May 11, 2022 - Pittsburgh City Paper

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MAY 11-18, 2022 VOLUME 31 + ISSUE 19 Editor-In-Chief LISA CUNNINGHAM Director of Advertising RACHEL WINNER-EBERHARDT Director of Operations KEVIN SHEPHERD A&E Editor AMANDA WALTZ News Reporter JORDANA ROSENFELD Arts & Culture Writer DANI JANAE Photographer/Videographer JARED WICKERHAM Editorial Designer LUCY CHEN Graphic Designer JEFF SCHRECKENGOST Digital Editorial Coordinator HANNAH KINNEY-KOBRE Marketing + Sponsorships Manager ZACK DURKIN Sales Representatives OWEN GABBEY, MARIA STILLITANO Circulation Manager JEFF ENGBARTH Featured Contributors REGE BEHE, NATALIE BENCIVENGA, MIKE CANTON, LYNN CULLEN, TERENEH IDIA Intern TIA BAILEY National Advertising Representative VMG ADVERTISING 1.888.278.9866 OR 1.212.475.2529 Publisher EAGLE MEDIA CORP.

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A rally and march to defend abortion rights takes place from the City County Building through the streets of Downtown Pittsburgh on Tue., May 3.

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MAY 11 - 18, 2022

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BY JORDANA ROSENFELD // JORDANA@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

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. . . H I L E OVE R AL L C R I M E R ATE S have steadily declined in Pennyslvania and nationwide over the past three decades, a recently released report says the ,3+ #0 -$ ʉ'0# 0+ 0#* 2#" 4'-*#,2 !0'+#1 0#+ ',1 1'%,'ʉ'! ,2 , '221 30%& 0#!#,2 %3, 4'-*#,!# & 1 !-,13+#" *-! * &# "*',#1 - $ 0 2&'1 7# 0 =9 .#-.*# & 4# "'#" ', %3, &-+' cides, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, including 11 people under 20 years old, two of whom died last month after a mass shooting at a . 027 ', -02& '"# '0 , &'1 5##) :@ 7# 0 -*" 1 ' & #,,'1 ,"#01-, 5 1 $ 2 **7 1&-2 ', **#,2-5, , * 2# ;9;: $2#0 0#4'#5',% 2&# ʉ',"',%1 ," recommendations of the March 2020 report from 2&# .#!' * -3,!'* -, 3, '-*#,!# -4 -+ -*$ 1 "+','120 2'-, ,,-3,!#" 2& 2 +-0# than $11 million worth of grants would go to 20 **#%&#,7 -3,27 -0% ,'8 2'-,1 $-0 %3, 4'-*#,!# ',2#04#,2'-, ," .0#4#,2'-, .0-%0 +1 &'*# 4'-*#,!# ',2#04#,2'-, .0-%0 +1 *')# *-! * %0 ,2##1 -32& '221 30%& # !#+ )#01 ," 2&# # *2&7 '** %# # 0,',% ,12'232# '+ 2- '"#,2'$7 ," "# #1! * 2# 1.#!'ʉ'! !-,f'!21 that may lead to violence, prevention programs, especially those targeting young people, tend to 2 )# +-0# &-*'12'! ..0- !& -! * %0-3.1 %#22',% $3,"',% $-0 7-32& %3, 4'-*#,!# .0#4#,2'-, 2 )# 4 0'#27 -$ "'$$#0#,2 approaches to providing positive support, as

