January 20, 2021 - Pittsburgh City Paper by Pittsburgh City Paper

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Boxheart Gallery in Bloomfield celebrates 20 years

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JAN. 20-27, 2021 VOLUME 30 + ISSUE 3 Editor-In-Chief LISA CUNNINGHAM Director of Advertising JASMINE HUGHES Director of Operations KEVIN SHEPHERD News Editor RYAN DETO Senior Writer AMANDA WALTZ Staff Writer HANNAH LYNN Photographer/Videographer JARED WICKERHAM Art Director ABBIE ADAMS Graphic Designers JOSIE NORTON, JEFF SCHRECKENGOST Sales Representatives ZACK DURKIN, OWEN GABBEY, NICKI MULVIHILL Operations Coordinator MAGGIE WEAVER Circulation Manager JEFF ENGBARTH Featured Contributors REGE BEHE, MIKE CANTON, LYNN CULLEN, TERENEH IDIA, CHARLES ROSENBLUM National Advertising Representative VMG ADVERTISING 1.888.278.9866 OR 1.212.475.2529 Publisher EAGLE MEDIA CORP.

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Hundreds of crows fly near the train tracks in the Manchester neighborhood on Sun., Jan. 17. COVER PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM SEE THE STORY ON PAGE 4

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12/23/20 PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JANUARY 20-27, 2021

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THE BIG STORY

ROARING 20 BY HANNAH LYNN // HLYNN@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

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O ONE GETS INTO ART for the money, and no one gets into the art gallery business with the guarantee that their gallery will have a long and fruitful career. But with hard work, cheap rent, and trust from the local arts community, BoxHeart Gallery in Bloomfield has stuck around for two decades, celebrating its 20th anniversary with a new exhibit, BoxHeart Turns 20!, which opens Wed., Jan. 20. The show features a mix of local and international artists showing old and new work in a wide variety of mediums, from painting to sculpture to jewelry. What links them all is their connection to BoxHeart. Gallery owner Nicole Capozzi says she never tries to make artists’ work fit into a certain theme, but just wants them to make whatever they’re good at, and the art will speak for itself. Capozzi first opened BoxHeart in 2001, along with her husband Joshua Hogan. But before they moved in, the space was home to Bloomfield ArtWorks, owned by local artist John Mowder. They took over the lease from the landlords who told Capozzi, “You give me money, you stay,” and they never raised the rent until the couple bought the building in 2011. Capozzi says she doesn’t know if the gallery would have survived as well if their rent had increased, like it has for much of Bloomfield over the years. Pittsburgh and Bloomfield have both changed during the past 20 years, and that includes how the local art scene has flourished since BoxHeart Gallery first opened. “The artists that we had when we first started were older than us because we were in our 20s when we started. Also, they all were other things, like doctors, teachers, lawyers,” says Capozzi. “Their art was this kind of passion on the side.” CONTINUES ON PG. 6

CP PHOTOS: JARED WICKERHAM

Page 4: Owners Nicole Capozzi and Josh Hogan Page 5, top to bottom: Boxheart Gallery in Bloomfield Owner Nicole Capozzi works at her computer while guests browse the space. Owner Josh Hogan works on a piece of glass for a client in the basement. Seth Clark’s “Orb Study”

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ROARING 20, CONTINUED FROM PG. 5

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Stephan Bontrager, Michael Kostiew, and their daughter Elle contemplate purchasing a piece from Boxheart Gallery.

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BOXHEART TURNS 20! Wed., Jan. 20-Fri., Feb. 19. BoxHeart Gallery, 4532 Liberty Ave., Bloomfield. boxheartgallery.com

But at a certain point around 10 years ago, she says, she started to see more artists who were quitting jobs to work in a studio full-time, and growing the city’s interest in art. “Before that, it was always just like, ‘Well, it’s Pittsburgh, no one’s really going to buy art here,’ and that’s totally not true,” says Capozzi. “The younger artists didn’t really have that, they were like, ‘Well, why can’t I sell this? Why can’t I make a living doing this?’” Ten years ago, for BoxHeart’s 10th anniversary, the owners compiled a video, still available on their website, marking the occasion. It shows a collage of photos, including the original storefront of the gallery, when it still had remnants of the previous owner’s sign, and Capozzi and Hogan renovating the inside of the building. Also included are some of the gallery’s earliest exhibits, guests in very 2002-era clothing perusing the art, Capozzi working on a hefty early 2000s Mac desktop. The 20th anniversary collection,

which can be viewed in person or online through Feb. 19, is full of contrasting work. The striking pieces of locally based multimedia artist Gavin Benjamin, who combines photography, paint, crystals, and other media into regal collages in his series Heads of State, sits in the same exhibit as Sherry Rusinack’s paintings of dogs pooping on carpets. Visitors can see the colorful, abstract painting of Ellen Chisdes Neuberg alongside Mary Becker’s “pandemic amulets.” There are minimalist prints from French artist Alice Raymond, and Renee Tay’s teapot sculptures of demonic babies. When the gallery first opened, Capozzi mostly focused on local artists, but after making a website in 2002, she started hearing from people around the country and the world about wanting to show their work. At ﬁrst, she didn’t understand why people from so far away would want to show at a new, small gallery in Pittsburgh. “But it really started to show me

how many talented people there are out there and how they’re kind of starving for these opportunities to get their work out,” says Capozzi. Over the years, she’s been able to cultivate a group of artists who have returned for exhibits several times. “You kind of have this group or family that is growing with you along the way. I feel now that the next step is for some of them to move on to bigger places than we can offer them.” Since it opened, BoxHeart Gallery has come to be more of a literal family, too. It’s always been owned by Capozzi and Hogan, but after they purchased the building from their landlords, they ﬁxed up the place. After the previous owners (who lived upstairs and whom she describes as hoarders) left, they hosted a slew of “little disaster parties” where people just took stuff that was left behind. In 2018, Capozzi and Hogan moved into the place. “Now when you come to the gallery, you’re literally coming to our house,” says Capozzi.

