56th Annual Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival Sets Full Lineup
By: Tyler Peterson May. 11, 2015
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announces the highlights and overview of programming scheduled for the 56th annual Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, a production of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. The 10-day celebration of the arts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is unlike any other in the nation, recently being nominated by USA Today.com for being the Best Art Festival in the nation.
The multi-disciplinary festival is free to attend and is open to the public. Attracting over 400,000 visitors annually, the Festival begins on the first Friday in June and takes place at the confluence of Pittsburgh's famed three rivers in Point State Park, throughout picturesque Gateway Center, and in the city's world-renowned Cultural District.
UNSEEN/UNHEARD is this year's guiding theme. From Rudy Shephard's Black Rock Negativity Absorber, curated by Nadine Wasserman, and the interactive tents in the Giant Eagle Creativity Zone, to the portal bridge and art galleries, all activities as well as installations and exhibitions are aimed to explore and vocalize narratives that are not typically heard, or are marginalized.
The theme of UNSEEN/UNHEARD resonates with the Festival's core vision of:
- Presenting impactful, artful experiences that contribute directly to the quality of life for everyone in the community
- Creating a safe place for the open exchange of creativity and dialogue, ideas and participation
- Providing a diverse and full spectrum of programming from challenging and difficult to engaging and inspiring content.
Often an Unseen/Unheard operation, like the 2015 Festival theme, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has produced TRAF with intent to reduce, reuse, and recycle to lessen impact on the environment. With the generous support of Colcom Foundation, and in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Resources Council, the Festival has produced impressive results each year on its pursuit of zero waste.
The Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival is made possible by the generous support of Peoples Natural Gas (Artist Market Presenter), Giant Eagle (Creativity Zone Presenter); Foundation Partners including The Bessie F. Anathan Charitable Trust of the Pittsburgh Foundation, Buhl Foundation, Calgon Carbon Corporation, Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, Colcom Foundation, FISA Foundation, The Grable Foundation, The Laurel Foundation and The Pittsburgh Foundation. Festival Supporters include Calgon Carbon and Sensodyne.
The Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival is also supported by several festival and media partners, all of who can be found on the current supporter's page at TrustArts.org/TRAF.
2015 HIGHLIGHTS
DANCE & MOVEMENT
Opening weekend: Outdoor premieres by Alexandra Bodnarchuk and by Attack Theatre as well as intimate performances in the Trust Arts Education Center with Maree ReMalia, Jil Stifel and Jasmine Hearn. In addition to the dance events listed below, two breaking crews-Hidden Characters and The Get Down Gang-will battle it out in an exhibition of true B-boy style on Sunday, June 14 from 3-4p at the Stanwix Stage.
Maree ReMalia | merrygogo
Opening Performance: Saturday, June 6 | 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm | Trust Arts Education Center
The performance is comprised of two duets featuring Taylor Knight, Maree ReMalia, Jil Stifel, and Anna Thompson in a 50-minute showcase. Now is now is a 30-minute duet exploring the potential of a single moment to comprise countless layers of ambivalent emotions, contradictory thoughts, and conflicting circumstances. The Multiple Bodies Project is a 15-20 minute duet and collaborative endeavor conceived of by Charli Brissey and choreographed by Jil Stifel.
Alexandra Bodnarchuk | Dance! From the Inside Out
Opening Performance: Saturday, June 6 | 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm and 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. | The Fountain
Dance! From the Inside Out is a collaborative dance video project. It involves two dancers from Texture Contemporary Ballet, two dancers from The Get Down Gang, and two freelance modern dancers, as well as videographer David Cherry and musician Andy Hasenpflug. The project's goal is to make dance accessible to a diverse audience by creating three cross genre duets to perform live at the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, using GoPro video cameras to develop an exciting, cutting edge, new way of capturing dance on video to create several short films to display at the Festival and on the project's YouTube channel. A short accompanying film will be on display at various locations throughout the Festival.
Jasmine Hearn | Duets
Opening Performance: Sunday, June 7 | 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm | Trust Arts Education Center
Jasmine Hearn and collaborating performing artists Taylor Knight, Jessica Marino, and Anna Taylor share moments from past performed duets. Using dance, sound, song, and memory, they create a dynamic yet subtle world for all to be immersed.
