| For Immediate Release | Contact: Carol O'Sullivan |
| Aug 18, 2005 | 412-681-5449 x205 |
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Carrie Schneider and Ian Hurley Photo Shows (Pittsburgh, PA) — Filmmakers Galleries presents From Allegheny to Woolslair: Documenting Pittsburgh’s Public Schools, a series of 52 color prints by photographer Carrie Schneider. It is on view from September 9 through October 22, 2005. On Saturday, September 17 a wine and cheese reception will be held from 7:00-9:00pm. There will also be an all ages reception – with cereal and milk – on Saturday, October 22, from 11:00am to 1:00pm, featuring vintage children’s films. These events are free and open to the public. The exhibit is a photographic survey of one fourth-grade class from each of Pittsburgh's 52 Public Elementary Schools. Using a large format 4 x 5 camera, Schneider represents each classroom from a teacher's-eye perspective, overlooking students seated at their desks while surrounded by a clutter of papers, chalkboards, backpacks, and motivational posters. Individually, each classroom 's grid of desks charts a veritable graph of the demographics of its neighborhood; cumulatively, the series represents the larger Pittsburgh community. The project was funded in part by The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Center for the Arts in Society at Carnegie Mellon. Schneider, a Pittsburgh resident, is an educator at the Andy Warhol Museum, assistant adjunct faculty at Carnegie Mellon University, and a freelance arts writer for Pittsburgh City Paper. As a photographer she is interested in exploring the social context of her subject matter. Playing on the intention of traditional anthropologists to produce objective data of a foreign people or place, she presents her work as a visual specimen, as evidence of a larger trend to be extrapolated by the viewer. She recently received a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts project grant. She is a CMU graduate and an artist member of Pittsburgh Filmmakers. Running concurrently in the outer gallery is Grounded Optimism, documentary photographs taken in Hazelwood by Ian Hurley. Hurley writes, "Across many parts of this country, communities are facing an uncertain future. Some are trying to invigorate struggling industries, while others are trying to cope with their demise and look for new economic opportunities. Grounded Optimism explores the community of Hazelwood as it addresses some of these issues. Once a summer refuge for Pittsburgh’s wealthy, Hazelwood has since been known as a working-class neighborhood, built on the back of the area’s thriving steel industry. It is with that deep history in mind that I sought out to explore the current situation in Hazelwood, and to see where the community is headed as it embarks on a new and sometimes delicate path forward." Filmmakers Galleries are located at 477 Melwood Avenue, North Oakland. Open Monday through Friday, noon to 5:00, and weekend evenings. For more information call 412-681-5449 or go to www.pghfilmmakers.org. |
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