Follow staff writer Hannah Lynn on Twitter @hanfranny

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JANUARY 20-27, 2021

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CAMPAIGN OPTIMISM Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto kicks off re-election campaign p g with optimistic view of city BY RYAN DETO // RYANDETO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto

N JAN. 14, Pittsburgh Mayor Bill

Peduto kicked off what could be the biggest race in the local 2021 election cycle, as he announced he is running for re-election and a third term. During a panel with 14 community leaders, Peduto conveyed Pittsburgh in an optimistic light, signifying that the city had turned the corner from its past as an area that was mocked nationally. A video was shown before Peduto spoke with the 14 leaders, and it largely painted Pittsburgh positively. It acknowledged the city’s well-documented problems of racial equity, but speakers said that Peduto is addressing those, even if more needs to be done. Peduto wrapped up this theme in a speech at the end of the virtual event. “It’s not about the robots and all those other things,” said Peduto, hinting

at the city’s growing robotics and tech sectors. “It’s about a new belief in Pittsburgh. People are building ofﬁce towers, [residents] are building new kitchens. People are investing in the city and deciding to stay.” This optimistic notion is unsurprising for Peduto. He has been mayor since 2014, and he is looking to showcase how his administration has improved the city. The city’s population has changed dramatically over the decade, with an inﬂux of young people helping to stem any major population loss. Siraji Hassan, a community leader among the city’s Somali-Bantu refugee population, praised Peduto’s commitment to immigrants and refugees in Pittsburgh. The community leaders who spoke are allies of Peduto. In a video before the

town hall event, many of them shared a similar optimism about how Pittsburgh is on the upswing and how Peduto is improving conditions for city residents. Steve Kelley, of labor union Service Employees International Union 32 BJ, praised Peduto for his efforts in helping to create a paid sick leave law for everyone living and/or working in Pittsburgh. “Pittsburgh is my home, and I love my city,” said Kelley. But at the same time, the city still has signiﬁcant equity issues, particularly concerning race. While population loss has slowed throughout the city, Pittsburgh has still lost several thousand Black residents. White population has stayed about the same, and the city’s Asian population has grown. Some speakers acknowledged Pittsburgh’s problems with racial equity. But

they also gave credit to the mayor for addressing the issue. Jennifer Cash Wade, of the Beltzhoover Consensus Group, talked about how the city beneﬁts white residents more than Black ones. In 2019, a study from the city’s Gender Equity Committee detailed the glaring economic disparities between white and Black Pittsburghers, particularly among Black women. “I think Mayor Peduto has always been cognizant of how Pittsburgh is a tale of two cities,” said Wade. Peduto addressed this too and said he took the Gender Equity Committee’s study very seriously. “[Black women] are almost guaranteed a better life if you leave Pittsburgh. I take that as a personal responsibility,” said Peduto. He touted how Pittsburgh was CONTINUES ON PG. 10

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Protesters and leaders from the Black community met with mayor Bill Peduto on his doorstep before clashing with Pittsburgh Police near Mellon Park after being told to leave the Point Breeze neighborhood on Wed., Aug. 19, 2020.

selected for a Universal Basic Income pilot program funded by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Peduto said Pittsburgh’s effort is speciﬁcally targeted at providing Black women. According to WESA, 200 Pittsburgh residents will receive $500 a month, and 100 of those will be dedicated to households run by Black women. Peduto also spoke about the city’s Avenues of Hope, which is meant to provide investment towards current and historic Black business districts in Pittsburgh. “Avenues of Hope are not just to ﬁx it up and make it look pretty, we are going to do that,” said Peduto of Black business districts. “Then we are going to get community entrepreneurs in there to see their dreams come true.” But this theme runs in contrast with how many of Peduto’s critics view the city and Peduto’s role. Some of those critics, particularly on the left, have called out Peduto for not coming down hard enough against, and initially siding with, the Pittsburgh Police department after they used less-lethal projectiles and tear gas against Black Lives Matter protesters last summer. Protesters even held demonstrations outside of Peduto’s house in Point Breeze. The city is being sued for the police’s actions against protesters on June 1, 2020. The topic of police reform was brought up during the Peduto campaign event. Peduto praised “community policing” efforts and said that those need to become culturally accepted within the police force. He said his efforts

in reforming the Pittsburgh Police Department can be from initiatives to get officers who are not within the department to respond to mental health calls or people struggling to find housing, and from promoting officers within the department who agree with his community policing vision. “Not to look for the one bad guy, but for the 99 good guys,” said Peduto. “What I can do is promote them and advance them. There is a reward for doing policing the right way.” In terms of environmental policy, a community leader thanked Peduto for committing to the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. Peduto talked about moving the city to renewable energy, and how direct energy can help Pittsburgh move away from fossil fuels. Direct energy is when energy generation is created onsite instead of at a power plant miles away, like at the “cloud factory” at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Main Branch in Oakland. Not many Pittsburgh mayors have served for three terms, with Tom Murphy being the last. Murphy’s third election was the closest, as he only won his Democratic Primary election, where Pittsburgh mayoral elections are essentially decided, by 1 point over challenger Bob O’Connor in 2001. Peduto seems to be hoping a positive campaign, fueled by optimism, can push him across the finish line. “There has been a positive buzz about Pittsburgh,” said Peduto.

