Are you a Cancer? Even if you’re not – come out to celebrate! This birthday party (more like a neighborhood block party) will be a guaranteed good time! Come out to enjoy music, dancing, food, and drinks! Reconnect with old friends while building new relationships.. dont’ miss out!
On June 3, 2019 PearlArts Studios kicks off pearlPRESENTS, a 7-day dance festival highlighting a dynamic line-up of acclaimed Pittsburgh-based and national dance artists at the New Hazlett Theater.
The festival will feature seven days of dance performances, workshops, and masterclasses. Participating artists include STAYCEE PEARL dance project & Soy Sos, Sidra Bell Dance New York, slowdanger, Maree ReMalia, Island Moving Company, chitra.MOVES and more! The festival will feature a variety of dance genres and bring together some of the country’s most talented dancers, providing the opportunity for audiences to see them on the same stage for first time.
Headlining pearlPRESENTS is an extravagant, soul-themed fundraising gala benefiting our educational outreach, residency programming, dance projects, and the acquisition of a new space to call home.
Above: PearlArts Studios at New Sun Rising’s Vibrancy Awards in March 2019. PearlArts participated in the first iteration of the GROW Residency program. (Photo by Sean Gray)
You’re invited to apply for New Sun Rising’s GROW Residency program. As a participant of this program, you’ll work the Director of Opportunity and the NSR team to move towards the growth and sustainability of your business or organization.
The GROW Residency program will provide flexible, ongoing support to growth stage businesses, nonprofit projects, and community/collaborative initiatives. Residents will have access to workshops and services specifically designed to meet their needs, including up to 8 hours of consulting and capacity building support per month.
The GROW Residency curriculum includes:
Successful completion of the residency will move your organization through strategic action and planning that promotes long-term value and profitability. Upon successful completion of the program, participants will receive an unrestricted financial award of $2000 and access to grants and loans via the GROW Vibrancy Fund. Each cohort will have 7 participants selected by a committee of judges.
Applications close on May 24th. The 2019 GROW Residency Program kicks off on June 12th. To learn more about the program before you apply, contact leigh@newsunrising.org to schedule a meeting. Apply here.
Free Event | RSVP Required (available on Feb 24th at noon)
Lead and created by local artist Sara Tang, this workshop is a guided creative exercise for participants to chart personal experiences (mental illness, madness, chronic illness, disability, childhood, medical, traumatic, or positive experiences, etc) in a map format, and then to create an expressive art piece and visual poetry piece based on their experiences. Through using a creative medium to think about their experiences in a new way, participants can connect their mental health experiences with other events in their lives and how those may relate to one another.
This workshop is part of Inside Our Minds’ Radical Mental Health Series, sponsored by the Opportunity Fund. Learn more at www.insideourminds.org/radical-mental-health.
About the Creative Facilitator
Sara Tang is a Pittsburgh-based artist, creative facilitator, and illustrator. She is a member of the notwhite Collective, an affiliate member of the Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators, and has worked with those affected by cancer and other complex life experiences in creative therapy excavation. Learn more about Sara’s work at www.draw-me-in.com.
Accessibility and Venue Information
The Millvale Community Library is accessible for wheelchair and mobility device users by a permanent ramp at the side of the building (from Grant Avenue). ASL interpretation will be provided. There will also be earplugs on hand at the workshop for anyone who would like some. Please message the Inside Our Minds page with any questions.
| The Orchestral Debut of “Casop: A Requiem for Rice” on February 13, 2019 will feature libretto which recovers the voices of the enslaved by acclaimed historian and executive producer, Dr. Edda L. Fields-Black, and original score by composer, three-time Emmy Award-winner John Wineglass. |
Please join us to appreciate people and organizations that have helped Storyburgh since our inception in 2016 and to be inspired by the passions and works in our communities.
Pamela Monk and Teresa Stayton of Penn State University in collaboration with Storyburgh will present a Moth-style storytelling featuring the following scheduled storytellers (in alphabetical order):
Also, we will feature slideshows of published Storyburgh storiessuch as:
and printed-posters of the following stories:
Limited light refreshment will be served; cash bar is available.
Huge thanks to Ace Hotel for providing space and logistic support to make this event possible.
Sample our Western Pennsylvania wedding cookie table favorites and be part of the creation of a cookie table book in this benefit for VOICE (Butler’s Victim Outreach Intervention Center), Young Writers of the Western Pennsylvania Wring Project and Animal Friends.
Share stories with cookbook author Suzanne Martinson, of “The Fallingwater Cookbook” and retired food editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, portrait photographer Linda Mitzel of Linda Mitzel Photography and journalist/WPWP teacher consultant Jane Miller of The RUFF Writers of New Sun Rising, a new family/school/neighborhood writing project.