Attack Theatre | Lost + Found: Memories through Movement
Opening Performance: Sunday, June 7 | 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm | Gateway Four Plaza
Attack Theatre's Lost + Found: Memories through Movement will explore personal narratives through interactive dialogue and dance. Object, memory, place and relationship will inspire the creation of original dance works derived from improvisation. Dancers will interact with TRAF patrons and transform these ideas into compelling moments of dance. This original interactive performance experience highlights the themes and concepts of the Lost + Found visual art installation.
A fun Family Hip Hop Yoga class entitled Super Hero Sessions will be held on Sunday, June 14! On the final day of the festival attendees can enjoy a yoga art and justice experience-martial arts-inspired and trauma-informed. This new and exciting session will take place on the Dollar Bank Main Stage from 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. saapya.com
YOGA & LITERARY ARTS
Registration is required for all limited seating events in the Peirce Studio. Register at TrustArts.org/TRAF.
New to the arts festival is a focus on literary arts, events of which will be presented during the second week of the Festival. On Saturday, June 13 at 5:00 p.m., poets Tameka Cage Conley and David Newman will perform on the Dollar Bank Main Stage in partnership with City of Asylum Pittsburgh. During the weekend, the Trust Arts Education Center will feature free writing workshops on the Power of Intuition with Kim Chestney, Third Mind Poetry with Michelle Naka Pierce, and Creative Nonfiction with Anjali Sachdeva. In addition writers and students from the Words Without Walls program at Chatham University will host a reading, and there will be an interactive workshop with Dreams of Hope on LGBTQA themes and ideas.
On Sunday, June 14 at 3:30 p.m., Jasiri X-a recent recipient of the prestigious Robert Rauschenberg Artist as Activist Fellowship Award-will perform on the Dollar Bank Main Stage in partnership with 1Hood artists who will also give pop-up spoken word performances and a panel discussion: Race, Gender and the Power of Language in Hip Hop on the same day beginning at 5:00 p.m. in the Trust Arts Education Center.
CREate FESTIVAL
Registration is required for all limited seating events in the Peirce Studio. Register at TrustArts.org/TRAF.
In partnership with the Pittsburgh Technology Council, the CREate Festival features three days (June 11-13) of unbridled ingenuity with innovators and creatives from around the country discussing the intersection of art and technology. Festival goers are invited to participate in free workshops, demonstrations and installations from 3-D printing to interactive and immersive light sculptures. A full list of free workshops can be found here.
STOREFRONT ACTIVATIONS
Community Supported Art (CSA PGH) will create Small Mall Pop-up Store at 820 Liberty Avenue. Community Supported Art (CSA PGH) is a program that builds lasting relationships with artists and cultural consumers. Not unlike the boxes of fruit and vegetables that one might get from a local farm as an agricultural CSA, CSA PGH creates "shares" of art to feed the public's cultural appetite. For more information: csapgh.com.
Artist Daniel Baxter will create an installation, #CRAFT YOUR MIND, at 943 Liberty Avenue in partnership with Society of Contemporary Craft's Mindful exhibition that explores mental health through art. A whimsical approach to the topic of mental health, this installation features colorful, life-sized versions of Baxter's signature Kreepy Dolls inhabiting a storefront window on Liberty Ave. They vibrantly illustrate emotions, feelings and states of mind. For more information: kreepydollfactory.com.
Matt Forrest will present Trophy Cam series of projections unveiling the hidden spaces of the Pennsylvania wilderness at 600 Liberty Avenue. Incorporating specific references from the artist's upbringing among the farmlands and hunting grounds of Western Pennsylvania, Forrest connects the personal and regional experiences to a national experience on hunting. For more information: matthew-forrest.com
PUBLIC ART
All Public Art is on display daily from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Black Rock Negativity Absorber | Artist: Rudy Shepherd
Point State Park, City-side Lawn
Induction Ceremony | Saturday, 6/6 | 1 pm at Point State Park, City-side lawn
The Black Rock Negative Energy Absorber, part of a series of sculptures on which the artist has been working since 2006, has a magical function: to expunge negative energy from viewers - in the form of prejudice, racism, or even quotidian disdain - and allow them to respond to life with the more open, compassionate, and positive aspects of their personalities. www.rudyshepherd.com.