Follow news editor Ryan Deto on Twitter @RyanDeto

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Allegheny County Jail

.NEWS.

SIGNS OF PROGRESS

Petitions seek ballot measures to end solitary confinement and no-knock warrants in Pittsburgh BY RYAN DETO // RYANDETO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

RIMINAL JUSTICE ADVOCACY can be a long slog in Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania. There have been some statewide successes recently, like Pennsylvania’s new law to expand access to clearing criminal records, but there have been setbacks too, like the failure to address Pennsylvania’s high probation and parole rates. In Allegheny County, advocates have also struggled to pass meaningful reforms, so groups are now taking a direct democracy approach. Led by the Alliance for Police Accountability, several groups are gathering signatures in an attempt to place two ballot initiatives — one looking to end solitary confinement in the Allegheny County Jail, the other to ban “no-knock” warrants in the city of Pittsburgh — for the primary election in May. A lawsuit filed in September by ACJ inmates alleged that solitary confinement was being used as a punishment against inmates seeking mental health care. Recent research out of Cornell University shows that even a short amount of time in solitary confinement can actually increase recidivism rates, as well as unemployment rates. APA points out on its website that many people in the ACJ have never been convicted of any crimes. Jails are where defendants are held if they can’t make bail before they attend their trial, as compared to prisons, where convicted people are held to serve out their sentence. “Our ballot initiative will virtually end

this barbaric practice, currently deployed by jail authorities in lieu of providing actual mental healthcare,” reads a statement on APA’s website. The second potential ballot initiative is an attempt to create Breonna’s Law for the city of Pittsburgh. The ballot initiative seeks to end the use of “no-knock” warrants by police in the city. The profile of these searches was raised due to the shooting of Breonna Taylor in Louisville. Taylor was shot five times and killed after police entered her apartment on a no-knock warrant. APA says Pittsburgh has consequences of using no-knock warrants, including settlements for unannounced raids. In 2014, the city of Pittsburgh paid $107,500 to a Carrick family after the family filed a lawsuit over alleged abusive behavior during an announced raid of the family’s home. “In the past six years, multiple settlements costing hundreds of thousands of dollars have been reached between the city and victims of such police raids,” reads a statement on APA’s website. “This is unacceptable; while the practice has been supposedly discontinued temporarily, we must prohibit it altogether through an amendment to the city charter.” According to APA, they need more than 30,000 signatures by Feb. 16 to get both initiatives on the ballot. An event at East Liberty Presbyterian Church will be held on Feb. 7 from 1:30-3 p.m. where registered voters can sign the petitions.

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JANUARY 20-27, 2021

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Lea Bickerton, owner of The Tiny Bookstore

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BLACK-LED COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT:

THE TINY BOOKSTORE BY JORDAN SNOWDEN // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

EA AND BILL BICKERTON, the husband and wife team behind The Tiny Bookstore in Pittsburgh’s North Hills, have a running joke that the store is Lea’s baby. Bill is just the hired help. At just under 300 square feet, and tucked away in the center of Pines Plaza shopping center in Ross, patrons at The Tiny Bookstore won’t ﬁnd an aisle devoted to popular novels or New York Times bestsellers. Lea, who curates the store’s selection, chooses only to carry and promote books that appeal to her. “One comment we often hear is that it’s difﬁcult to identify what the theme of the store is but that we have a lot

of interesting things here,” says Lea. “I think the reason why it’s hard to identify the theme is because the only thing that really ties everything together is that I go with what interests me. … Because my goal isn’t to just promote bestsellers or even books that I think are going to sell well.” This mentality may stem from the fact that The Tiny Bookstore isn’t The Bickerton’s primary income source. Both Lea and Bill are full-time criminal defense attorneys who stumbled across The Tiny Bookstore’s location in 2018 while looking for new ofﬁce space. “I’ve always loved books and dreamt

of opening a bookstore when I retired,” says Lea. “When I saw the space, it occurred to me that I could sell some of my book collection in our office space. With the nature of our practices, neither one of us spent much time at the office, so my feeling at the time was that we might as well use the space to thin out my collection. The idea evolved pretty quickly from there.” At first, Lea’s goal was to finally sell some of the old books she had been holding onto. As she started figuring out how to sell books out of the space, Lea also started acquiring more used books to sell. “While I was doing that, I started to

look into what it would take to sell new books, too,” she says. And thus, The Tiny Bookstore was born. The store’s layout hasn’t changed much since it opened almost three years ago with the limited amount of space. “Aside from one of the shorter bookcases being moved about eight feet to the left,” says Lea. It’s tiny, and she likes it that way; Lea has no intention of opening a bigger location. Even after The Tiny Bookstore made Oprah’s national list of “Black-owned businesses people should be aware of” last fall. The North Hills shop is the only Blackowned bookstore in Pittsburgh. And while CONTINUES ON PG. 14