advocates say that both a higher saturation and greater variety of youth programs are needed in the region in order to effectively prevent %3, 4'-*#,!# Pittsburgh City Paper 1.-)# 5'2& 25- *-! * grantees, both of which are using the state money to create new prevention programs for teens, to discuss their approach to violence prevention and how the programs and their participants continue 2- 5# 2&#0 2&# "-8#,1 -$ 1&--2',%1 1- $ 0 2&'1 7# 0 THE POWER OF MUSIC &#0# 0# + ,7 $ !2-01 2& 2 !-,20' 32# 2- 7-32& violence, but youth development experts agree that young people do better when they have “family support and monitoring; caring adults; .-1'2'4# .##0 %0-3.1 120-,% 1#,1# -$ 1#*$ 1#*$ #1 teem, and future aspirations; and engagement in 1!&--* ," !-++3,'27 !2'4'2'#1 -0' 3# 5&- "#1!0' #1 &#01#*$ 1 .0#4#, 2'-,'12 $0-+ 5 7 !) 2#**1 City Paper in a phone interview, “the more [programming] we have, #1.#!' **7 '$ '2 1 !-++3,'27 1#" 2&# #22#0 '2 '1 3# 2&# "'0#!2-0 -$ "#4#*-.+#,2 ," 13..-02 1#04'!#1 $-0 #% !7 021 0-(#!2 1 71 2& 2 '2 1 '+.-02 ,2 2- & 4# + ,7 "'g#0#,2 )',"1 -$ 7-32& .0-%0 +1 1',!# 4#07-,# 1 ,-2 %-,, %- 2- -71 ," '0*1 *3 #4#07-,# 1 ,-2 %-,, # -7 !-32 #4#07-,# 1 ,-2 %-',% 2- 7-3 ),-5 5 ,2 2- 1'2 "-5, 5'2& !-3,1#*-0 ," 2 *) # (312 & 4# 2- & 4# 2&',%1 2& 2 ..# * 2- "'g#0#,2 27.#1 -$ )'"1

CP PHOTOS: JARED WICKERHAM

The scene of a deadly mass shooting at an Airbnb party in Pittsburgh's Deutschtown neighborhood

CONTINUES ON PG. 6

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MAY 11 - 18, 2022

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SAFE SPACES, CONTINUED FROM PG. 6

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

Legacy Arts Projects' Drums not Guns: Sara Jackson, youth program coordinator, Fode Camara, master drummer, and Royce, youth program coordinator

Rue played a central role in developing and securing state funding for one of the city’s newest violence prevention programs for teens, Drums Not Guns, an apprenticeship program from Legacy Arts Project, a Black arts organization located in Homewood that’s focused on youth and African-centered programming. Drums Not Guns offers Black teen boys an opportunity to learn African drumming, a craft that can be “very aggressive and energetic and expressive,” in a community shaped by “best practices for youth development,” according to Rue. Drumming is a great outlet for both kinetic and creative energy, Rue says, and the programming that frames the drumming focuses on “who they are and where they come from,” with three outcomes in mind: I create, I am, and we connect.

“The drumming brings them to the table, it gives them that outlet, but then the youth development component is what is helping to build those behaviors and those attitudes that we want them to take on,” she adds. “And, you know, help them come to understand there’s alternatives to violence and to picking up a gun.”

Drums Not Guns also has an apprenticeship component. “One of the things that we are doing in our youth programming is saying, ‘Hey, guess what? Art can be a career. And if you want to explore

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that, we have some opportunities for you,’” Rue says. Progam participants train under Fodé Camara, who Rue says is one of the few master drummers in the area.

“We’re hoping to build that next generation of drummers that would be here to support the different African-centered art organizations” in Pittsburgh, says Rue.

“GUN VIOLENCE CONTINUES TO IMPACT BOTH THE PROGRAM AND PARTICIPANTS.” Their first cohort was a collaboration with Brashear High School, which, Rue says, has a significant number of students who emigrated here from African countries. So far, they’ve had 46 young men who have gone through the program, according to Rue. “They keep showing up because they want to be there,” she says, “not because they have to be there.”

Rue says she’s glad that Drums Not Guns has “something to offer” as communities all over the county grieve incidents of gun violence. She says Legacy

Arts is looking forward to expanding the program this summer, and it’s not too late for Black high school-aged boys to get involved in Drums Not Guns’ summer programming.

LEADING BY EXAMPLE Last year’s violence prevention grantees also include the Kingsley Association’s new Teen LEAD program. Teen LEAD, which stands for “leadership, education, assistance, and development,” offers tutoring, homework assistance, health and wellness programming, guest speakers, field trips, and food to participants between 13 and 19 years old, three days a week after school at the Kingsley Association in Larimer. The stated objective of the program is to “develop a positive self-image in all participants.”

Since its start last summer, Cathryn Calhoun, Teen LEAD program coordinator, tells City Paper that 30 teens have participated in the program. While the curriculum continues to develop to support students’ needs, Calhoun says that the program always addresses five core themes: public speaking, life skills, financial literacy, post-secondary preparation, and job preparation. Calhoun says Teen LEAD activities also address topics such as mental health, leadership, selfesteem, and health and wellness, and they

PHOTO: THE KINGSLEY ASSOCIATION

A teen bowling outing

regularly ask participants for feedback on program content.

