E Block: photographs by Mark Perrott

A new photography exhibition on view at Pittsburgh Filmmakers provides the public with a powerful glimpse of a rarely seen institutional space.

If you missed the artist talk on May 10th, you still have time to see Mark Perrott's exhibition E Block at Pittsburgh Filmmakers Galleries in Oakland. On view through June 15th, the solo show features 30 photographs that document an unseen--and often ignored by society--institution and its population.

Turning his lens to Western Penitentiary--the region's oldest prison which operated continuously until 2005--Pittsburgh-based photographer Mark Perrott spent one year recording and transcribing the words and drawings that prisoners scrawled on the walls of the institution's E Block. Inside Western Penitentiary, the PA Department of Corrections housed 43 cells--aka E Block--reserved for first-time offenders and parole violators. Within E Block, prisoners spent between three and 14 days, until the system classified them, and either moved them to another cellblock or institution.

Photographing every surface of the 5' x 8' cells in 2005--whose walls were covered with graffiti--Perrott's images document raw feelings of rage, longing, hurt, and remorse. The graffiti also includes child-like drawings that depict everything from violence and bigotry, to abuse and redemption. Representing the "unfiltered voices of men in their first days of separation and incarceration," the poignant and arresting images share intimate expressions of a subculture rarely shared on gallery walls.

Since 1971, Perrott has been documenting the diverse residents and rich industrial landscapes of Pittsburgh. In the 1980s, his work focused on photographing the struggles of steel manufacturing throughout the Mon Valley, and his photo essay ELIZA detailed the Jones and Laughlin steel plant. Perrott's investigation of prison culture has extended to other parts of the state. In 1989 the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site published Hope Abandoned, a culmination of Perrott's four-year investigation of Philadelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary.
 
Located on the Ohio River five miles from Downtown Pittsburgh, Western Penitentiary re-opened in 2007 as a lower-medium security prison to serve an increasing population of individuals incarcerated for substance abuse.

Pgh Glass Center kicks off summer lecture series

Ever wonder how glass artists manage to create works of staggering beauty in 2,000-degree conditions? This summer, you can learn from some of the medium's top practitioners firsthand at Pittsburgh Glass Center.

The Penn Avenue-based venue kicks off its free summer lecture series on May 22nd from 6 to 8 p.m. Held on Wednesdays through August 7th, each talk features internationally known glass artists who will present images, videos and informal discussions about contemporary glass art and their creative practice.

First up for the free series are glass artists Dave Walters, DH McNabb and Richard Parrish.

Born in rural central Pennsylvania in 1968, David Walters received his BFA in Glass from Rhode Island School of Design. Relocating to Seattle, he worked for Dale Chihuly and other prominent glassworkers. For the past 17 years, Walters has worked with master Venetian glass artist, Lino Tagliapietra. His work is included in prominent private and museum collections around the US.

DH McNabb grew up in Tampa, FL, attended Centre College in Danville, KY and received his MFA from Rhode Island School of Design. Glass art has taken him to places around the globe, including Prague, Murano, Seattle and Istanbul.

Owner of Fusio Studio, a kilnformed glass studio based in Bozeman, MT, Richard Parrish received his MA from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Idaho. His work was selected for the Corning Museum of Glass’s New Glass Review 27, and in 2003, he was awarded the American Craft Council Award of Achievement. Parrish teaches classes in kilnformed glass in his studio and throughout the US.

View a complete schedule of free summer lectures at Pittsburgh Glass Center.

Get into the light with James Turrell

With three of the country's top museums presenting retrospective exhibitions celebrating James Turrell's groundbreaking use of land and light, we would definitely say that the artist is having a banner year.

On Weds., May 22nd, the Mattress Factory is inviting the public to help mark the milestone career of Turrell and get a behind-the-scenes look at his remarkable creative process. The museum will screen PBS' Art21: James Turrell in Spirituality at 7 p.m. Following the documentary, Mattress Factory co-director Michael Olijnyk will talk about the museum's experiences working with Turrell. Attendees will explore the intersection of human perception, architecture and the physicality of light embed in Turrell's work and artistic vision.

He has used everything from darkness in an empty room to an extinct volcano as his canvas, and now the renowned 70-year-old contemporary installation artist is being honored with shows at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Houston and Guggenheim Museum in NYC. Perhaps Turrell's most famous life's work is Roden Crater, an in-progress transformation of a two-mile Arizona volcanic cone that he is developing into a series of observatories.

On home turf, the Mattress Factory is known for having long and lasting ties to the celebrated artist. In the 1980s, the museum provided him with space to create three pioneering light pieces which today anchor the venue's permanent collection. In 2002, the Northside-based museum presented a major critically acclaimed retrospective of his work.

Over the past 10 years, the Peabody Award-winning biennial television series, Art in the Twenty-First Century (dubbed Art21) has emerged as a leading chronicler of contemporary art and artists.

Sound scene: live music roundup

This week's Pop Filter live music roundup--which will take you through the next two weeks--features everything from a tribute to jazz pioneer Sun Ra to the start of the summer concert season.

Start your music-filled Memorial Day Weekend on Saturday, May 25th at The Shop, for a special record release show featuring Gangwish. Headed up by multi-instrumentalist Sam Pace, the local ensemble is celebrating the release of its latest album. Also on the bill are likeminded experimentalists: Arrington de Dionyso's current project Malaikat dan Singa, Pittsburgh's Dean Cercone and Jim Storch's Burnoutwarcry. 8 p.m.