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JANUARY 20-27, 2021

BLACK-LED COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT: THE TINY BOOKSTORE, CONTINUED FROM PG. 12

that title comes with loaded responsibility, Lea says it doesn’t feel much different from being Black in America in general. “The weight that I feel from it is I worry that if there are any issues, people will see that as a sign that the experience at a Black-owned business isn’t as good or reliable as the experience that they get at a business that isn’t owned by a person of color,” she says. “The fear that an experience at my store may keep someone from shopping with another person of color? That’s what worries me the most.” Still, Lea’s goal for The Tiny Bookstore is to serve everyone. A yellow box on the right side of tinybookspgh.com reads: “The Tiny Bookstore is race-neutral, but we know that the world is not. Race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation have an effect on how people are treated. Until the world reaches a place that this is no longer true, we will continue to speak out against inequality.” “In my opinion, you can’t really be neutral when it comes to injustice or inequality,” says Lea. “If you don’t acknowledge the problem and do what you can to take a stand, then you’re complicit in allowing the problem to continue. Discrimination is real. Racism is real. Gender bias, sexual orientation

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

The Tiny Bookstore

THE TINY BOOKSTORE 1130 Perry Highway, Ross. tinybookspgh.com

bias, and violence against the LGBTQIA community are all real. Bookstores do more than just sell books. We are sources of knowledge for the community. The Tiny Bookstore is my way of sharing knowledge with the community. And

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one of the things I’m passionate about is making the world just and fair.” That’s why it’s important to have a Black-owned bookstore in an extremely segregated city like Pittsburgh. Especially one that chooses its book selection based

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on what the owner, a Black woman, finds to be meaningful and exciting, instead of what is simply going to sell well. “Any store you shop with reflects the personal values and experiences of the owner to some degree,” says Lea. “Value judgments are made all the time when someone chooses what to carry in their store. My life experience as a Black woman has an effect on what books I find interesting and feel that I can relate to or otherwise want to share. And it’s important to have a resource where someone with that life experience and perspective is picking the books. Some day, that won’t be the case. That day isn’t today. And it won’t be tomorrow, either.” But, above all, The Tiny Bookstore is for everyone, not just people of color. “Sometimes, people think that a Black-owned business is for Black people only. While I definitely make a point to promote books by people of color that are being overlooked, I truly believe that everyone benefits by reading books by diverse authors,” Lea says. “I find books and reading fun, and I’m the opposite of a book snob. Seriously. One of my favorite books in 2020 was a Garbage Pail kids’ book by R.L. Stine. Anyone who knows these things will be prepared for The Tiny Bookstore experience.”

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JANUARY 20-27, 2021

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BY MAGGIE WEAVER // MWEAVER@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

HERE ARE TWO restaurants on the South Side dedicated to classic British fare: The Pub Chip Shop and Piper’s Pub. Piper’s Pub serves up a more formal taste of the British Isles — along with a devotion to football, aka soccer — while The Pub Chip Shop, its sister restaurant, focuses on British street food. The Pub Chip Shop is described as a “proper takeaway and pie shop,” and the fast-casual menu features cuisine classics: bangers n’ mash (sausage and mashed potatoes with gravy), a variety of fried meats with chips (fries), a mix of pies (basically stews enclosed in pastry), and more. During the day, the shop offers breakfast sandwiches (which I have been told will save you from even the worst hangover), breakfast tot boxes, and hosts Just Good Doughnuts, a yeast-raised doughnut joint. I went for three dishes on a recent trip: ﬁsh and chips, a chicken pie, and Thai chili chicken tots. Because of the pandemic, The Pub Chip Shop closed what limited indoor dining they had, shifting to takeout only. While this wasn’t anything new for me, I was unsure how the fried ﬁsh, packed in a paper bag, would fare on the 15-minute drive back to my house. Amazingly, the only thing that was

affected was the temperature, and even that I didn’t mind. The hand-battered haddock didn’t pool in grease (though the bag was soaked), but stayed light and crispy on the trip. My chips, which were rightfully thicker than the shoestring fries of American cuisine, stayed fresh and crunchy.

THE PUB CHIP SHOP 1830 E. Carson St., South Side. thepubchipshop.com

If you’re a fry lover, these chips are a must. I prefer them to normal fries. There’s a bit more potato, and with every bite, the thick edges crunch with a delicious, fried edge. Haddock, a typically meaty, seatasting fish, was light with the addition of the cracking, fried breading, which gave texture to the flaking fish. The batter was oily enough to cut through the thick fish without sitting heavy in my stomach; I didn’t feel the typical fried-food fatigue halfway through. A dip in tartar sauce added a bit of tang to the otherwise simply-flavored dish, rounding it out. My Thai chili chicken tots — made out of potato balls, which were like tots

but softer and bigger with the texture of latkes — were topped with fried chicken, napa cabbage, chili sauce, and green onion. It was a nice break from the fried, all-beige fish and chips. Spice punched through the sauce, adding a zing to the piles of potatoes and crispy chicken that weighed down my paper takeout container. Cabbage finished off the dish with a bit of color and a fresh, veggie crunch. I’ve indulged in season upon season of The Great British Baking Show over the past few months, and I’m sure the chicken pie would have won Paul Hollywood over with its flaky, crispy crust — no soggy bottom in sight. The crust was a perfect pairing for the stuffing, an incredibly flavorful, punchingwith-black-pepper chicken stew. There were times when I felt the crust was a bit too dense, but that’s what the gravy was for. There were so many pieces of The Pub Chip Shop that I loved, but I think what surprised me most was the quality. I went in with low expectations, guessing that fried fish and a stew-filled pie from a takeout shop wouldn’t hold to the standards of dine-in. But it did! On my next visit, I’m putting the Chip Shop breakfast sandwich hangover cure to the test.