Register in advance with Jane at 412-849-5574 or by email to ruffwriterbooks@gmail.com or Linda at 412-303-9657; or by email to mitzelphotography@gmail.com. The event is FREE for home bakers (suggested 5 dozen donation) and $20 suggested donation for other guests.
The New Sun Rising is pleased to announce the awardees of the Transformative Teaching Artist Awards. These awards are made possible through the generous support of The Heinz Endowments’ Transformative Arts Process (TAP). The goal of this initiative is to move towards a more Just Pittsburgh by invigorating the field of teaching artists and arts organizations that have a demonstrated practice of challenging structural inequities, bringing transformative arts centered experience to youth and teaching artists in and from traditionally underserved African American and black communities.
The Transformative Teaching Artist Awards from New Sun Rising believes that quality teaching artists should be recognized for the important work they do in Pittsburgh’s African American and black communities. Teaching artists play critical roles in the lives of the youth they serve, providing not only artistic skill building, but caring, support, and mentorship. Yet those teaching artists who have chosen this as their life’s work face great challenges in building teaching artist careers. Most of our teaching artists are underpaid and under-recognized. The delivery system for teaching artist instruction is fragmented; and arts instruction is often not assigned a high priority in public or out of school time programs.
All 23 applicants who were considered have an extensive track record of combining artistic skill and the complementary skills of an educator. The selection committee consisted of peer artists and determined the 10 finalists after a thorough review and discussion of their skills, eligibility, and dedication.
Congratulations to the Transformative Teaching Artist Award Recipients:
Sister IAsia
Khalillah Shabazz
Kontara Morphis
Brett Wormsley
Christian Nowlin
Junyetta Seale
Jayla Patton
Ira Cambric III
Geña (Maria) Escoriaza
Maggie Lynn Negrete
The ten award recipients will each receive an award of $5,000. These awards are recognition awards which may be used in any way the recipient deems fit. The Transformative Teaching Artist Awards add validation, strengthen networks, and increase visibility for the artists who choose to do this important work. It is our hope that these recognition awards can play a part in acknowledging teaching artistry as an impactful and recognized profession.
For more information please visit http://www.newsunrising.org/our-programs/vibrancy-funds
About New Sun Rising:
Since 2005, NSR has empowered more than 400 community leaders, supporting innovative organizations that create economic opportunity, solve social challenges, & strengthen the vibrancy of place. NSR’s vision is to promote equitable development in collaboration with the neighborhood partners we serve.
The New Sun Rising Vibrancy Fund invests in leaders through a series of targeted challenges. Funds are distributed through a number of flexible mechanisms, including: Traditional Grants and Awards, Recoverable Grants, Crowdsourcing Matches, and Loans. The Vibrancy Fund provides support for businesses, community projects, and collaborations with innovative solutions to our seven interrelated strategies for developing equitable, vibrant communities. New Sun Rising’s core strategies for building vibrancy include: Culture, Sustainability, and Opportunity.
About the Heinz Endowments:
The Heinz Endowments is devoted to the mission of helping our region prosper as a vibrant center of creativity, learning, and social, economic and environmental sustainability. Core to its work is the vision of a just community where all are included and where everyone who calls Southwestern Pennsylvania home has a real and meaningful opportunity to thrive.
Press contact Jamie Johnson, Manager of Performance Improvement, jamie@newsunrising.org, 412-407-9007
Shining a light on the projects and businesses supported by the Vibrancy Funds
Neighborhood: Pittsburgh, Homewood
Program: Launch Culture
Grant Awarded: April 2018
A once vacant lot in the center of Homewood is now home to a vibrant, active space. Depending on the day of the week and time, you may find yogis lined up for a pay-what-you-can yoga session, a neighborhood birthday potluck for one of the young residents, or a late-night dance party with DJ spinning motown and local vendors selling their creative wares and art.
“Kenny’s exists to give residents a new and different experience while allowing people from outside the neighborhood an avenue to experience the greatness that is Homewood,” said Demi Kolke, the Founder and Owner of Kenny’s.
Demi built deep roots and connection with the community, through years of working with the local community development group, Operation Better Block. During her time working on various community development projects, she kept hearing the same thing from the residents of Homewood; they wanted to return their neighborhood to its former glory. They would reminiscence about the how Homewood used to be – a neighborhood with a thriving business district, strong community ties, and neatly maintained rowhomes.
The story of Homewood is not unique to the City of Pittsburgh. Currently, the neighborhood’s population is just 17% of its peak of 35,000, leaving nearly 2,000 vacant lots and 600 empty buildings in the majority Black neighborhood. The blight has been more persistent than in other neighborhoods due to structural racism, elevated crime activities, and lack of investment, leaving Homewood slower to rebound than other neighborhoods within the City.
That didn’t stop the neighbors from taking action on their own. Kenneth Stubbs was one such neighbor dedicated to changing the narrative of the neighborhood he was so proud of. At first, he was weary of Demi, a young woman originally from North Dakota. His hesitation soon faded and they formed a strong and unlikely friendship.