This year’s many gun deaths and injuries have been difficult for Teen LEAD and its students, according to Calhoun, but she says Teen LEAD has been able to help participants feel their feelings.

“Gun violence continues to impact both the program and participants,” says Calhoun, adding that some program participants knew those injured and killed in last month’s shooting on the North Side.

She says the Teen LEAD program provided space for grieving participants to express themselves.

“During several sessions, they were able to discuss their feelings about the tragedy and were supported by their peers,” she says.

Unfortunately, Calhoun says that fear surrounding the recent uptick in shooting deaths has negatively affected program participation. “Some students are afraid to venture out to different neighborhoods or areas for a fear of gun violence or being in the right place, but at the wrong time,” she says. “Many of the teens have lost friends and they [would] rather stay home where they feel safe.”

She adds that they’re working “on making sure to give students reassurance that they are safe and in a safe environment with people who care for them and want to see them grow.”

WHAT NEXT? The grants alone “will not stop gun violence,” says Elizabeth Rementer, Wolf’s press secretary. “Like so many forms of systemic inequality, gun violence disproportionately harms communities of color and marginalized communities. Gov. Wolf believes to truly stop it in its tracks, we need to invest in solutions to the systemic and structural issues that cause ongoing inequity in our society starting with education.”

In addition to supporting communityled efforts to prevent and reduce gun violence, the Special Council on Gun Violence report also recommends improved training and education. Gov. Wolf’s office tells City Paper that he wants to create a “highquality education system in Pennsylvania with equal access to a quality education for all.”

Rementer says his plans include investing an additional $1.9 billion to secure a better future for all through education, as well as continuing to call on the legislature to pass “commonsense, life-saving legislation.”

At Legacy Arts, Rue says that, in addition to educational programming, she’s excited about the prospect of giving the participants “something fun because I think a lot of these situations are because kids developmentally just don’t have an opportunity to be kids.” •

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"THERE’S JUST SUCH A STIGMA AROUND MENTAL HEALTH IN THIS POPULATION IN PARTICULAR."

PHOTOS: COURTESY OF VILLAGE CENTER FOR HOLISTIC THERAPY

NEWS

RESPONDING TO MENTAL HEALTH

BY MATT PETRAS // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

T

HE SCENE OF AN ACCIDENT or crime can be mentally taxing for all parties involved, including first responders. In Pittsburgh, a new program is providing group mental health services for first responders and public safety professionals to ensure that the people whose jobs are to protect the public are also taking care of their own health.

Don Brucker, chief deputy fire marshal in Allegheny County, participated in the program’s pilot last fall. He says he loved the program, and adds that the first responder and public safety community needs to be more mindful about mental health.

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“Let’s say the 911 center takes a bad call,” Brucker says. “‘Oh, that’s nothing, I’ve done this call a hundred times.’ Well, that’s great, and maybe you can deal with it. But I can also tell you that the person who brags about it, is the person that probably needs that class the most.”

The program, Mindful Connections for Public Safety, run by Village Center for Holistic Therapy and Awaken Pittsburgh, has received grant funding for six nineweek classes through 2023. All classes are free to participants.

Kristy Weidner, a licensed clinical social worker and co-owner of Village Center, and Stephanie Romero,

founder and executive director for Awaken Pittsburgh, co-facilitate the classes. The courses, one of which is currently running, represent one of multiple initiatives financed by recent grant funding. The Mar y Hillman Jennings Foundation awarded them $75,000 for December 2021 through November 2022, and another $70,000 for December 2022 through November 2023. A $38,000 grant from the Staunton Farm Foundation, received in late 2020, financed the pilot program.

About nine people participated in the pilot, some appearing in-person and others attending virtually. The current

class, all virtual and close to finishing, has about 15 people, including firefighters, police officers, and EMS workers.

The program has primarily found participants by going through internal city of Pittsburgh peer groups but are now also reaching out to organizations separate from city government. Any first responders or public safety professionals interested in joining one of the upcoming classes can reach out.

“We do intentionally keep the class size 25 and under because we use a trauma-sensitive approach,’’ Romero says. “We really want to be able to hear each individual.”

Drug & Alcohol Addiction Treatment The classes follow a set structure, with exercises focused on practices like breathing and discussion questions such as, “What does it feel like in your body when you’re stressed out?” Romero and Weidner say they bring different skillsets to their pairing.

“This being so structured and curriculum-based, I really come at the classes from a therapeutic approach,” Weidner says. “And I want to do a lot of processing, and I want to make these connections.

