Arts Profile: Patty Burk

This week, we spoke to Patty Burk, the Vice President of Housing and Economic Development at the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership (PDP). She’s been with the PDP since 2001, and is responsible for the coordination of the Downtown Living Initiative in addition to being an avid theatergoer and supporter of the arts. She first became involved with the PDP as part of an initiative to focus more on the housing market downtown. Previously, she worked in site acquisitions and development, and lived in Columbus, Ohio.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, it is responsible for a lot of the great development in the “Golden Triangle” (bounded by the two rivers and I-579). Their incentive is, as Patty put it “making downtown a better place to live, work and play.” Most of their initiatives center on keeping downtown clean and safe, as well as keeping the office market vibrant and revitalizing Pittsburgh’s downtown treasures, such as Market Square. In 1997, the PDP created a Business Improvement District, which allows property owners to put money towards the general marketing and upkeep of the area.

Patty has become is a huge proponent of downtown housing, and puts her money where her mouth is, as she’s lived there for two years. Her favorite things about it are the lack of a commute to work, and the opportunities it allows for her and her four year old son, who she walks to school. As she put it, “you are close to all the action, you can just walk out your door and eat or go to the theater.” She’s also a big fan of cultural landmarks like Katz Plaza.

The PDP also has done extensive work with the local arts community- especially with Filmmakers. The Harris theater, located in the heart of downtown is what they consider a resident amenity, and they co-sponsor films at the theater every few months. Also, they routinely sponsor a gallery for the fall gallery crawl. As if that wasn’t enough, Brian Holderman, a local artist, did some amazing sidewalk paintings for them as part of their Downtown Living Exposed campaign. Each painting highlighted some of the unique characteristics of downtown living, and was created outside various residential buildings in the Golden Triangle.

Brian Holderman creates sidewalk art.

But back to Patty. When we asked her about some of her favorite things about downtown, she spoke about the great urban view of “wrought iron and brick buildings” that she has from her apartment balcony. She also talked up kayaking on the Pittsburgh rivers with her son, playing in the fountains and being able to walk to the grocery store and the farmers market, and last but most certainly not least, heading down to Market Square to sit in the park and get work done. Sounds like a pretty convincing ad for downtown living to me.

She also enjoys seeing movies at the Harris, having recently joined a group of fellow downtowners to see Anvil! Primarily, she goes to the movies to be entertained, and is looking forward to seeing O’Horten and Objectified later this summer. A little different than her all time favorite of Groundhog Day, but whatever works.

Currently, Patty is working on a resident newsletter/blog for downtown residents called “Vertical Life,” which should be getting started in August. Since it plans to include reviews for the Harris, you can bet we’ll be reading it! Also, possible upcoming projects include an no leash dog park and new exciting programming for Market Square. For more information on about the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, you can visit their website at http://www.downtownpittsburgh.com/, follow them on twitter at DowntownPitt or check them out on Facebook. Oh, the wonders of modern social networking.

Art Profile: Dylan Vitone

This week we are highlighting Pittsburgh Filmmakers Adjunct Professor Dylan Vitone, an exceptional photographer who has shown work all over the country, and is about to show some work in the upcoming Cultural Trust Gallery Crawl on Friday, July 17th.