Put down those BBQ mitts on Monday, May 27th, and make time to go see alt-rock stalwarts The Melvins at Mr. Small's Theatre in Millvale. Marking 30 years as a band, the influential group just released Everybody Loves Sausages, an album of cover songs in April 2013. Formed in  Montesano, Washington in 1984, The Melvins are heading into an extensive summer tour season, and will hit the road with Mudhoney, Die Kreuzen, Negative Approach and others.
8 p.m.; all ages.

Head back to Mr. Small's on Tuesday, May 28th for the rare chance to see another iconic indie rock band with Pacific Northwest roots--The Dandy Warhols. Formed in Portland, Oregon in 1994 by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmstrom--who were joined by keyboardist Zia McCabe and drummer Eric Hedford--the storied group rose to fame after signing with Capitol Records and releasing their debut, ...The Dandy Warhols Come Down, in 1997. Taylor is also known for appearing in and narrating Ondi Timoner's 2004 documentary Dig!, which chronicles the dramatic relationship between The Warhols and their on-again off-again rivals The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Taylor also co-wrote the 2009 graphic novel One Model Nation along with Pittsburgh-based cartoonist and illustrator Jim Rugg. The band released This Machine, their eighth studio album, in April 2012. 8 p.m.; all ages.

It's all about the outdoor concert season from here on out. The Pittsburgh CLO kicks off The Allegheny Summer Concert Series on Friday, May 31st with A Gleeful Evening, Vol. 3, featuring Gene Kelly Award winners at the South Park Amphitheater. Pittsburgh Opera launches the season on Sunday, June 2nd at Hartwood Acres. Additional summer performances include Grammy Award winners Sarah Watkins, the Yellowjackets and Rickie Lee Jones, Husker Du frontman Bob Mould, and Grammy nominees Monty Alexander and James Hunter. Performances are free and open to the public, with the exception of the Allegheny County Music Festival and Pittsburgh Blues Festival.

If jazz is your cup of tea, head to the New Hazlett Theater on Friday, May 31st, for OPEK Plays the Music of Sun Ra. Focused on the unrivaled pioneering vision of jazz composer, bandleader, keyboardist, and poet Sun Ra (1914 – 1993), whose prolific career spanned ragtime to free jazz--who was known for incorporating elements of ancient Egyptian culture, spiritualism and Afro-American history into his compositions and performances--the concert will be performed by the innovative Pittsburgh-based improv collective, OPEK. Featured pieces will include several of Sun Ra's unrecorded compositions. 8 p.m.; $12 advance; $16 at door.

Draw and be drawn: Comic Arts Festival

More than 350 of the world's most prolific and prominent cartoonists are about to descend upon the Burgh. From May 24th through May 26th, the National Cartoonists Society Convention and Reuben Awards will set up shop Downtown, holding their annual gathering in Pittsburgh for the first time in the organization's 70-year history. Among them are legendary comic strip and comic book artists, illustrators, producers, and animators.

But you don't have to be the next Gary Trudeau to get in on all of the action. To celebrate the auspicious gathering of comic gurus, Downtown-based Toonseum--one of only two museums of its kind in the country--is hosting a special day of related programming open to the public. The city's first Pittsburgh Comic Arts Festival will run on Sunday, May 26th, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at several Downtown spots.

Every wondered what it would be like to have your mug drawn by a master cartoonist? Hoping to draw a crowd, the first-of-its-kind festival will feature autograph and sketch sessions with 60 of the country's top comic artist and cartoonists, including such luminaries as Partrick McDonnell (Mutts), Lynn Johnston (For Better or Worse), Tom Richmond (MAD Magazine), Brian Walker (Beetle Bailey), Dan Piraro (Bizarro), and many more!

As part of the festivities, Toonseum will host a first-of-its-kind exhibition of original art by 55 winners of the Conference's prestigious Reuben Awards, a display spanning more than 60 years of rarely seen original art created by a who’s who of comics and cartooning.

Turning the 900 block of Liberty Ave. into a living showcase of the funny pages, the festival's street party will include special celeb guests such as Betty Boop, Popeye, Olive Oyl, Dennis the Menace, and the Care Bears. Also out in the street will be comic and cartoon vendors, hands-on art activities, chalk artists and caricaturists, and book and print sales and signings.

At 3:30 p.m., don't miss the event's "Cartoonist Quick Jam Session" hosted by Dan Piraro of Bizarro fame, and featuring a lineup of surprise guests. Head across the street to event partner The August Wilson Center to see original art from the classic animated series Fat Albert. For a more in-depth exploration of the art form, don't miss the festival's panel discussions and lectures, which will be take place at nearby Bricolage Production Company (937 Liberty Avenue).

Women cartoonists will take center stage at a special panel discussion co-sponsored by Carlow University. "Rhymes with Orange" cartoonist Hilary Price is bringing together a panel featuring some of the country's leading female cartoonists including Cathy Guisewite (Cathy); Lynn Johnston (For Better or Worse); Terri Libenson, Pajama Diaries, and Jen Sorenson (Slowpoke). The Women in Cartooning discussion will take place at 1:15 p.m., and will be followed by an autograph and meet and greet session.

Admission to the street festival is free. For $5, attendees will have access to Toonseum exhibitions and artist signing booths. Admission to the panel discussion is $15 ($10 for students and Toonseum members).