And so we’ve been getting a balance between the two of us of how important both pieces of those are. And that’s what makes our combination unique.”

The programs included wide age ranges, according to Romero. This means that sometimes in meetings, an older person acts as a mentor for someone younger. At one point, Romero says an older man explained to a younger man struggling with anger issues how he calmed and controlled his anger over the years.

“It was actually really wonderful and moving,” Romero says.

Discussing, processing, and treating trauma can be difficult for anyone, but Romero and Weidner have learned what it’s like for first responders and public safety professionals. Only one person in the pilot program had done therapy before, Weidner says.

“There’s just such a stigma around mental health in this population in

particular,” she adds. “One of the first responders described to me, ‘We wear our trauma as a badge of honor.’ And then, asking for help is so stigmatized because they worry about their status at work, they worry about if their partner is gonna trust if they’re OK in a dangerous situation, if they’re expressing that they’re suffering from any anxiety, depression, PTSD.” Brucker has spent a lot of time observing and thinking about trauma.

“You don't ask for it," says Brucker. "It’s something that happens to you.”

Brucker adds that it’s important to discuss mental health. Since participating in the pilot, he’s been asking people he doesn’t know well, including people he meets on the street at a scene: “How’s your mental health?” And while he doesn’t need an answer, he does want to know if the person has ever been asked that before. He says he’s done this to more than 20 people and only one said they had.

Still, he has seen improvement in the first responder community concerning the discussion around mental health.

“We talk about this stuff openly more so now than ever, which is just phenomenal,” Brucker says. “I mean, I’m overjoyed with that.”

Even though his class ended last year, it hasn’t really left him or the group, he says.

“Everybody in there has grown. I know that,” Brucker says. “And we continue to communicate on a semi-regular basis.” •

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PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MAY 11 - 18, 2022

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CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

BLACK-LED COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT

Brian Cook

ROBUST STORIES

BY DANI JANAE // DANIJANAE@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

I

N PITTSBURGH, a city notorious for its lack of representation in many fields, Brian Cook has been a leader in trying to improve racial diversity both in front of and behind the scenes. As president of the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation, he’s worked to bring more positive and affirming stories of the Black community, and now, a new role is giving him the opportunity to serve as a role model for a new generation.

Three weeks after graduating from Central Catholic High School in 1998, Cook landed a job through American Urban Radio Networks, which led to him working in national radio for 14 years. After that, he spent 10 years working in television.

And while Cook’s resume is impressive, his story is even more inspiring.

“It started when I was 10 years old,” Cook says. “I used to look into the mirror

"... A LOT OF TIMES THERE WILL BE NEGATIVE STORIES ABOUT THE URBAN COMMUNITY. I WOULD ALWAYS TRY TO FLIP THAT AND FIND A POSITIVE TO REVERSE THE NEGATIVE RHETORIC.” and talk to myself, working on projecting my voice. I would try to stand with poise and I would hold a wooden spoon that we would use to stir and mix up the Kool-Aid, and I would act like I was doing a report in the living room.”

Cook has worn many hats over the course of his career, but his early curiosity cemented his success, from shooting photographs on the sidelines at Pittsburgh

Steelers games to recently being appointed the director of communications at his alma mater, Central Catholic.

Seeing someone in the media who looked like him was instrumental in his pathway to journalism. He cites the work of 60 Minutes reporter Ed Bradley, who Cook says could “turn a phrase like no other,” and who he had the honor of corresponding with before Bradley passed in 2006.

Cook says that the most rewarding thing about his career has been the ability to tell “robust” stories.

“I came up with an urban radio, where a lot of times there will be negative stories about the urban community,” Cook says. “I would always try to flip that and find a positive to reverse the negative rhetoric.”

It’s always rewarding to hear back from story subjects who have had negative experiences with media, he adds, such as journalists who have taken their words out of context, or editorialized a little too much, only to have Cook tell their story in a more fair and honest way.

He has attended and covered seven Super Bowls since 2006 when he first photographed the Steelers playing the Seattle Seahawks in Detroit. Cook says covering these games have been some of CONTINUES ON PG. 12

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ROBUST STORIES, CONTINUED FROM PG. 10

the highlights of his career and jokes that he was born wrapped in a Terrible Towel.

Now, Cook works full-time at Central Catholic High School and says it feels like coming home. He speaks highly of his time as a student at the school, emphasizing that it provided a strong base for his work in media and journalism.