Follow staff writer Maggie Weaver on Twitter @magweav PGHCITYPAPER.COM

•

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JANUARY 20-27, 2021

CP PHOTOS: AMANDA WALTZ

Dafna Rehavia’s Binds & Bonds at BOOM Concepts

.ART.

BINDS & BONDS BY AMANDA WALTZ // AWALTZ@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

OR SOMEONE WITH SUCH a soft,

gentle demeanor, Pittsburgh-based artist Dafna Rehavia has a penchant for sharp edges. This becomes apparent while exploring Binds & Bonds, her in-progress, site-speciﬁc installation on view as part of a two-month residency at BOOM Concepts in Garﬁeld. Among the piles of broken chairs wound in twine, yarn, and ribbons are exposed rusty nails and bits of metal wire. There are also tin can lids, broken glass, and jaguars, the sleek predator appearing throughout as cutouts hanging on a wall or stalking a painting. Integrating threatening elements

into symbols of comfort and healing (like chairs and a row of suspended IVs made partially from modeling clay) adds to a multi-faceted, ever-growing exploration of trauma. An artist statement describes how Rehavia “engages and deconstructs forms of symbolic violence through sculptural construction,” and the repetitive, ongoing process of tying and binding echoing the “emotional processing of trauma that may be personal, social, and intergenerational.” Rehavia has become somewhat of a ﬁxture in the Pittsburgh arts scene since she immigrated to the city from Tel Aviv 17 years ago with her husband and three

BINDS & BONDS BOOM Concepts. 5139 Penn Ave., Garfield. By appointment only. Book with the artist at facebook.com/dafna.rehavia or instagram/rehaviadafna. boomuniverse.co

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children. As a licensed art psychotherapist and counselor, she recognizes how Binds & Bonds allows her to reconcile the trauma of her own lived experience. “For me, migration was very hard because I had an amazing career and I had to leave it, and I had to start all over again,” says Rehavia, who left her home country due to events like the 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. “People go through different experiences, and people have different heartaches. It needs to be respected because whatever you go through can be very painful.” Her show also demonstrates her evolution as an artist. She points to a lone painting, one of the last she did before moving to the U.S. and abandoning the medium all together. (“I just couldn’t do it anymore. I still don’t know why,” she says.) Rehavia ended up taking up the middle of BOOM Concepts in part

because of the COVID-19 pandemic, another traumatic event that informs Binds & Bonds. Initially, BOOM founders DS Kinsel and J. Thomas Agnew invited her to exhibit in the space for the monthly Unblurred gallery crawl back in 2019. After the pandemic took hold, however, any Unblurred exhibits shifted into intensive residencies, with artists being given free reign to produce their work, along with a $500 stipend to buy any materials they needed. She was shocked at the level of freedom BOOM gave her, adding that she was even permitted to “make holes in walls and ceilings.” She was thankful Kinsel and Agnew gave her the space and time to work, especially while she is still working as a therapist. “It’s a privilege for me,” says Rehavia, adding that she can come and go as she pleases and has time to “play quietly.”

The seemingly peaceful process involves a lot of effort, especially when it comes to collecting materials. She advertised online for people to donate broken or unwanted chairs, and bought some from the nonproﬁt secondhand store Construction Junction. Rehavia also wants to work on lighting in the space to better highlight certain elements, including cut-out shapes in the hanging jaguars meant to cast shadows on the walls. “I can’t live without my shadows,” she says. As part of her art, she strips the chairs down to what she calls their “skeletons” and wraps them in string. Broken wooden arms or legs are added, and materials like discarded photo frames create “heads.” Over the course of the residency, the chairs have developed separate personalities or have become grouped together. “This lady broke her leg,” says Rehavia, pointing to one chair sculpture. Others wear woven necklaces or brooches, or contain little “organs” within the conﬁnes of the outer webbing. Humanizing the chairs points to the show’s focus on community and the collective trauma inherited by the

descendants of Holocaust victims and other populations torn apart by war, or those speaking out against other injustices like the recent Black Lives Matter and MeToo movements. There are also prints dedicated more speciﬁcally to female

genital mutilation and domestic abuse. Rehavia says the chairs, as well as the jaguars, are symbolic of the body’s natural response to fear, more specifically what she calls “fight, flight, or freeze.” The “freeze” comes through in the stillness

of the chairs, while jaguars serve as both a symbol of survival, as animals able to ﬁght against or ﬂee danger. “The whole thing is about how we relate to trauma,” says Rehavia. “These pieces hold pluralities.” While COVID-19 has prevented the public from engaging with the installation, BOOM has organized ways to connect with audiences. They joined forces with dancers Shana Simons and Chezney Douglas, who choreographed a performance around the installation, which was then streamed on City of Asylum’s “The Show Must Go On(line)” channel. On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the gallery teamed with Repair the World for a virtual healing art workshop led by Rehavia. Until the residency concludes at the end of January, Rehavia says visits to the installation are available by appointment on Tuesday, Saturdays, and Sundays. While she has saved and repaired found objects, the approach extends beyond simply recycling, instead serving as an active method of processing and starting discussions around trauma and healing. “I feel like I gave them new life,” says Rehavia. “I feel like it’s a new beginning.”