Lost + Found Factory | Artist: Michelle Illuminato
Gateway Center, Liberty Ave Extension
We have all lost something that we wish we hadn't. Sometimes we wish it so much that the object is etched in our minds, a memory that materializes when we see a similar item or recall a particular time or place. Visit the Lost & Found Factory to watch as artists work to recreate and return lost items to their owners. nextquestion.org?
Confluence | Artist: Fernando Orellana
Point State Park, Portal Bridge/Reflecting Pools
It is estimated that from 1492 to 1600, between 60 -100 million Native Americans died due to the Old and New World colliding. Regarded by some as the largest genocide in human history, most of the deaths came from disease and from the conscious slaughter of native populations by Europeans. Confluence is a type of memorial to the millions of lives that perished during these brutal centuries, allowing us now to celebrate our union and the three rivers area of Pittsburgh. fernandoorellana.com
Baby: Corps of Re-Discovery | Artist: Michael Arcega
Point State Park, Overlook
"Arcega's piece references migration and inter-cultural encounters with a Pacific outrigger canoe that has navigated waterways in the spirit of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Arcega reverses their journey by focusing eastward toward the Atlantic as a meditation on de-colonization." - Curator, Nadine Wasserman. arcega.us
A Public Art Panel Discussion will be held on Saturday, June 6 from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. at the Stanwix Auditorium. Featuring the artists and curators, the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council will facilitate discussion on public art offered at this year's festival. pittsburghartscouncil.org
Public Art curator Nadine Wasserman will also provide a Public Art Walking Tour on Thursday, June 11 from 5:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Interested visitors should gather on the city-side lawn. publicartpittsburgh.org
JURIED VISUAL ART EXBITION
This is the first year in nearly two decades that the exhibition, founded in 1962, opened its applications to artists living outside of the Pittsburgh region. The expanded call resulted in 500 entries from 39 states and from as far as Tehran. This is also the first time in several years the entire festival has an overarching framework: Unseen/Unheard. Under this motif, artists who had never exhibited at TRAF were encouraged to apply, and artworks that explored unheard narratives or brought into greater visibility individuals, cultures and social issues were welcomed. From this great pool of entries, 41 works by 31 artists were selected through a "blind" jury process, with the artists' identities undisclosed and regardless of resume or career level.
From painting and sculpture, to fiber work and carved wood furniture, to relational aesthetics and digital landscapes, the projects on view run a gamut of contemporary art and craft. Astria Suparak served as the 2015 JVAE Juror and the exhibition will be designed by Carin Mincemoyer, JVAE Exhibition Coordinator.
2015 JVAE Artists (alphabetical order): Susan Baus, Thomas Bigatel, Jacob Brown, David Burke, Cynthia Cable, Carolyn Carson, Zhiwan Cheung, Lawrence Cwik, Raul de la Torre Lopez, Paisley Dee, Steve Gurysh, Faraz Habiballahian, Lindsey Hayakawa, Anna Kell, Colleen Kelsey, Ann Kim, Saberah Malik, Julie Mallis, Matthias Neumann, Quoctrung Nguyen, Meghan Olson, Keunho Peter Park, Rachel Rampleman, Melissa Riggatire, Robert Sholties, Bill Snyder, Gerri Spilka, Ivette Spradlin, Julian Stropes, Ronald Wasiluk and Shawn Watrous.