“Central Catholic has a rich history of having a rigorous and challenging academic curriculum under an umbrella of teaching Lasallian principles,” he says, referring to the teachings of St. Jean Baptiste de La Salle, a Roman Catholic religious leader.

Before settling down at Central Catholic, Cook says he worked roughly seven media jobs at a time, including serving as president of the Black Media Federation, and says his time management has gotten much better since starting a full-time job. He says he puts 100% of himself into this role for the benefit of the students and the community, but also still likes to go out on shoots for the Steelers.

His father was a photographer who shot natural landscapes in black and white, and he credits his mother with his love of history, especially Black history.

Cook says those two passions combine a lot in his work, and he tries to instill them in the students he works with, and also his son, Brian Cook Jr. “Every time I do an interview, I always talk about him, he’s my lifeblood,” says Cook. “I love him more than I love myself.

That’s my man. He’s nine years old now, you know, full of life and very intelligent, and I’m trying to teach him those same principles, learning your history and learning how to matriculate through life in a positive way.”

Cook says many of the students he works with are interested in getting involved in media, and he has some words of advice for other young Black people looking to step into the field.

“First thing I’ll say is, make sure that this is something that you want to do,” he says. “If this is something that you want to do, know that sometimes you have to be twice as good in this industry because there are so few people of color. And lastly, have fun. This is a fun industry.

There are opportunities to cover the red carpet at the Grammys or the Oscars.

There are so many different areas that you can cover.” •

CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

Brian Cook

Follow arts & culture writer Dani Janae on Twitter @figwidow

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CP PHOTO: JARED WICKERHAM

Barbecue bacon cheese fries at Aunt Cheryl's Cafe in Braddock

FOOD

SERVICE WITH A STORY

BY DADE LEMANSKI // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

A

FTER SEEING its sandwich board pitched on the sidewalk across the street from the Braddock Public Library for years, I finally ate at Aunt Cheryl’s Cafe in late March, on one of the first warm days of 2022. It was the height of Lenten fish fry season in Pittsburgh and I was feeling disappointed; none of the flour-crusted cod or haddock I’d eaten was quite as crisp and hot as I desire, so I decided to give the Braddock restaurant a try.

Fifteen bucks got me the fish dinner, four big fresh fillets, steaming and flaky beneath a cornmeal dredge that crackled with each bite. The sides were ample and savory, greens stewed with turkey neck and studded with its meat, and red beans and rice, partitioned tidily, but not sparingly, in a styrofoam clamshell.

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On that sunny March afternoon in Braddock, I was hung over and desperate for caffeine. While I waited for my fish to fry, Shayla Wolford, who was alone behind the counter as she cooked and tended the register, the phone, and the sink of dishes all at once, took time out of her many tasks, all while General Hospital played on a flat-screen TV, to brew a fresh pot at no charge.

That’s how it is at Aunt Cheryl’s: the service is slow but attentive, with a level of straightforward kindness and flexibility expected from all parties. Some listed menu items aren’t always available, either until somebody can get to the store for groceries or because the dish is so fresh, it’s still cooking. Either way, the result is absolutely worth the wait.

On my most recent trip to the brightly lit basement cafe, I spent the 25 minutes Wolford needed to finish cooking a batch of red beans and rice (New Orleans-style, with rounds of sausage adorned in the char of a hot pan), making friends with Braddock locals, all of whom came prepared for the wait I was learning to expect.

AUNT CHERYL'S CAFE 416 Library St., Braddock. tinyurl.com/AuntCheryls

As we talked, Wolford watched the sidewalk through the block glass windows, narrating as people approached and sharing what she knew about them.

One smartly dressed older man chatted about the weather as we waited for our

orders in the cafe’s leatherette chairs, inquiring earnestly about my day. After he left, Wolford turned and says, “He runs the funeral home. So you know everybody knows him.”

Wolford appears to know everybody, too. She’s been cooking at Cheryl’s since 2018, grew up down the street, and says the job came to her fortuitously. Before working at Cheryl’s, Wolford had been tending bar around the corner on Braddock Avenue at Lucky Frank’s Irish Pub (just Frank’s, to locals), when a man she didn’t know stopped in looking for something to eat. Wolford gave him a helping of what she’d cooked up for the staff — fried chicken with cabbage and rice — and, as Wolford tells it, the man, who turned out to be “Aunt” Cheryl Johnson’s partner, said to her, “My

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Aunt Cheryl's Cafe in Braddock

THAT’S HOW IT IS AT AUNT CHERYL’S: THE SERVICE IS SLOW BUT ATTENTIVE, WITH A LEVEL OF STRAIGHTFORWARD KINDNESS AND FLEXIBILITY EXPECTED FROM ALL PARTIES. woman’s got to try this.”