Dylan grew up in Austin, Texas, a world away from Pittsburgh. He took a photo class at Saint Edwards University in photography, and it was pretty much love at first sight. From there he went on to Boston, where he used photography to document inner city life from many different angles. He creates incredible black and white panoramic photographs that are rich with activity and interesting composition. No matter how long you look at them, you keep on discovering new things. Their size and scope make you feel as if you’re at the very street corner in the photo. The people in his photographs look placed, perhaps because they are looking at the camera so directly, but somehow they also look candid. Dylan said he achieves this by just telling his subjects to look at him, but not to smile. He doesn’t place people.
We owe Dylan’s presence in Pittsburgh to his wife. In a true example of marital compromise, they made a deal that she would go where he wanted to study for two years, and then…he was at her mercy for two. So he picked Boston, and then she picked Pittsburgh, which Dylan was not initially that excited about. But after being here for a few years he has come to appreciate the decision. When we asked him if he thought Pittsburgh was a good place to live and work as an artist he first responded with, “It’s a very good community, and what really matters is your ability to pay the bills.” He is referring to the low cost of living here, which means that as an artist you don’t need to spend as much time in your place of work, which frees you up to work on your art. Even though he does express mad love for his places of work, as a professor at both Carnegie Mellon University and Filmmakers, he says he sincerely loves “the energy in the classroom.”
So whats coming next for Dylan? Right now he plans to remain in Pittsburgh. He is being touted as the emerging artist of the year at the Center for the Arts in the fall, where he’ll show work he did in Miami. He’s also getting a Heinz Endowment grant to document downtown Pittsburgh over a two year period. He’s entering his second year of that project now. Stay tuned for upcoming showings and for now come get a sample of his work at 937 Liberty Avenue during the Cultural District Gallery Crawl on Friday, July 17th from 5:30 to 9:00pm . Did we mention that the gallery crawl is FREE?

Can’t make it to the gallery crawl next Friday? Check out Dylan’s work online: http://www.dylanvitone.com/

Filmmakers’ Cafe in the News

Food meets film at Cafe Obscura:

“Mr. Harris runs Dave’s Cafe Obscura out of the Filmmakers building at 477 Melwood Ave., in a corner of the main lobby. Although quite small, the cafe has some devoted followers …”

Read this great feature at Post-Gazette.com

Arts Profile: Kim Chestney Harvey

This week, we’re profiling Pittsburgh notable Kim Chestney Harvey, the Director of the Art and Technology Initiative for the Pittsburgh Technology Council.

Kim got her start as good old fashioned artist, with a background in oil painting. She moved into graphic design and became involved with the Pittsburgh Technology Council as the creative director of their magazine. She conceived the initial idea for the Art + Technology Initiative, and with President Audrey Russo’s backing, made it an essential part of the Pittsburgh Technology Council’s mission.

As she put it, “The Art + Technology Initiative supports regional artists, culture and commerce, and works to enhance the cultural tapestry of Pittsburgh.” One of Kim’s first efforts was to increase the amount of local art exhibited in businesses and workspaces, which was the inspiration behind the 15 Minutes Gallery (named after the famous Warholian phrase). Since last year, the Pittsburgh Technology Council has sold over 4000 dollars worth of local art by using their headquarters to advertise and exhibit artists.

Kim also organizes and hosts the Annual Art + Technology exhibition (going on now at the Technology Council’s 15 Minutes Gallery) which works to introduce businesses to local artists of all mediums. This year, they partnered with the Carnegie Mellon CREATE (Community Robotics, Education and Technology Empowerment) Labs to work on the BurghBot Project, what she calls “a next generation manifestation of robots, something you’ve never seen before.” This intersection of art and technology had adult artists learning new techniques by programming and coding robots, and featured primarily artists from the Pittsburgh area.

Kim with CREATE Labs’ Ian Ingram.

When asked if she found forging connections between businesses and artists challenging, she replied that “It’s not that challenging, sometimes business people don’t get how art is relevant- but they realize that there isn’t going to be business in city without a strong art culture.” The Art + Technology Initiative is definitely helping to make connecting Pittsburgh’s disparate interests easier.

Finally, we asked her about her personal tastes in art and, of course, movies. She enjoys traditional art, but feels that “new technology can add to the aesthetic experience” and anything that “creates a compelling object” is worth looking at. She also enjoyed The Piano Story which showed at the opening for the annual exhibition. As she put it, “Film is like having an opportunity to merge art and music and the dimension of time, an extra way to reach out to people and share the human condition.” She’s looking forward to the upcoming gallery crawl films, and Séraphine, showing at Regent Square at the end of July.

For more information about the Pittsburgh Technology Council’s Art + Technology Initiative, you can visit their website. You can also see the Annual Art + Technology Exhibition through August at the 15 Minutes Gallery. Kim can be followed on Twitter at KimChestney.

