Our holiday excursion!
The first live theater experience for AEU was a matinee performance of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer the Musical, based on the 1960s animated television show, at Heinz Hall. This popular holiday story reminded us that what makes us different also makes us special.
A surprise guest from the North Pole (with a white beard and red suit) met us at the City-County Building.
Artist John Regeirt led a portrait workshop at Space Gallery. He shared his drawing secrets and ended the session by inviting us to draw a portrait of him to be included in an exhibition organized by Brett Yasko.
We met up with Renee Piechocki, the director of the Office of Public Art, who took us on a tour which landed us on the roof of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Our last stop was Wood Street Galleries for a special viewing of a slow motion Spiderman invading a family portrait.
The emphasis of the FLUX excursion was change. Change in the landscape, city, and representation. We investigated the theme at two locations, Silver Eye Center for Photography and Carrie Furnace.
At Silver Eye, we viewed the exhibition Dandy Lion (Re)Articulating Black Masculine Identity. We took a tour of the Alloy Pittsburgh exhibition at Carrie Furnace and met with artists Rose Clancy, Liz Hammond, Sarika Goulatia, and Ricardo Robinson.
Each participant on the excursion was given a disposable camera to photograph their experience. We collected the cameras at the end of the day, processed the film, and awarded cash prizes for the top three photographs.
We toured Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob in the beautiful Laurel Highlands located 43 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Fallingwater was built in 1935 and is one of the most significant architectural pieces of the 20th century. We had a 60 minute guided tour of the house, guest house, and garage.
Just down the road is Kentuck Knob, also designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. We had a 40 minute guided tour of the house. There was also a sculpture garden on the grounds with works by Claes Oldenburg, Andy Goldsworthy, and other world renowned artists.
Artist Alexis Gideon joined us at the library to present his stop motion animated films. Gideon writes, scores, directs, and performs each of his films live. He shared his process and movies before we departed.
We then took the Official Film Office Movie Tour, a three hour behind the scenes visit to locations where movies such as the Dark Knight, Flashdance, and Inspector Gadget were shot. We went up the Duquesne Incline, enjoyed snacks, and watched a few scenes from movies filmed in Pittsburgh.
Our last stop was the studio of WQED. We learned the history of WQED as we toured the WQED-FM 89.3 studio, the Fred Rogers Studio, Studios B and C, the HD Sony Master Control Room. Plus, we hung out with Rick Sebak!
We met with experts in the field of play to explore, analyze, and discuss the history and importance of playgrounds in the region. We visited the “Blue Slide Park” with Ernie Detorre and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy; Frick Park Playground at Braddock and Forbes Avenue with Dick Wilford, Park Foreman; Ferguson Park in Wilkinsburg with Patrick Shattuck; and toured Randyland with Randy Gilson.
At each stop we considered the formal, conceptual, experiential, and community facets of the location.