At the time, Wolford had never even heard of Aunt Cheryl’s Cafe. “I’d been ordering food from Swissvale,” Wolford says, “when this was just down the street!”

Wolford credits Johnson’s partner with changing her life that day. “Miss Cheryl taught me so much,” she says.

“In this job, I learned what freedom feels like.” She says working at the restaurant also taught her how to cater, gave her the confidence to cook for 200 people at a time, enabled her to afford a new car when hers was in an accident, and to take a real vacation — to Las Vegas — for the first time in her life.

Four years after starting, Wolford now runs the day-to-day operations of the restaurant solo, having learned all of Johnson’s recipes. But when first asked to speak about the restaurant, she said, “You know I’m not Aunt Cheryl, right?”

While the restaurant door is still adorned with a brilliant, color-saturated spraypaint portrait of “Aunt Cheryl” in a white chef’s toque and red robes, Johnson has since stepped away from day-to-day operations at the cafe in the basement of the Nyia Page Community Center to focus on her catering business. But Wolford seems to be running things just fine on her own, offering plenty of conversation.

While I was eating my lunch, she asks whether I’d tried any of the desserts, then offers a slice of almond cake with white icing, made by a woman with whom she and Johnson go to church. It’s light and sweet, perfect for a picnic in the summer, and I finish off the thick slice quickly.

“Could I try the famous sweet potato pie, too?” I ask. Unfortunately, it’s so popular that it was already sold out. “It’s better than my grandma’s,” she says. “But I’d never tell her.” •

LYNNCULLENLIVE every Monday thru Thursday at 10 a.m. at www.pghcitypaper.com

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MAY 11 - 18, 2022

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LIT

BIG AND BOOKISH

BY TIA BAILEY // INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM

M

ARSHALL COHEN has attended b o o k fe s t iva l s a cro s s th e country with his wife, Laurie Moser. Upon moving back to Pittsburgh, he realized the city didn’t have a book festival or really anything like it.

“There’s a lot of really good literary stuff that takes place here, and wonderful authors and so forth,” Cohen says.

“But one festival that kind of brings it all together wasn’t taking place. So I started talking to people about the idea and they were interested and willing to support it.”

Cohen and Moser have worked hard to make such an event happen. The firstever Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books, taking place on Sat., May 14 at various locations in East Liberty, is described as celebrating “Pittsburgh’s current standing as a great literary city,” with a mission of showcasing its “historic, vital role on the national and international literary stage.”

Pittsburgh has been recognized multiple times over the years as one of the country’s most literate cities, including in a 2014 report by Central Connecticut State University that ranked it among the top five. The standing has been attributed to a variety of factors, including the presence of bookstores and library systems, and newspaper circulation.

GREATER PITTSBURGH FESTIVAL OF BOOKS 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat., May 14.

Various locations, East Liberty. Free. pittsburghbookfestival.org

The festival was made possible through funding from the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development and East Liberty Neighborhood Improvement District, as well as support from a long list of sponsors that includes Google Pittsburgh, the University of Pittsburgh, First National Bank, and the language learning app company Duolingo, which will host some events at its headquarters. Cohen serves as the festival’s founder and co-chairs along with Moser.

Fe s t iva l p ro g ra m m i n g , w h i ch includes speaking events by 40 authors and about 30 poets, children’s activities, and much more, will also take place in Bakery Square, at the Carnegie Library

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of Pittsburgh East Liberty branch, the East Liberty Presbyterian Church, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, and The Maverick.

“We have all kinds of genres covered,” Moser says. “We have biography, speculative fiction, history, history of jazz, nonfiction, memoir. Someone’s speaking about children’s literature, environment, mystery, creative nonfiction. So we’re hitting every genre possible. And, of course, poetry.”

Guests can expect nationally recognized authors (many living in western Pennsylvania) as well as those representing a variety of ages, genres, and backgrounds. Cohen and Moser say they also wanted to help introduce audiences to emerging or unknown Pittsburgh authors.

Many authors will also cover topics relevant to today’s world, including the environment, sex trafficking, and abortion.

