Selection panel for Artway Connector installations (l to r): Diane Samuels, Morton Brown, Henry Reese, Gwendolyn Moorer, Thaddeus Mosley, Renee Pichocki, Susan Steen, Nathan Davidson, Silvia Duarte

Updates
The Artway is about creating spaces and opportunities for diverse neighbors to gather and where literature and art challenge and inspire us all to re-imagine and make a better home together.

City of Asylum engaged Pittsburgh’s Office of Public Art to lead the artist selection process for the Artway Connector installations. A call was circulated to more than 2,600 artists on the Office of Public Art’s artist opportunity Listserv. It was also circulated to the Public Art Network Listserv, which is accessed by hundreds of public art managers nationwide, and then re-circulated to their own local artist call lists and one listserv that serves the Central Northside and Mexican War Streets neighborhoods of the Northside. We received applications from 42 artists from 11 states and 5 different countries.

A selection panel comprised of local stakeholders, community members, and arts professionals reviewed materials submitted by all artists and artist teams. Every member of the panel is a resident of the Northside. The panel selected five artists or artist teams to be interviewed and chose three groups to submit conceptual proposals. Once final selections are made, installations are planned to begin in the summer.

Recent Wins
Cave Canem, a national organization that supports African American poets, has been offering a weekly writing workshop in our facilities along the Artway, bringing a dozen poets from throughout the city to the Northside for professional development. Workshops culminate with a public reading at the Hill House Association on April 23.

Insight/Provoation
A rising tide floats all boats: engaging everyone in a creative endeavor can help raise awareness of and build bridges within and between communities.