Embodying both the devilish and divine, Brooklyn based goth-folk duo, Charming Disaster, is set to perform at the Wigle Whiskey Barrel House and Beer Garden on 1055 Spring Garden Avenue from 7-9pm on July 27th. This is not Charming Disaster’s first time playing in Pittsburgh, but their return is greatly anticipated from fans and local music lovers alike as they will perform songs from their
Read the Full Article →Architect Philip Johnson and his partner Burgee designed PPG Place. While undeniably a gifted architect, he was also at one time an anti-Semite and Nazi sympathizer. Johnson was born into wealth in Cleveland on July 8, 1906, to lawyer Homer Johnson and Louisa Osborne Pope. He was educated at the prestigious Hackley School in Tarrytown, New York and studied at Harvard. With a fortune acquired
Read the Full Article →Though born and raised in London and having spent time at Cambridge, England, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, Mary Soon Lee has found a home in Pittsburgh. “My father was ethnically Chinese, and my mother was Irish, but I acquired a British accent from my classmates,” said the author of both fiction and poetry, who lives in Squirrel Hill. It’s not often that a writer is both
Read the Full Article →On November 28th, 2018, the Pittsburgh art community and all its supporters partied hard and celebrated the talent of 60 artists, performers, and models in the RAW Artists showcase, OVATION. RAW Artists is an international organization that serves as a platform for local artists to share their crafts/talent with the community. Their mission statement appropriately represents this message as they wish: “To serve independent artists
Read the Full Article →On June 12, 2006, my family and I were on vacation at North Carolina’s Outer Banks, a popular beach destination for many Pittsburghers. As it was an overcast day, my daughter and I decided to do some shopping at Scarborough Faire Shopping Village. Near lunchtime as we meandered along the boardwalk that connected the boutiques, my daughter’s cell phone rang. While she answered it, I
Read the Full Article →When you think of cities where opera singers may reside, places like Paris, Milan, or New York may come to mind, but another alumna of the Pittsburgh Opera’s Resident Artist Program has decided to call Pittsburgh home. “The weather in Pittsburgh, and I are still trying to get along, but I love it here,” said Laurel Semerdjian, a mezzo-soprano, who will be playing the part
Read the Full Article →If you’ve lived or spent anytime in Pittsburgh, you know the name Westinghouse. In addition to the corporation bearing his name, he has many other namesakes: the George Westinghouse Memorial Bridge in East Pittsburgh, that carries Route 30 over the Turtle Creek Valley; Westinghouse High School, a Pittsburgh Public School located in Homewood; the Westinghouse Memorial in Schenley Park; Westinghouse Park in Point Breeze; and
Read the Full Article →Puppetry and puppet making is one of the oldest art forms; it is believed to have originated 4,000 years ago. Pittsburgh has had a love affair with puppets. The Lovelace Marionette Theater, founded by Puppeteer Margo Lovelace, opened in 1964 and became the longest-running professional puppet theater in the country. The theater closed in 1985. Mr. Rogers and his cast of puppets from the Neighborhood
Read the Full Article →Before there were hard-partying Hollywood hellions and trash-talking sports stars, there was Mike Fink, the larger-than-life legend from Pittsburgh. The fact that this common worker has entered American folklore and is still known centuries later attests to his out-sized reputation. Born Miche Phinck around 1780 to French Canadian parents near Fort Pitt, Phinck anglicized his name to Mike Fink and spent his youth honing his
Read the Full Article →Excellence has a way of asserting itself. That is the case with Jean-Marc Chatellier’s French Bakery. Located at 213 North Avenue in Millvale, the eponymous bakery was established in 1992, by French native Jean-Marc Chatellier. Before the age of social media, most people discovered this out-of-the-world bakery by word-of-mouth, one customer touting the treats to friends or family. Gazing at the goodies in the glass
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