19 artists come together to show off the city in 'Pittsburgh, Tomorrow: A City on the Rise'
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Nineteen local creatives are collaborating on a series of performance installations that combine dance, music, animation, photography, painting and interactive media as the grand finale of the Start-UP PGH conference showcasing Pittsburgh’s innovation and potential to outside investors and developers.
But “Pittsburgh, Tomorrow: A City on the Rise” is for Pittsburghers, too.
Running from 7 to 10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18, the program at Rockwell Park in Point Breeze will feature immersive installations created by local visual artists Johannes DeYoung, Brendan Burch, Wendy Willis, Julian Glander, Sujin Kim, Kevin Lorenzi, Natalie Westbrook, Jamie Wolfe and Kristin Lauth Shaeffer.
Music is provided by composer Annie Hui-Hsin Hsieh and Hussein Pwono, aka DJ pvkvsv, and dance and movement by Attack Theatre founders Michele de la Reza and Peter Kope, Jax R.F. McAtee, Will VanSlander, Anya Epstein, Miranda Nichols Braseth, Mia Giovanna Kuzma and Savionne Chambers.
During the program, a wall of shadows that envelops the dancers will rise and recede like Pittsburgh’s three rivers, de la Reza said in a press release .
“The shadows will appear and disappear, but remain present in impact and memory. Just like Pittsburgh’s cultural quirk of giving directions based on landmarks that are no longer there,” she said.
DeYoung, a professor of art at Carnegie Mellon University, noted that this will be the first time these artists create together in Pittsburgh.
“Their works, collectively and individually, ask us to reflect on the uncanny and often overlooked moments in daily life,” he said.
“Pittsburgh, Tomorrow: A City on the Rise” is open to the public, but space is limited and advance registration is required at pittsburghtomorrow.org/homecoming.
Tickets for the 21+ event are $59.95 each and include food and drink. It will be held on the second floor of Rockwell Park, 7514 Thomas Blvd., Point Breeze. There is street and lot parking nearby.
The Sept. 18 event is produced by Pittsburgh Tomorrow, a nonprofit founded by Doug Heuck, publisher of Pittsburgh Quarterly and a former Post-Gazette editor, to connect innovators, welcome newcomers and promote growth in the region.
“Pittsburgh really has the ingredients to be the world’s best place to live, and we’re working with partners in every sector to lift the veil on the incredible things afoot here,” Heuck said in a press release.
Registered out-of-town participants for Start-UP PGH will receive free tickets for two weekend events or experiences, including the Pirates-Brewers game, Fallingwater, Carnegie International, Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival, Phipps Conservatory’s Summer Flower Show, Andy Warhol Museum’s “Homecoming” exhibit, Kamin Science Center, Children’s Museum, Pittsburgh Botanic Garden and Pittsburgh Zoo.
Start-UP PGH, which runs Sept. 14-18 at sites around the city, is a showcase of the region’s strength in AI, robotics and life sciences.