During the summer of 2021, the Pittsburgh Creative Corps was invited by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership to work out of the Allegheny Overlook , a temporary urban park established on Fort Duquesne Boulevard in Downtown Pittsburgh. The team implemented public art projects and events at the Allegheny Overlook throughout the summer and fall as part of the park’s regular programming.
Pittsburgh Creative Corps 2021 Projects & Activities
Read more about the Pittsburgh Creative Corps’ projects and activities from 2021 below.
Projects & Activities
PAST PROJECT
Residency at the Allegheny Overlook
From June through early October 2021, the westbound lane of Fort Duquesne Boulevard between Seventh and Stanwix Streets was transformed into the Allegheny Overlook, a pop-up park created by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership (PDP). Allegheny Overlook featured local food vendors, weekly performances, and much more.
The centerpiece for the park was a street mural titled Pathway to Joy, created by Corps artist Janel Young, and commissioned by the PDP and Three Rivers Arts Festival.
During this time, the Pittsburgh Creative Corps took up residence in the Allegheny Overlook pop-up park. The Corps utilized a shipping container as a home base studio for its activities, ranging from artist residencies and community movement and dance classes, to writing workshops and office hours with Shiftworks staff.
PAST PROJECT
Pittsburgh Creative Corps Studio
This Studio was a home base for both artists in residence and Corps team members who were commissioned to activate the Allegheny Overlook and riverfronts throughout the summer of 2021. Housed within a retrofitted shipping container, the studio was located at the Allegheny Overlook near Seventh Street. The exterior of the container featured a mural titled Together Again, created by Corps artist Matthew Carroll, in collaboration with Fran Flaherty and Max Gonzales.
CURRENT PROJECT
Artist Residencies
During the summer of 2021, Pittsburgh Creative Corps Roster artists Maritza Mosquera, Curtis Reaves, and Lindsey Scherloum were featured artists in residence at the Allegheny River and were based out of the Pittsburgh Creative Corps Studio. Over a period of three weeks, each artist gathered narratives from members of the downtown community, with a special focus on the riverfronts. These collected narratives informed future projects for the Corps, including the development of a forthcoming self-guided walking tour.
PAST ACTIVITIES
Pittsburgh Creative Corps at Allegheny Overlook Pop-up Park
The Corps held a series of classes and workshops at the Allegheny Overlook from June through September 2021. Featuring local dance and yoga studios, writers, and artists, the series was designed to support community reconnection and activate the public space at Allegheny Overlook, as well as other sites downtown and along the riverfronts. Dance classes were led by Flamenco Pittsburgh and Sanskruti School of Indian Dance and Music. Alecia Dawn of YOGAMOTIF led a series of community yoga classes and Pittsburgh-based writer Sherrie Flick led a series of Walk and Write tours.
PAST PROJECT
AR-t in the Public Realm
The Pittsburgh Creative Corps commissioned five Pittsburgh-area visual artists to create Snapchat geolocated filters for sites along the riverfronts in and around Downtown Pittsburgh. The filters encouraged users to engage with the city through a different lens and provide a different perspective on familiar sites.
Image Credits
Top to bottom, left to right:
(1) Sherrie Flick and Charles Rosenblum leading a Walk and Write tour of Downtown Pittsburgh, photo by Heather Mull; (2) Installation of Pathway to Joy, Janel Young, photo by Pittsburgh Cultural Trust; (3) Installation of Pathway to Joy, Janel Young, photo by Pittsburgh Cultural Trust; (4) Pittsburgh Creative Corps Studio, photo by Shiftworks; (5) River of the Ancient Ones, artist residency with Lindsey Scherloum, photo by Heather Mull; (6) YOGAMOTIF leading an outdoor yoga class at the Allegheny Overlook, photo by Heather Mull; (7) Ebtehal Badawi, photo courtesy the artist.