ADDITIONAL EXHIBITIONS
Pittsburgh Society of Artists (PSA) celebrates its 50th anniversary with a juried show featuring 34 pieces by 30 member artists responding to the Festival's Unseen/Unheard theme. Intr(au)spective is a Juried Art Exhibit of Pittsburgh Society of Art. The juror is Freya Spira of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
There will be an opening reception held on Friday, June 5 from 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm in the 937 Liberty Gallery located in the Cultural District. pittsburghsocietyofartists.org
In the Trust Arts Education Center (805-807 Liberty Avenue), visitors can view 7B:1 by Anthony Musmanno. Mylan, Inc., a Fortune 500 company with local roots, is on a mission to provide quality medicine to the world's more than 7 billion people - one person at a time. The commissioned artist explores impoverished parts of the globe to document the lives and create portraits of people who are benefitting from their efforts. anthonymusmanno.com
Dennis Childers' iPhone Alley will be on exhibit in Exchange Way. This work started four years ago when walking to work through Exchange Way, the alley between 9th and Tito Way. The artist became increasingly impressed by how it represented a silent historical witness to life and began to photograph and take video of it with his iPhone. He used photography to capture the imagery left behind by the remnants of life passing. dennischilders.com
Presented by Radiant Hall with curatorial selection by Ikechukwu Onyewuenyi, The Pittsburgh Studio Tour Preview Exhibition will be held June 11 through June 14 from 12:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. in The Wintergarden located in PPG Place. By collaborating with the Festival, Radiant Hall hopes to highlight the many creative individuals working around the city center. Guest Curator Ikechukwu Onyewuenyi selected 15 artists from the Radiant Hall network to exhibit recent works. radianthall.com
To Be Determined... will be on display in Point State Park and along the Allegheny Riverfront Trail under the Fort Duquesne Bridge. Riverlife invites visitors to stroll along the Allegheny riverfront trail and explore an outdoor urban gallery under the Fort Duquesne Bridge. Through an installation, a mural, and a blackboard to capture ideas, the people of Pittsburgh are asked to dream about the future of this public space, using inspiration and imagination to re-envision this underutilized corridor. riverlifepgh.org
Bricolage returns to the festival following the successful launch of their immersive 2014 theater experience of Ojo. Sainthood will be on display in the window of 937 Liberty Ave. The pop-up installation foreshadows Bricolage's next production, SAINTS TOUR, by Molly Rice. bricolagepgh.org
In addition to the aforementioned exhibits, all of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's galleries will be open daily from 12:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m., including HC Gilge's The World Revolves Around You at Wood Street Galleries, Lindsey Landfried's Repetition, Rhythm and Pattern at SPACE, Gianna Paniagua's Vascular Caverns at 707 Penn Gallery and the Recent Works of Tamara Natalie Madden's Out of Many, One People at 709 Penn Gallery. The Public Art of Agnes Katz Plaza (Penn & 7th), Cell Phone Disco (Tito Way), Magnolias for Pittsburgh (Penn & 7th), Memento Mori (Tito Way), Sign of Light (atop the Penn Avenue Place building) and the Hass Mural (Ft. Duquesne Boulevard between 6th & 7th) will all continue to be on display for guests to enjoy.
GIANT EAGLE CREATIVITY ZONE
Each year, the Giant Eagle Creativity Zone is home to hands-on activities and demonstrations presented by some of Pittsburgh's most preeminent art and outreach organizations.
As part of the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, there will be a special performance by Signshine, a student group from the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, Joyce Driben and activities in the Giant Eagle Creative Zone aimed at educating the public about deafness and sign language. In addition, Canine Companions for Independence will provide assistance dog demonstrations and coloring activities.
Other activities include talking with educators from the Pennsylvania Resources Council about the unseen materials in landfills and waste streams; turning found objects into works of art and craft with Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse; and a large-scale art mural project led by the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh and artists from the Spark Kids+Creativity Network.
Other organizations participating in the Giant Eagle Creativity Zone include Sweetwater Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh Glass Center, Union Project, Remake Learning, Climate and Urban Systems Partnership, Peek-a-Boo paintings by Fresh Heirlooms, Fort Pitt Museum, GTECH Strategies, Climate and Urban Systems Partnership, Dance! From the Inside Out, Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and Dreams of Hope-hosting anactivity where visitors can learn about LGBTQA arts and make their own stop motion animation. Guest can also enjoy Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's own Children's Theater Series through a family raffle and show-themed activity.
ART ON FILM
Pittsburgh Filmmakers will host art-focused films in the Harris Theater including Tracing Outlines, The Umbrella Man, Progression, Homemakers and Ghosts of Amistad: In the Footsteps of the Rebels, as well as a series of Pride Week short films (being screened on Sunday, June 14 from 1:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.).