•

Follow senior writer Amanda Waltz on Twitter @AWaltzCP

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JANUARY 20-27, 2021

THU., JAN. 21

SEVEN DAYS IN PITTSBURGH

Micaela Corn, Sara Watson, and Diannely Antigua. 7 p.m. Free with registration. whitewhalebookstore.com

MUSIC • VIRTUAL

COMEDY • VIRTUAL

Zoom concerts might be a relatively new event, but The Olga Watkins Band has been performing together for nearly 20 years, so the members know how to put on a show under any circumstance. The group’s music combines several genres, including jazz, blues, funk, and rock. You can catch their virtual performance streamed through City of Asylum. 7 p.m. Free with registration. alphabetcity.org

Join Steel City Improv Theater for Mashed Poet-atoes, a virtual evening of original performance art, improvisation, and more. Special guest Joanna Lowe will present a set that may include original poems, stories, or comedy. The potato will then be passed, so to speak, to the improv team, who will create new scenes inspired by Lowe’s material. The show concludes with poet and improviser Torrey Shineman delivering a poem that mashes together themes and characters from throughout the night. The event will stream live on the Steel City Improv Twitch channel. 8-9 p.m. Free. twitch.tv/steelcityimprovtheater

THEATER • VIRTUAL Award-winning Pittsburgh playwright TJ Young brings a reading of The Inseperables, a “very loose adaptation” of Alexandre Dumas’ The Three Musketeers, to Pittsburgh Public Theater’s digital PlayTime benefit series Classics N’at. And by “very loose,” they’re not exaggerating. The description guarantees a “one for all” kind of comedy filled with “charm, wit, and hilarious hijinks.” 7 p.m. Continues through Sun., Jan. 24. $10+ donation. ppt.org

SUN., JAN. 24 KIDS • VIRTUAL

FRI., JAN. 22 FORUM • VIRTUAL The 23rd Annual Pittsburgh Racial Justice Summit is going virtual, but it will still pack as much information and resources into the event as ever. With over 20 information sessions and two panels across a whole weekend, the summit will touch on all corners of the racial justice movement, from how to create sustainable change, to self-care for activists, to anti-racism in academia. 5:30 p.m. Continues through Sat., Jan. 23. Sliding pay scale. pittsburghracialjusticesummit.org

ART • IRL Brew House Association presents the latest show exhibition from its emerging curator program, Prospectus, with Roots Run Deep: A Contemporary Survey of African American Hair Culture. Curated by Tara Fay Coleman, the show is described as a tribute to the varied heritage, tradition, and community that inform Black hair styling. Through

PGHCITYPAPER.COM

PHOTO: JORDAN COYNE

^ Jordan Coyne’s “Untitled (Javier in profile),” from Roots Run Deep: A Contemporary Survey of African American Hair Culture at the Brew House Association

a variety of photography, sculpture, and mixed media works from local and national artists, Roots Run Deep demonstrates hair as a mode of creative expression, explores the many facets of Black identity, and serves as an entry point for viewers to connect with nostalgia of their past, or to learn more about histories that they have not experienced. Fri. and Sat. from 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Thu. 2-7 p.m. Continues through Sat., March 6. 711 South 21st St., South Side. Free. brewhousearts.org

SAT., JAN. 23 LIT • VIRTUAL Join a group of local writers for a celebration of poet Lisa Summe’s debut book, Say It Hurts, with White Whale Bookstore. The collection features poems where “joy and loss hold hands,” and tackle the complexities of grief, love, queerness, healing, growing up, and everything that happens in between. The event will also feature readings from Jari Bradley,

If day and night have been blending together a bit too much lately because everyone’s always stuck at home, plug in some reinforcements. The Story Pirates, dubbed “some of the best creators and performers in kids’ media today” by Sirius XM, have launched Sleep Squad, a family-friendly virtual theater production, as part of this year’s EQT Children’s Theater Festival. Turn your kids’ bedroom into a rocket ship as Tony Award-nominee Lilli Cooper becomes the “Dream Queen.” (An additional add-on immersive kit can be purchased, but simple household items can also be used.) Watch before naptime or bedtime. Continues through Sun., Jan. 31. $35 (Unlimited viewing.) $50 with Dreamtime kit. trustarts.org

MON., JAN. 25 ART • IRL Andy Warhol had a knack for documenting talented people in a variety of forms, and in the 1960’s, jazz singer and actress Tally Brown became one of his favorite subjects. The Andy Warhol Museum’s newest exhibition, Tally Brown, pays homage to the performer with a collection organized by former film and video curator Geralyn Huxley. Timed tickets required. Continues through Oct. 4. 117 Sandusky St., North Side. $10-20. warhol.org