If you know of any companies doing an excellent job at combining arts and technology, the 2009 Tech 50 Awards are looking for nominations until July 9th.

A Worthy Cause: Denis Theater Foundation

It’s not every day we get the opportunity to both show support for a great arts initiative and suggest free events around town, so that’s why the Denis Theater Foundation’s Last Saturday Cinema makes us really happy.

In case you haven’t heard of the Denis Theater Foundation (and you should have), they’re a group of arts minded citizens dedicated to bringing back the Denis Theater in Mt. Lebanon. The original Denis operated as an arthouse movie theater from 1938 all the way until 2004, when it shut down. It was home to, among other notable happenings, Pittsburgh’s run of To Sir with Love. Also, it was one of the first theaters to show The Graduate before Dustin Hoffman’s break out film became mainstream.

In 2007, the Mt. Lebanon commissioner Raja bought the property, and teamed up with community leaders to form a foundation dedicated to bringing back the Denis. However, the new Denis isn’t just going to be a movie theater. The current plan is to turn the Denis Theater into a community arts center, housing classes, lectures, and showing of up and coming filmmakers work (something we’re always a fan of), in addition to independent movies. The Denis Theater Foundation wants to raise 3 million dollars to achieve this goal, and their fundraising efforts are well underway, despite the economic downturn.

This summer though, the Foundation is offering the Last Saturday film series, outside in the center of Mt. Lebanon. Films are the last Saturday of each summer month at 9, and will have all the amenities, including a covered seating area, concessions and a cash bar. They’re kicking it off with Bringing Up Baby, the Katherine Hepburn classic released the same year that the Denis originally opened. After the movie, there will be a critical discussion led by Elaine Wertheim.

If you’re interested in more about the Last Saturday Cinema series, or the Denis Theater Foundation, plenty of information can be found at their website, here.

They also have a blog, Denis Theater: Act 2. We know we’ll be sitting outside this Saturday munching some popcorn and enjoying a classic film, and hope to see you there.

Filmmakers faculty on nat’l television

Kerry Skarbakka, one of our adjunct faculty members (teaching Constructed Visions this fall) was on the Today Show on Tuesday, April 21.

Click here to see the video at MSNBC

February happenings…

Film Kitchen is coming up in a week-ish. Tuesday night (Feb. 10) marks the monthly screening-with-food even, which will happen at the Melwood screening room here at the PF facility. This month’s Film Kitchen will feature Shelter: a Squatumentary (Hannah Dobbz), Gone, and Son of Richard (both by Eddie Bursch). Admission is $5, with the reception (and food!) at 7 pm and the films starting at 8.

The film schedule for February for all three theaters, including the more romantic Sunday night series can be found here along with a brief synopsis of all movies being shown.

Other than that, class is in session and we’re hard at work up at Filmmakers, bringing in the best of independent and well-loved classics for your viewing pleasure. Hope to see you at one of the shows!

Short Films

Granted, the film festival was a few months ago, I finally remembered to come back and post a couple short films from the Symposium. These two films are part of the reason that I enjoyed the symposium as much as I did. Neither one is longer than about 4 minutes, and I hope you will take the time to enjoy them as much as all of the attendees did.

Dear, Sweet Emma

Lucky

Adventures in setting up exhibits…

Pittsburgh, 2009. Picture it. (If you know where “picture it” comes from, you’re my new hero.)

It’s 9 in the morning. 1 degree is the actual temperature. I (native Texan) am dressed in every single piece of warm clothing I own. I have on three pairs of socks, but only one pair of gloves. I begin to wonder what I’m in store for as I clear the snow off my car. I get in and let it warm up, and then I head to the gas station. I pull up to the ONLY pump on the premises that has no latch to keep the pump pumping without me having to hold it. So I stand there, in the bitter cold, waiting to fill up my SUV from empty.

10 minutes and 10 very frozen fingers later, I am in the car heading to Pittsburgh Filmmakers to meet up with my coworker. We get a quick breakfast to warm ourselves up and fortify ourselves for the work and weather. We head back to the office, load my car with pieces of art, and get directions.

