.00.

After the fundraiser at 7:30pm, there will be a contest that sounds like a lot of fun!

From the Tom Museum’s website:
The New Hazlett Theater will host three teams of artists who will compete to build winning sculptures out of secret materials (read: junk to be unveiled at the event). The only supplies that the teams may bring with them to the challenge are the contents of one suitcase. Adding to the suspense of the evening is the arrival of Team West Virginia, led by WVU sculpture professor and artist Douglas Loewen. Tickets are $10.00 and will be available at the door.

Tom Sarver, Mike Cuccaro, Liz Hammond and Buddy Nutt will host the event. Music will be provided by DJ Mary Mack and Mr. & Mrs. Funky of Unfinished Symphonies. Judges for the event will include Heather Pesanti, Assistant Curator at The Carnegie Museum of Art; Mickey McManus, CEO of MAYA Design; Artist Thommy Conroy; and Karen Hartman from the Brew House Association.

For more information, visit the Tom Museum website.

Have a nice weekend everyone and enjoy the nice weather! I’ll be up at Clarion for their Autumn Leaf Festival, which is always a lot of fun!

And as always, go Steelers!!

Pittsburgh, public transportation, buses, alternative fuels, Tom Museum, art, Olympic Theater, Market Square, Schenley Park, South Side Works

I was looking into Pittsburgh’s Oktoberfest offerings and found two that look interesting. One is at Penn Brewery and the other is Downtown.

Penn Brewery
RAISE A GLASS IT’S TIME FOR OKTOBERFEST
September 21-23; 28-30, 2007
Friday & Saturday, 5 p.m. to midnight
Sunday, 4 to 10 p.m.

For eighteen years the Penn Brewery has brought Munich to Pittsburgh with our annual Oktoberfest celebration and this year will be no exception. Held the same weekends as its German counterpart, the Penn Brewery offers the most authentic Oktoberfest celebration in Pittsburgh.

Downtown
Oktoberfest & Autumn Beers
Presented by: The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
Venue: Cabaret at Theater Square
Tuesday, September 18, 2007, 6:15 PM
Tickets: $25

Craft Beer School Fall Semester 2007 series kicks off with “Oktoberfest and Autumn Beers.” Celebrate the ultimate beer lover’s festival with a fine selection of seasonal offering.

If I had to pick one I would go to Penn Brewery. I went there last year and had a great time. While you eat, you can enjoy a live polka band and everyone sings along.

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl is sponsoring a series of Neighborhood Forums, the first of which will be held in the North Side tonight. There will be information about the initiative, Neighborhoods First Agenda and there will be input from the Mayor on the current conditions and future of the community. There will be a series of ten community conversations throughout Pittsburgh neighborhoods in the coming months.

For any readers who live in the city of Pittsburgh, you might want to participate in one of the following forums:

July 19 – North Side
August 1 – Downtown, North Shore & Strip
August 29 – Southside Flats, Slopes, Hilltop, Mt. Washington & Duquesne Heights
September 5 – Upper East End (Lawrenceville, Morningside, Garfield, Friendship, Bloomfield, Highland Park)
September 19 – 31st Ward, Hazelwood, Glen Hazel
September 24 – West Pittsburgh
October 24 – East End (East Liberty, Larimer, Lincoln Lemington, Homewood, Brushton and East Hills)
November 7 – Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Greenfield, Swisshelm Park, Point Breeze, Regent Square
December 5 - South Hills (Brookline, Beechview, Banksville, Overbrook, Carrick)
December TBD – Oakland, Hill and Uptown

These forums will be listed in the “community events” calendars of the Post-Gazette and Tribune Review ahead of time.

Thursday, July 19th
6:30 -7:30 pm
Pittsburgh’s Grand Hall at The Priory
614 Pressley Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15212

For more information contact:
Jennifer Watson
Neighborhood Initiatives Coordinator
Office of Mayor Luke Ravenstahl
412-255-4765
Jennifer.Watson@city.pittsburgh.pa.us

The following information was taken from the websites of the Post-Gazette and Progress Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh, neighborhood forum, Luke Ravenstahl, mayor, North Side, downtown, North Shore, South Side, South Hills, Squirrel Hill, Shadyside, Oakland, Point Breeze, Strip District, Mt. Washington, Duquesne, Upper East End, East End, Hill district, Hazelwood

There is a lot of events going on this weekend and I hope to make it out to some of them. It’s going to be hard since I have a friend coming in from CA and there’s events going on north of Pittsburgh I have to make it to as well. But enough about my busy schedule; here’s two events you should check out this weekend.