LISA SUMME AT WHITE WHALE BOOKSTORE

^ Lisa Summe’s Say it Hurts at White Whale Bookstore ookstore

TUE., JAN. 26

WED., JAN. 27

FILM • VIRTUAL

ANIMALS • VIRTUAL

Film Kitchen wants to bring a bit of levity to an especially tough time with Night of Two Thousand and Twenty-One Laughs. To celebrate the new year, the monthly screening series will stream 21 locally made, humorous short films on the Jump Cut Theater Twitch channel. A live post-screening discussion with the filmmakers, as well as event organizers and hosts Matthew R. Day of Film Kitchen and Steven Haines of Jump Cut Theater, will take place on Zoom. 7 p.m. Free. Donations to the filmmakers encouraged. jumpcuttheater.org

Can’t make it to the museum or the zoo in person? The Carnegie Museum of Natural History has you covered. Every Wednesday, the museum holds Wild Wednesday: Virtual Live Animal Encounters. Meet the creatures the museum cares for from the comfort of your home. Will you get to see a python, a sun conure, or a Russian tortoise? Tune in! 1:30 p.m. Register before 11 a.m. on Wednesday. $10. carnegiemnh.org •

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JANUARY 20-27, 2021

MARKETPLACE FOR INFORMATION ON HOW TO PLACE A CLASSIFIEDS ADVERTISEMENT, CALL 412-685-9009 ext. 106 HELP WANTED APPLICATION DEVELOPER HM Health Solutions Inc. seeks Application Developer to work in Pittsburgh, PA & to be responsible for analyzing, designing, coding, testing, & implementing app. enhancements w/no supervision. Apply at https://careers.highmarkhealth.org, using keyword J169736.

HELP WANTED SENIOR TECHNOLOGY ADMINISTRATOR Highmark Health, headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, has work-at-home Sr. Technology Administrator position (w/ability to telecommute w/appropriate telecommuting sys.) to be responsible for providing sys. admin. services for Oracle Knowledge Mgmt (OKM) platform for enterprise environment. Apply at https://careers. highmarkhealth.org, using keyword J169864.

HELP WANTED TECHNICAL BUSINESS ANALYST

HELP WANTED DECISION SUPPORT ANALYST

HM Health Solutions Inc. seeks Technical Business Analyst to work in Pittsburgh, PA to drive customer value thru client-facing advisory & delivery services in support of HM Health Solutions’ product offerings. Will formulate long-term strategy around analytics, info mgmt, data integration & warehousing, data governance, & Bus. Intelligence functions. Apply at https://careers. highmarkhealth.org, using keyword J169725.

Highmark Health seeks Decision Support Analyst to work in Pittsburgh, PA & to prioritize data & info. req’ts, determine how decision support sys. will provide info. req’d to make effective bus. decisions, & translate req’ts into app. that employ appropriate decision support & reporting tools. Apply at https://careers. highmarkhealth.org, using keyword J169761.

HELP WANTED SENIOR BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE ENGINEER

HELP WANTED DIRECTOR, STRATEGY EXECUTION

Highmark Health seeks Senior Business Intelligence Engineer in Pittsburgh, PA to design, develop, implement, & maintain Bus. Intelligence solutions to support bus. needs, following BI development best practices & innovative use of appropriate technologies & systems. Apply at https://careers. highmarkhealth.org, using keyword J169730.

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Highmark Health seeks Director, Strategy Execution in Pittsburgh, PA, to support design & execute enterprise strategic planning process. Duties incl.: managing team of project resources (hiring & termination decisions, coaching & dvlpmnt, rewards & recognition, prfrmnc mgmt & staff productivity); & planning, organizing, stafﬁng, & directing day-today strategic planning ops. Apply at https://careers. highmarkhealth.org, using keyword J169779.

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IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-20-7066. In re petition of Stephawne Tyeriq Clark-Featherstone for change of name to Stephawne Tyeriq Featherstone, Sr. . To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the ﬁling of said petition and ﬁxed the 2nd day of March, 2021, at 9:30 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for

IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-2012191. In re petition of Nicholas Cole Roberts for change of name to Nikolas Cole Larrow Roberts. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the ﬁling of said petition and ﬁxed the 9th day of February, 2021, at 9:30 a.m., as the time and the Motions Room, City-County Building, Pittsburgh, PA, as the place for a hearing, when and where all persons may show cause, if any they have, why said name should not be changed as prayed for. Attorney for the petitioner Shannon D. Sacca, Esq., Bunde & Roberts, P.C., Benedum Trees Building 223 4th Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222

ESTATE NOTICE GOLDSMITH, MARGARET DECEASED OF BEN AVON, PA GOLDSMITH, Margaret H. deceased of Ben Avon, PA. No. 022006014 of 2020. James R. Goldsmith Jr. 7715 Polo Square, Vero Beach, FL 32968 or to the Law Ofﬁce Grant M. Yochim, Esq., 24 Main Street East, P. O. Box 87, Girard, PA 16417

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BY BRENDAN EMMETT QUIGLEY // BRENDANEMMETTQUIGLEY.COM

OFFICIAL ADVERTISEMENT OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH

ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS Sealed proposals shall be deposited at the Administration Building, Belleﬁeld Entrance Lobby, 341 South Belleﬁeld Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15213, on February 2, 2021, until 2:00 P.M., local prevailing time for:

