Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Kicks Off DOLLAR BANK THREE RIVERS ARTS FESTIVAL Today

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust presents engaging public art and vibrant gallery exhibitions as part of the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, today, June 6-15, 2014, throughout Point State Park, Gateway Center, and the Cultural District downtown. Several artworks explore themes of sustainability and environmental practices, and others feature elements created through crowd-sourcing and invite viewer participation. Prominent local artists as well as award-winning national artists are featured, presenting Pittsburgh-premiere and world-premiere exhibitions and installations.

"A special programming thread is the intersection of art and the environment. Whether it is the commentary of the built environment in Alexandre Arrechea's monumental sculptures, 'No Limits,' or the gallery exhibitions and public art that reflect upon the natural environment, how we interact and impact the world around us is a core theme I hope audiences will explore this year," says Veronica Corpuz, Director of Festival Management and Special Projects, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

For additional Festival information and for a complete schedule of events, visit TrustArts.org/TRAF.

Full details on all the events follow:

PUBLIC ART

O:NE:KA'
Supported by Colcom Foundation
Point State Park, Reflecting Pool at the Portal Bridge

People's Clothing Archive and Library Initiative No 1: o:ne:ka' by local artist Edith Abeyta is an installation exploring collectively, opportunity, and labor. Abeyta crowd-sourced this large-scale sculpture through donated t-shirts. These t-shirts are attached to a wooden framework-spanning the reflecting pool-that forms the word o:ne:ka', the Seneca word for water. The sculpture takes into consideration the physical and historical properties of the site as well as the theme of sustainability. T-shirts were chosen as a medium in order to spur reflection on the potential impact of people recognizing clothing as a renewable resource.

BEFORE I DIE
Agnes R. Katz Plaza, 8th Street and Penn Avenue

Artist, designer, and urban planner Candy Chang created this global public art project inviting reflection on life and personal aspirations. Chang's art prompts people to think about their secrets, wishes, and hopes-and then share them. A large, chalk wall is marked by columns of the phrase "Before I Die ____", and the public is invited to complete the phase using chalk and their personal aspirations. Before I Die began on an abandoned house in New Orleans, LA, after Chang lost someone she loved. 475 Before I Die walls have been created in more than 30 languages and more than 65 countries, including Kazakhstan, Portugal, Japan, Denmark, Iraq, Argentina, and South Africa.

DIVERSION
Supported by Colcom Foundation
Point State Park, Overlook

This sculptural installation and activity explores the misplacement of compostable items into residential waste streams. Artist Rose Clancy comments on the percentage of compostable organic materials currently being placed into residential waste streams. It encourages viewers to consider their role in the redirection of these materials-from the path of entombment in a closed cell landfill, to the path of a renewable resource that supports the natural cycle of the food web. The public will have the opportunity to create "take-home" compostable sculptures and will be encouraged to recycle their sculpture by later burying it in their own backyard or compost bin.

NO LIMITS
Gateway Center, Downtown Pittsburgh

Cuban-born artist Alexandre Arrechea's No Limits creates a dialogue between art and architecture. This series of ten monumental sculptures-four of which are shown in Pittsburgh- representing iconic New York City buildings plays on the idea of elastic architecture as a metaphor for the challenges and opportunities of shifting conditions and new realities. The buildings portrayed in No Limits are twisted, turned, and rotated, and are fused to spinning tops, resulting in the idea of a building in perpetual motion-a building that can continuously spin, fall, or rise again.

GALLERY EXHIBITIONS

THE CHINA EXPRESS
Supported by Lannan Foundation
Trust Arts Education Center, 3rd floor, 805-807 Liberty Avenue
Opening Reception | June 6 | 5-7 p.m.
Artist Talk | June 7 | 1-2 p.m.

Photojournalist Carlan Tapp presents a black and white photography exhibition that documents the people and places affected by coal shipping. This exhibition includes 40 digital prints illustrating Tapp's 1,200 mile journey along the train's route to from Wyoming to the Pacific Northwest proposed port in Bellingham, WA. The images detail a wide variety of subject matter, from open-pit coal mines in Wyoming to Pacific Northwest towns and Indian reservations. As the United States continues to lower its dependency on coal, coal companies have turned to China. Four daily trains, each with more than 100 cars of coal, are being railed from Wyoming to British Columbia before being shipped to China. For every 500 miles that each train travels, 0.6 tons of coal dust is lost per car, which pollutes communities, ranches, and agriculture.

JURIED VISUAL ART EXHIBITION
Trust Arts Education Center, 4rd floor, 805-807 Liberty Avenue

The Juried Visual Art Exhibition showcases a selection of new work by some of the most talented members of Pittsburgh's vibrant creative community. This year's show features 59 works by 53 artists. Judges include John Carson, Regina and Martin Miller Professor and Head of the School of Art, Carnegie Mellon University; Rachel Delphia, The Alan G. and Jane A. Lehman Curator of Decorative Arts and Design, Carnegie Museum of Art; and Nicholas Chambers, The Milton Fine Curator of Art, The Warhol. Awards include "Best In Show" ($2,500), "Juror's Choice" ($500 each), and "People's Choice" ($500 and the opportunity to show in the 2015 Festival). The public has the opportunity to vote for the "People's Choice" award on-site on their mobile devises.

PORTRAITS OF AIR
Supported by Heinz Endowments and the Breathe Project
709 Penn Gallery, 709 Penn Avenue

Detroit-based artist Susan Goethel Campbell's crowd-sourced installation shows the results of nearly 100 air filters placed throughout the Pittsburgh region. Incorporating photography, sound, and the spun-glass air filters, she creates a visual document of the invisible element of air. Campbell's aim for the installation is to bring awareness to the concept of air, hoping that people reflect and see themselves in the project. Portraits of Air is an ongoing, unscientific project that focuses on the movement and quality of air around the world. The project began in 2009 with the distribution of 24 8 × 10 in., air filters to people in seven countries, including 14 locations within the U.S. Each participant in the project was asked to place the filter in a location of their choosing so it could pick up particulates in the atmosphere.

The Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, a production of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, is a celebration of the arts in downtown Pittsburgh unlike any other in the nation. Each of its world-class, multi-disciplinary performing and visual arts attractions is free to attend and open to the public. The Festival begins on the first Friday in June and takes place at the confluence of Pittsburgh's famed three rivers in Point State Park, throughout picturesque Gateway Center, and in the city's world-renowned Cultural District. For more information, visit TrustArts.org/TRAF.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has overseen one of Pittsburgh's most historic transformations: turning a seedy red-light district into a magnet destination for arts lovers, residents, visitors, and business owners. Founded in 1984, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a non-profit arts organization whose mission is the cultural and economic revitalization of a 14-block arts and entertainment/residential neighborhood called the Cultural District. The District is one of the country's largest land masses "curated" by a single nonprofit arts organization. A major catalytic force in the city, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a unique model of how public-private partnerships can reinvent a city with authenticity, innovation and creativity. Using the arts as an economic catalyst, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has holistically created a world-renowned Cultural District that is revitalizing the city, improving the regional economy and enhancing Pittsburgh's quality of life. Thanks to the support of foundations, corporations, government agencies and thousands of private citizens, the Cultural Trust stands as a national model of urban redevelopment through the arts. For more information, visit TrustArts.org.