Inaugural Pittsburgh Humanities Festival Set for This Weekend in the Cultural District

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and the Humanities Center of Carnegie Mellon University announce the launch of the inaugural Pittsburgh Humanities Festival, scheduled for this weekend, March 26-29, 2015. The Festival will take place throughout Pittsburgh's Cultural District and neighboring locales.

"The Pittsburgh Humanities Festival seeks to explore and evaluate the current condition of human life," shared Paul Organisak, Vice President of Programming for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. "For over thirty years, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has been attentive to the quality of life provided for Pittsburgh residents and visitors. It is our hope that these programs will illicit new and unique thoughts with regard to how we view the world."

"The festival will demonstrate the humanities -- broadly defined as knowledge of humankind and its works -- are stimulating, entertaining and vital to the life of the community. Carnegie Mellon has helped lead Pittsburgh into the 21st century and the Humanities Festival, modeled on Chicago's 25-year old example, is another step in the city's transformation into a capital of culture and innovation," shared David Shumway, professor of English and director of the Humanities Center at Carnegie Mellon.

The Pittsburgh Humanities Festival will feature internationally renowned academics, artists and intellectual innovators offering interviews, intimate conversations and select performances focused on topics ranging from art, literature and music to science, policy and politics.

Events will be held Thursday, March 26, 2015 through Sunday, March 29, 2015, throughout Pittsburgh's Cultural District, as well as at select venues of partnering organizations and galleries.

Presented by The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and the Humanities Center at Carnegie Mellon University, the Pittsburgh Humanities Festival is supported by the Pennsylvania Humanities Council, the Institute of Arts and Humanities at Penn State University, the Andy Warhol Museum, WYEP/WESA and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

Tickets for the Pittsburgh Humanities Festival will go on sale Monday, February 16, 2015 at 9 a.m. Full festival passes, single tickets and student pricing will be available. For a listing of events and to receive updates, please visit TrustArts.org/SmartTalk or call 412-456-6666. Groups may purchase discounted tickets by calling 412-471-6930.

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. For more information, visit www.TrustArts.org. Follow us on Twitter @CulturalTrust, and like us on Facebook.

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