Pop Filter Hot Pick: Gallery Crawl in the Cultural District

This Friday, head Downtown into the "artbeat" of the city for the first--and free--Gallery Crawl of 2012.

From 5:30 to 9 p.m., the Cultural Trust offers its latest crop of cutting-edge visual art, performance, theater, dance, design, film, and plenty of DIY activities in 34 venues throughout the Cultural District for visitors of all ages. (read: the 14-square block area bordered by the Allegheny River on the north, Tenth St. on the east, Stanwix St. on the west, and Liberty Ave. on the south).

At the always avant-garde Wood Street Galleries, step into an immersive installation featuring single-channel videos and projected light, as you become the first viewers in the US to experience the Stateside debut of in transit by Norwegian artist HC Gilje. Continue your culture jamming along Liberty Ave. with a stop at SPACE Gallery, where the powerful global exhibition Out of Rubble addresses the causes and consequences, the finality and future--and ultimately the hope for regeneration and recovery--of war.

Be sure to pause at Tito & Exchange Way to turn on thousands of lights on an electromagnetic field just by making a cell phone call!! As you stroll, enjoy live music by Sounds of Steel Pan Band and be wowed by Pittsburgh’s premier Steel Town Fire performance troupe, who will heat up Downtown with their highly precise moves on poi, snakes, swords, and various pyro-props.

Don't think you've saved enough to buy original art? Think again, because Shaw Galleries' "Bad Art Sale" features dozens of thrift store paintings and amateur art at rock bottom prices. Ready to witness a shape shifter? Experience the intersection of movement and fantasy at the Trust Arts Education Center, where kNOT Dance will transform drawings of your dreams into an actual dance performance right before your very eyes!

Downtown is teeming with public art, and is also a national model for sustainable design practices. You can experience it all firsthand during special tours led by the city's Office of Public Art and SEA starting at 6 and 7 p.m. (meet in the Convention Center's East Lobby off 10th St.).

At 943 Liberty Ave., encounter Elin Hansdottir's Path, a hypnotic maze-like installation incorporating light and space, while Future Tenant's Distillate features multimedia work by Brew House Association artists in a new show curated by Meghan Olson and Kara Skylling.

Over at the August Wilson Center, see Pittsburgh Post-Gazette photogs Bill Wade and Rebecca Droke’s present-day portraits and videos of people photographed by the legendary local artist, Charles “Teenie” Harris, and explore rural and urban life in the Appalachian region at Common Ground: Affrilachia!

At 810 Penn Ave., enjoy refreshments and meet Pittsburgh artist Seth Clark, whose complex collages examine the beauty of abandoned structures, while at 709 Penn Ave., be dazzled by Kathryn Carr’s intricate paper cut art. Carr's meticulous collection, Paper Thin Theater, illuminates the age-old art of storytelling, blending elements of puppetry, opera, narrative silhouettes, nostalgia, dream imagery, and fleeting memories.

In case you missed the opening on Jan. 13, be sure to visit Internal Reflections: Paintings by Steve Emmett at 707 Penn Gallery. The presentation of stunning works by the late Edinboro University professor and artist reflect Emmett's recurring treatment of the solitary male figure. At 604 Liberty Ave., step up to an interactive screen to see how your movements alter the latest Project Pop Up, where a digital installation entitled Summer Sky Eternal will make you feel a bit warmer this winter.

Pop into 131 Seventh St. to experience the joy and wonderment of a toy theater parlor created by The Society for the Advancement of Miniature Curiosa, while at 1035 Penn Ave. celebrate the legendary defensive line dubbed The Steel Curtain in a historical installation.

Still standing after the Crawl? Head over to the Cabaret and Backstage Bar for Salsa Friday, a special post-Crawl bash (no cover!) featuring dance lessons and happy hour.
 
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