OFFICIAL ADVERTISEMENT

THE BOARD OF PUBLIC EDUCATION OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH Sealed proposals shall be deposited at the Administration Building, Belleﬁeld Entrance Lobby, 341 South Belleﬁeld Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15213, on February 2, 2021, until 2:00 P.M., local prevailing time for:

SERVICE & MAINTENANCE CONTRACTS AT VARIOUS SCHOOLS, FACILITIES, FACILITIES & PROPERTIES

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ACROSS 1. Knee part torn by some NFL players 4. Boo-boos in the playroom 9. Mononymous rapper with the label Konvict Muzik 13. Long, narrow inlet 14. Muse of comedy 16. Japanese-British singer/songwriter ___ Sawayama 17. What goes in these squares: Abbr. 18. Difficult spot 20. App development stage 22. You, in French 23. Israel city that is home to the Bahá’í World Centre 24. Kid’s postdetention cry 26. Austin Powers sexy villain 27. Young Woman Bathing Her Feet painter 31. ___ Tap 32. Ride to the shop 33. “How It Started vs. How It’s Going,” e.g. 36. ‘50s car failure 38. Alert sound 39. Toil and trouble 40. Capital that was originally called Bytown 42. “Hate to break the bad news, but ...”

49. Husband’s better half 50. Second note in a B-major chord 51. “Jesus, are you listening?” 52. Belly dancer’s muscles 54. Gas station in 40-Across 55. Fail to make progress, or this puzzle’s theme 58. Inspiration behind a fantasy sports team name 59. Dissenter 60. What a scout might search for 61. Cathedral city of England 62. TV auteur Rae 63. Covered with dirt 64. Hydroelectric holder

DOWN 1. Language read right to left 2. Field of stars 3. Spotify rival 4. Ballplayer who appeared on a 39¢ stamp 5. Minor story 6. I hate the Moor speaker 7. Education publishing div. 8. “Make yourself comfortable”

9. Speedy Gonzales cry of joy 10. Korean compact sedan model 11. Keeping the beat? 12. Edinburgh denial 15. Fire sign? 19. Parts of a motor 21. Spring up 25. Run the Jewels rapper 26. Juicy steak servings 28. Provides with financial backing 29. Elbows on the table? 30. Symbol of wisdom 33. Gaping hole 34. Times units 35. Places in a club where the hits are

well received 37. Eddie Bauer rival 38. Soak in the tub 41. Lifter’s gear: Abbr. 43. Lifting injury 44. Computer that comes with Retina 5K 45. “Get a load of this” 46. Spoke scratchily 47. The Little Mermaid villain 48. Caesar salad or sandwich, e.g. 52. Freedom of speech defending org. 53. Required stitches 55. ___ choy (Chinese mustard) 56. Aaron Donald is one 57. Spot that’s tough to keep clean

We are an equal rights and opportunity school district.

Oliver Bleacher Repair Project General Prime Project Manual and Drawings will be available for purchase on Monday, January 11, 2021 at Modern Reproductions (412-488-7700), 127 McKean Street, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15219 between 9:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. The cost of the Project Manual Documents is non-refundable. Project details and dates are described in each project manual. We are an equal rights and opportunity school district.

OFFICIAL ADVERTISEMENT

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OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PITTSBURGH

ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS Sealed proposals shall be deposited at the Administration Building, Belleﬁeld Entrance Lobby, 341 South Belleﬁeld Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15213, on January

Dr. Stacy Lane, D.O. • 412-515-0000

25, 2021, until 2:00 P.M., local prevailing time for:

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VARIOUS SCHOOLS

WITH NO JUDGEMENT

• Wireless and Switching Equipment / Related Services • Low Voltage / Network Primes and Vendors

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

All proposers must email David Moore at dmoore1@ pghschools.org in advance of downloading the documentation in order to be added to mailing list for communication regarding this RFP. This will ensure that each proposer is notiﬁed of any changes or clariﬁcations made with regards to the documentation. The documentation for the Request for Proposal (RFP) will be available for download at: https://www. pghschools.org/Page/50. Filename: “Network Switch and Wireless Equipment RFP”. Details for the proposal and submission requirements are described in the RFP. We are an equal rights and opportunity school district.

your body & soul

are welcome

• ALL INSURANCES ACCEPTED • WALK INS WELCOME • tRANSPORATION PROGRAM • NO INSURANCE? WE CAN HELP North Shore - 127 Anderson Street - Suite 101 Timber Court Building, PIttsburgh, PA 15212 Phone: (412) 322-4151 washington, pa - 95 Leonard Avenue Suite 203, Washington PA 15301 Phone: (724) 249-2517 beaver county - 2360 hospital drive Suite 1, aliquippa, pa 15001 Phone: (724)707-1155

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER JANUARY 20-27, 2021

Wherever you are in your brave journey, we are here. Whether you’re just discovering you’re in a dangerous relationship or if you are taking the first step towards safety, the caring staff of Women’s Center & Shelter of 'ƌĞĂƚĞƌ WŝƩƐďƵƌŐŚ ĐĂŶ ŚĞůƉ.

Together, we take the journey forward.

Suppo

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24-Hour Hotline: 412-687-8005

Text: 412-744-8445

Online Chat: SurvivorJourney.org