As I’m getting directions (on the slowest computer on EARTH), my coworker tells me that we have one more stop in downtown. 15 minutes later, we head out with directions in hand.

Here we are, driving into downtown Pittsburgh on a Friday morning, and the temperature is barely above zero. We have directions and a vague plan. We stop in front of a gallery and load four pieces of art into my already stuffed car. We take off in the wrong direction for the Pittsburgh Technology Council. We figure out (as we are about to cross a bridge) that we’re heading in the wrong direction and make a u-turn. Finally, we find the street and make the turn.

About 5 minutes and some confused looks later, I accidentally run a red light (I blame it on the bridge) and we wind up at a dead-end street that is very obviously NOT where we are supposed to be. I turn to go around the block, and wind up at the same light I ran as a cop pulls up. I’m trying to determine if this same light is actually green while trying to decide on right or left. After a few fakes in each direction, I turn left and double back. My coworker urges me to turn around so we can try again, but every time I check my mirrors, there are at least 3 or 4 cops in the vicinity.

At this point, I’m convinced that a crazy Texan driver has been called in and all units are on the lookout for me. I’ve turned from a 25 year old film buff into that crazy grandma driver. Or perhaps, someone has seen all the oddly shaped, wrapped packages obscuring my view and called us in as art thieves, leading to not-so-subtle surveillance. Who knows? All of this is happening while we are still in downtown. We finally get turned around, but that was close to where we started. We retrace our steps and realize that the light that I originally ran is the light where I should have turned left. This time, I make the turn.

As we’re on this new street, another cop pulls up alongside me, toying with me, daring me to mess up. Thank goodness I had a navigator or I probably would have had a heart attack! At one point, we pass a right turn (and hey, the directions called for a right turn!) that didn’t have a street sign. I make a (bad) decision to turn right in the off chance this is where we are supposed to be, and we wind up in front of the jail(click on bird’s eye view for the full effect). On a very narrow street. In an SUV.

After a 4396-point turn, I manage to swing the car around and head back out. Wouldn’t you know it, as we get back onto the main street, ANOTHER cop is there ready to pick up where the first left off? We keep driving, and finally wind up in a familiar area. Realization hits us at the same time. We were maybe a mile away from Filmmakers in an area both of us knew. And it only took us about an hour and a half to finally get there!

I park (crookedly) in the handicapped space as people from PTC come out and help us unload. I check my phone and see several missed calls and texts from my boss. Thankfully my coworker reminded me to check, otherwise we would have had to repeat that trip! We unload one of the four extra pieces we picked up downtown, as it is being added to the exhibit. We are happy that the job is done, but the best part is knowing that due to the nature of the business, the exhibit won’t be set up until next week…

We almost always set up early because dear old Murphy usually tries to interfere with the best-laid plans, as this little adventure clearly shows. Oh well though…this misadventure is only an excuse to have an after-work drink and a chance to warm our frozen extremities. All of this is also EXACTLY why we expect to be seeing you at the exhibit (details below) next week!

Bear with me…

I’m slowly getting my bearings about me as the new semester (and the new year) begins. You can see where my priorities are, eh? Good…you’re smart!

I’ve been asked to pass along a little info for those of you who are still following along. Hope to see you there!

Media Arts in the 21st Century: Selections from Pittsburgh Filmmakers’ Students and Faculty

Come join Pittsburgh Filmmakers and the Pittsburgh Technology Council for this exciting show! 15 of our artists will be presenting both photographic and moving picture works highlighting the importance of art and technology in current artistic work.

The opening event is at Pittsburgh Technology Council’s 15 Minutes Gallery on January 22nd, 4:30-6:00 pm. The cost is $15 per person and includes drinks, snacks, networking, and guest speakers.

To register, call 412.918.4229 or go online at The Tech Council’s events page and look for the Council’s Art and Technology Initiative Launch Event.

Regular gallery hours are 9-5.

Pittsburgh Technology Council
2000 Technology Dr.

Pittsburgh, PA 15146