For immediate release                                                                              contact: Carol OŐSullivan

June 3, 2009                                                                                                412-681-5449

 

PCA Announces New Exhibits/Events for Summer

 

(Pittsburgh, PA) – Pittsburgh Center for the Arts (PCA) announces additional exhibits and events for the summer, beginning July 2. This includes a Thursday evening series of live outdoor performances held in the new Gordon Pavilion.  On view in the galleries July 2 - August 30 is AUGčRE, a selection of donated works created by former Artists of the Year recipients throughout the past 60 years. This exhibition of works will be auctioned to begin an endowment for future recipients of this award. Also on view is Map of Everything, which includes both indoor and outdoor, large-scale textile works by artist Sheila Klein, who is renowned for her public art installations. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, July 2, 2009 from 5:30 to 8:00pm. It is open to the public; a $5 donation is requested; free to members.

 

To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Artist of the Year tradition, an exhibition of selected works donated by past recipients of the award is on view July 2 – August 30, culminating with an auction on August 31. Called AUGčRE  (derived from the Latin verb meaning to increase, or to strengthen) the exhibit is a benchmark that represents some of the finest contemporary art in the region from the last 60 years. The auction has been created to endow future recipients of the Artist of the Year award. Among the over 30 works in the auction are sculptures by Thaddeus Mosley, Henry Bursztynowicz, and Kathleen Mulcahy; paintings by Jane Haskell and Clayton Merrell; and a painting attributed to PCA's 1950 recipient, Samuel Rosenberg.

 

A sample of other Artists of the Year represented include: Marie Kelly, Irene Pasinski, Jerry Caplan, Robert Qualters, Charles Pitcher, Cynthia Cooley, Ris‘ Nagin, Paul Glabicki, Adrienne Heinrich, Diane Samuels, James Duesing, Delanie Jenkins, and Susanne Slavick.

 

For ticket information about the dinner and auction event, which takes place on August 31 at 6:00 pm, please call 412-361-0873 x302. Auction bids are also being taken online at http://pghfilmmakers.cmarket.com/, beginning July 2.

 

 

 

Born in Pittsburgh and now living in the Pacific Northwest, Sheila Klein has created many high-profile art installations that blur the boundaries between art, architecture, sculpture, theater, fashion, and textile design. As part of her installation at PCA, Klein takes inspiration from plastic hairdo covers women wore over their beehives in the late 50s. On the lawn, she is constructing an over-sized Ňrain bonnetÓ of nylon mesh stretched over aluminum armature. As with many of her works, the viewer is invited to enter the space, where it becomes something else: a confessional, a shelter, a soapbox, or even a stage. Inside the galleries, KleinŐs Map of Everything features a large crocheted textile piece, which hangs over-head. She also transforms one of the gallery spaces with colorful draped fabric.

 

Klein has exhibited her projects nationally and internationally, including Florence, Italy, and Tokyo, Japan. Her conceptual pieces are often infused with a sense of playfulness. She ŇdressedÓ the ceiling of a pedestrian tunnel in Houston with fabric and mirrors, and designed a subway station near GraumanŐs Chinese Theatre in Los Angles to resemble a womb. Meanwhile, in Pittsburgh, Klein has been working on Shady Liberty Footbridge, the new pedestrian bridge that connects Ellsworth Avenue to East Liberty.

 

An Artist Talk with Sheila Klein will be held on Monday, June 29, at 7:00 pm.

It is open to the public; $5 non-member guests, free to PF/PCA members and guild artists.

 

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This summer also marks the start of a new outdoor performance series on PCAŐs campus. The Gordon Pavilion Summer Series begins Thursday, July 9; shows are at 7:00 pm. All of this yearŐs performers are from the Artist Residency program at PCA. Galleries will be open extended hours for these performances. Free and open to the public; a cash bar is available.  For more information, call 412-361-0873 x371.

            July   9:   Tomislav Dimov, violinist

            July 23:   Cheryl Capezzuti, puppeteer

            Aug 13:   Daniel Meunier & Resonance, percussionist

            Aug 27:   Jeffrey Berman, fretted instruments musician

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pittsburgh Center for the Arts is located at 6300 Fifth Ave. Pittsburgh Filmmakers is located at 477 Melwood Ave. For more information, call 412-361-0873, or visit www.pittsburgharts.org.

 

 

 

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