Tragically, that friendship came to an end when Kenneth was murdered in 2014.
In his honor, Demi purchased a vacant lot that he had owned and turned into a safe, accessible, informal outdoor gathering space: an idea born from countless conversations with him. She named it Kenny’s in his honor.
“I named the space Kenny’s to keep Mr. Stubbs’ dedication to the community giving and service alive,” explains Demi, “Every time a person asks me ‘Why the name Kenny?’ I get to tell them about my friend and they work he did in the community.”
Kenny’s website describes the space as a “community and cultural gathering space”. The intent is to give a platform for the great activities that are going on in the neighborhood.
One night in June, Demi’s former employer, Operation Better Block, hosted a summer kick off potluck. Residents brought dishes, kids chased each other on the grass and neighbors met one another, many for the first time.
For Robert Bey, resident and former friend of Kenneth, Kenny’s space means an opportunity to get to know his neighbors. He is thankful for the access to the space so he can program it for the kids in his neighborhood.
“If I want to host barbecue or something like that, all I have to do is contact Demi and ‘BOOM!’ – we bring the barbecue grills out here and cook hamburgers and hot dogs for the kids and have something for them to do.”
The Vibrancy Funds will be used to continue such programming the space throughout the summer so everyone will be able to participate in the events on site.
Kenny’s sits on a corner, with a bevy of energetic children to one side, and the older residents who remember what Homewood once was on the other. In addition to the Vibrancy Funds, Demi has secured funds from Lively Pittsburgh to offer additional programming centered around building connections between the generations.
Kenny’s is always going to be about resident-driven ideas and programming, Demi vows. It’s about giving the neighborhood a positive, open atmosphere to promote health and wellness, art and culture, entrepreneurs and existing businesses
Much like Mr. Stubbs himself, Kenny’s the space, is not there to work for the community, but rather with the community.
You can check out a full list of upcoming events at Kenny’s here.
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The Vibrancy Funds are made possible by a gift from the Henry L. Hillman Foundation.
Interested in finding out how we can help bring your idea to life? Contact us.
Doors at 6:30pm | Performances begin at 7:00pm | Free Event
This special Anonymous Open Mic will feature readings from the teens from Creative Nonfiction’s Writing Away The Stigma program!
We will also be accepting anonymous and non-anonymous submissions from the general public. Submit your story here: https://goo.gl/forms/ojXcVE9cLedjIuN33
Host and Event Information
Anonymous Open Mic is a storytelling project working to build a community narrative around mental illness in Pittsburgh. Pittsburghers affected by mental illness can submit a short story, poem, or spoken word piece anonymously online. Community members can then volunteer to perform the anonymous works in front of a live audience.
Live sound and recording will be provided by The Social Voice Project, Inc., an innovative public interest media company. Learn more at http://thesocialvoiceproject.org.
Writing Away The Stigma is an opportunity for project fellows to write about how mental illness has affected their lives and then combat the shame and stigma surrounding mental illness. Learn more at www.creativenonfiction.org/stigma. The Writing Away The Stigma project was made possible by the Grable Foundation.
Inside Our Minds is an organization that works to elevate the voices of people with lived experience of mental illness and madness in Pittsburgh. Learn more at www.insideourminds.org. Inside Our Minds is fiscally sponsored by New Sun Rising.
FAQs
Is this event accessible?
The Millvale Community Library is wheelchair accessible and has accessible indoor restrooms. Our event will take place on the back porch and outside in the backyard. To enter the backyard area, you can enter from two locations: 1) from the front of the library on Grant Ave (partial stone path) or 2) in the back from Farragut Street (there is one large bump in this direction).
ASL interpretation will be provided by Sign Language Interpreting Professionals. Earplugs will be available for anyone who would like them. Please email contact@insideourminds.org with any additional questions.
For all the good they can do, many businesses, agencies, and community organizations can also be less than inclusive in their decision making. Increasingly, businesses and community organizations see being more inclusive as a way to create more value in what they do. It’s of course about doing the right thing but also about “firing on all cylinders” and having a diverse set of skills and perspectives in the house.
You should walk out of this event with new acquaintances and colleagues and allies in our quest to make Pittsburgh’s business and community development scene more inclusive, efficient, and vibrant.
Join members of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Cooperatives to hear their stories of how they make their decision making more inclusive and productive.
This, like all Inclusive Innovation Week events, is free.
It’s not every day that Mayor Peduto proclaims that it’s Puppet Day in Pittsburgh. In fact, it’s only one day: Wednesday, March 21. For the first time the City of Pittsburgh will celebrate World Day of Puppetry with an official proclamation and plenty of puppet events sponsored by the Puppetry Guild of Pittsburgh. An evening 21 and over puppet happy hour will take place at Brillobox with a featured presentation by Davey T Steinman. Please see the Puppetry Guild of Pittsburgh website for details.