Join the residents of Wilkinsburg this Saturday as they celebrate the opening of the
Whitney Avenue Art Gallery with a street party. The gallery is located on the 700 block of Whitney Avenue...the whole 700 block. That's because WAAG is composed of ten abandoned buildings on and adjacent to Whitney Avenue, which have been decorated with works of art based on the theme "houses in waiting."
WAAG is the brainchild of Project Manager Lazae LaSpina, who received grant money to develop two community workshops, one for children and another for adults and seniors, with the intention of beautifying some of the blighted buildings on Whitney Ave.
"It was really about having community workshops, where people could get together, participate in something, and have a conversation about what's going on in the neighborhood," says LaSpina, an artist and Wilkinsburg resident. When the grant money for the project came through, LaSpina enlisted the help of two lead artists to help run the workshops.
Longtime Wilkinsburg artist Ernest Bey ran the youth workshops, and Kate Joransen, who recently exhibited at The Mattress Factory, ran the adult workshops. The workshops took place on the weekends, when Bey and Joransen would have discussions with community members about how they could best interpret the "houses in waiting" motif, and helped the groups produce a large number of paintings to hang in the windows and doorways of the vacant spaces. The Whitney Avenue Neighborhood Group contributed greatly to the project, landscaping the ten overgrown yards with donated supplies from Soergel Orchards and Garden Dreams Urban Farm and Nursery.
The hard work will be displayed at the free opening party party from four to nine p.m. on July 31st, where a special projection art performance by CMU student Zena Ruiz will be take place. Guests can bring t-shirts to get screen printed with the WAAG logo. Food and beverages will be available, and information will be available about the new Landmark Housing Resources Center opening a block away from the project site.
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Source: Lazae LaSpina, Project Manager for WAAG
Writer:
John FarleyImage courtesy Whitney Avenue Art Gallery