Tonight is the Gallery Crawl downtown, where you can check out up and coming artists, hear local bands and eat and drink for free. You can’t beat that.
The Crawl will be taking place in various galleries, including the Wood Street Galleries, SPACE, Show Here, 707 Penn Gallery, Future Tenant and more. You can check out the map in this week’s City Paper, or at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s website.
It starts at 5:30 and ends around 9pm this evening. There is also a couple of afterparties at places like Trilogy and on the Theater Square’s Parking Garage Rooftop. I’ve never personally been on that rooftop, but sounds kind of interesting.
I hope to make it out tonight after I hit up a Community Days out in my hometown, but if not, I will definitely be at WYEP’s Summer Music Festival.

The Summer Music Festival starts this evening at the World Cafe, featuring Jon Check and Kim Richey at 6pm and 8pm.
Then on Saturday, the Ike Reilly Assasination, Moe. and Sinead O’Connor will be at the Cafe, however both Moe. and Sinead O’Connor are already sold out. Ike Reilly Assasination starts at noon.
If you’d still like to see Moe. and Sinead O’Connor, head to the outdoor festival on Saturday at Allegheny Landing in the North Side, by Isabelle and 6th Street. I know I am extremely curious to see Sinead O’Connor perform live; she actually has some pretty decent songs.

Here’s the schedule for Saturday:
Jon Check: 4-4:40pm
Ike Reilly Assassination: 5:05-5:55pm
Kim Richey: 6:20-7:10pm
An Acoustic Evening with Sinead O’Connor: 7:30-8:45pm
moe.: 9:15-10:30pm

Blankets, picnic baskets, children and dogs are all welcome according to WYEP’s website, where you can check out the details.

WYEP, Summer Music Festival, Pittsburgh, downtown, North Side, Sinead O’Connor, Moe., Ike Reilly Assasination, Jon Check, music, art, Gallery Crawl, SPACE, Wood Street

In Pittsburgh’s weekly City Paper there was an article about the Casino and Traffic problems. It seems that a lot of the local companies on the North Side, including the Steelers and the Pirates are not happy with the added traffic the Casino will bring. Here is a snippet from the article.

“Most of those who testified were lawyers for the various parties involved and traffic planners hired by the sports teams. But the Steelers and Pirates have already voiced disappointment with the process so far. Hired lawyers and traffic planners argued that the casino had yet to submit a full traffic-impact plan, which they contended was essential. And they groused that speakers were given only three minutes to speak — not enough time, they complained, to express the full scope of their concerns.” –PCP

I do not support the Casino coming to Pittsburgh. I think it’s a bad move and will just make things worse. But this argument about traffic pattern is a little off base. If you get to the end of the article, there is a comment by a reader that makes a pretty good point. Here is a portion of the comment.

ALL Steeler games and ALL Pirate games create huge problems, not only on the North Side but also in Downtown Pittsburgh. Bridges are closed, traffic is re-routed and delays are constant. Where are the sports teams’ concern for traffic congestion here? – poropatichb

That’s a good question. To my fellow haters of the Casino, you’re going to have to find a better argument then traffic to stop this thing, but thanks for trying.

Steelers, Pirates, traffic, casino, North Side, Downtown, Pittsburgh

I am amazed by how many people in Pittsburgh don’t know about the Mattress Factory. The Mattress Factory is an installation art museum located in the North Side since 1977. It houses contemporary art that are in room-sized environments, that most of the time you can interact with.

I have been there many times since the exhibits change every few months. There are only a few permanent installations. Some of it really pushes the envelope of what art really is, and then there are some that just amaze you. The latest exhibit looks like it’s a good one, so I am planning to make a visit sometime in June.

Here is a quote from their website:
Each exhibition is paired with a variety of engaging and inventive educational programs including hands-on art projects, workshops, lectures, and tours. The Mattress Factory encourages all viewers, regardless of their background, to discover connections between art, creativity and their everyday lives.

Visit Mattress.org to get information on hours of operation and schedule of events. It looks like in June they are going to have a free party with live performance art and activities.

Mattress Factory, installation art museum, North Side, contemporary art, June, art and activities