ARTIST MARKET PRESENTED BY PEOPLES NATURAL GAS
The Artist Market presented by Peoples Natural Gas features 300+ independent artists in an open-air setting, selling handmade art from 12:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. daily. Every artist participates for a varying number of days so, beyond what you find on opening day, you can discover the work of new artists on Saturday, June 6; Wednesday, June 10; Friday, June 12; and Saturday, June 13. Hundreds of artists from around the United States apply to participate in the Artist Market, a cornerstone of the Festival, and are selected through a rigorous jury process in a wide variety of media. This year's jury panel was comprised of Leslie Ansley (Artist), Sonja Sweterlitsch (Independent Curator & Artist), Amy McGinley (So Me artisan wares & jeweler's studio), David Oresick (Executive Director, Silver Eye Center for Photography).
The Artist Market at Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival takes place throughout Point State Park and Gateway Center daily, as well as Penn Avenue Extension on weekends. The Artist Market is a cornerstone of the Festival and provides the public with an opportunity to purchase work directly from artists specializing in an array of media.
SPECIAL PROJECTS
With support from The Laurel Foundation the Festival presents Rocking Works of Art by Ashley Cecil, Kathy Lee and Leslie Ansley Stevenson. The rocking chairs will be located at Point State Park (on the City-side Lawn) providing an artful expansion of Festival seating in Point State Park. The Miniature Marina, also supported by the Laurel Foundation, returns to the festival this year. A children's model sailboat activity will be open daily from noon to 6 p.m. at the Gateway Center Fountain. Inspired by the Le Jardin de Luxembourg in Paris and Central Park's Conservatory Water in New York City, the fountain at One Gateway Center in downtown Pittsburgh has transformed into a Miniature Marina where children can sail model wooden sailboats. Volunteers and staff are on-site to assist the children and ensure their safety alongside the fountain.
FOOD & REFRESHMENTS
Food Courts are available daily. Enjoy a huge array of familiar favorites here, from funnel cake and lemonade to tabouleh and lobster burgers. Visit either location at Point State Park on the Main lawn or near the Dollar Bank Stage at Gateway Center (Main Entrance, just off of Penn Ave Extension).
Food Truck Fridays are back and better than ever. On Friday June 5 and Friday, June12, visitors can samplesome of the best mobile food vendors from Pittsburgh on Food Truck Fridays, located along Penn Ave Extension and Gateway Center. Learn more at pghmobilefood.com!
INFORMATION HUBS, ART MARTS & WALKING TOURS
Visitors can get assistance from staff members and volunteers from various information hubs located within the festival footprint. Special festival merchandise can also be purchased at these stations. Cultural District Walking Tours will also take place, leaving from the following locations daily from 1-2 p.m. and on weekends from 1-2 p.m. and 3-4 p.m. Visitors can join representatives of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust on a free and insightful tour of the Cultural District.
Point State Park | Daily, 12 - 9 pm
Main Entrance, near Commonwealth Place and Liberty Ave
Gateway Center | Daily, 12 - 8 pm
Main Entrance, just off of Penn Ave Extension
Cultural District
Daily, 9 am - 9 pm | Except Sundays 12 - 6 pm
Inside the Box Office at Theater Square, 655 Penn Ave
For information regarding the 2015 Music Headliners, visit TrustArts.org/Press.
For up to date information and a full schedule (including locations, dates and times) for the festival, visit www.TrustArts.org/TRAF.
Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival
The Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, a production of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a celebration of the arts in downtown Pittsburgh unlike any other in the nation. Each of its world-class, multi-disciplinary performing and visual arts attractions is free to attend and open to the public! The Festival begins on the first Friday in June and takes place at the confluence of Pittsburgh's famed three rivers in Point State Park, throughout picturesque Gateway Center, and in the city's world-renowned Cultural District.
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has overseen one of Pittsburgh's most historic transformations: turning a seedy red-light district into a magnet destination for arts lovers, residents, visitors, and business owners. Founded in 1984, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a non-profit arts organization whose mission is the cultural and economic revitalization of a 14-block arts and entertainment/residential neighborhood called the Cultural District. The District is one of the country's largest land masses "curated" by a single nonprofit arts organization. A major catalytic force in the city, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a unique model of how public-private partnerships can reinvent a city with authenticity, innovation and creativity. Using the arts as an economic catalyst, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has holistically created a world-renowned Cultural District that is revitalizing the city, improving the regional economy and enhancing Pittsburgh's quality of life. Thanks to the support of foundations, corporations, government agencies and thousands of private citizens, the Trust stands as a national model of urban redevelopment through the arts.
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