“There’s a book that was written a year or two ago called Tender that is a literary anthology written by 19 Black women living in Pittsburgh,” Moser says. “Two of the authors from that anthology are attending — Cheryl Hall Russell and Tyra Jamison. They have quite a good story.”

Also reading is a 10-year-old author who wrote about her experience being denied entry to her school’s football team.

The festival is meant to be inclusive and welcoming to all who attend. Not only is the event free, but transportation will also be provided to those in the Hill District and Homewood. There will be buses running through communities, and a shuttle service to take guests to and from locations of the festival, such as Bakery Square and Carnegie Library.

So far, organizers claim that 1500 guests have already registered to attend the festival.

“We’d love people to register for the festival [on our website],” Moser says.

“We want to communicate with people after the festival to thank them, possibly send a survey, and invite them back for next year.”

The pair says they would like to continue working with Pittsburgh’s literary scene even beyond the annual festival.

“We have great literary support in the Pittsburgh region,” Cohen says. “It’s just been exciting the way the communities are coming behind this event.” •

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CP PHOTOS: AMANDA WALTZ

Paola Pivi: I Want It All at The Warhol

A

MILLENNIAL WEANED on the early days of YouTube might find it hard to resist shouting “Oh my god, shoes!” when first entering the Paola Pivi: I Want It All exhibit at The Andy Warhol Museum. The Italian artist lined three walls with a diverse array of footwear (250 total pairs, to be exact), ranging from high-end brands to bright, furry UGG platform sandals, as well as Crocs, Converse, Steve Madden, and more.

It took everything in me not to whisper aloud “These shoes suck. These shoes rule” as I inspected each pair, my brain apparently forever under the spell of Liam Kyle Sullivan’s viral 2006 “Shoes” video.

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The commissioned project represents one way the multimedia artist connects her work to that of the museum’s namesake. An info placard says the piece, called Untitled (shoes), was inspired by Warhol’s involvement in the fashion industry and the “unique individuals in his orbit.”

In a release about the show, organized

by José Carlos Diaz, chief curator at The Warhol, Pivi says she was “particularly excited about working with shoes,” adding that it brought her back to Warhol’s “fascination for shoes and for people.”

“He always had an intimate connection with the others he surrounded himself with, as if highlighting who they

were and what they did, in a way that, in my perception, was voluptuous,” she says.

Still, the installation remains distinctly Pivi, as she matches individual pairs of worn donated shoes with unworn identical versions, “as a flashback,” she says, “to what it was before, and to what would have been without the lifecycle of each individual participant.” Each worn pair was donated by someone she met while traveling in Pittsburgh, Milan, Miami, and India. To that end, the work demonstrates themes found throughout the exhibit, that of trying to find or create meaning and beauty in mass production and sameness, as well as tired symbols.

Overall, Pivi operates in the realm of the fantastic, of possibility, asking audiences to view the world around them through a more vibrant and exciting lens. The penchant also defines her real life, as a born Italian choosing to live in Alaska, and as a former chemical nuclear engineering student who took a risk by deciding instead to pursue a career in the world of contemporary art. That decision paid off, clearly, as Pivi has opened numerous solo exhibitions around the world in countries such as France, Denmark, China, and Germany, as well as throughout the United States.

Her success should surprise no one

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who experiences I Want It All. Here, we see Pivi’s adventurous vision and earnest appreciation for what’s widely considered frivolous or gaudy. “Bigger than my eyes,” a pinwheel made of giant peacock feathers, constantly spins, serving as an odd, dizzying distraction in a gallery otherwise occupied by what could be best described as velvety bed sandwiches, and a miniature reproduction of the famed Warhol couch located in the museum’s lobby.

PAOLA PIVI: I WANT IT ALL Continues through Aug. 15.

The Andy Warhol Museum.

117 Sandusky St., North Side. Included with museum admission. warhol.org

Altogether, this display evokes a sense of childlike wonder. The couch makes for a perfect little doll-sized twin to its larger counterpart, even down to the visible signs of wear and tear, making one wish there was a tiny Warhol stretched out across it. The two beds, comprised of individual, brightly colored mattresses stacked on the floor and suspended from above, leave small spaces for visitors to climb in (while wearing protective gloves and booties, of course), bringing to mind Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Princess and the Pea. When not inviting you to squeeze into the artwork, Pivi unleashes the powerful

force of nature on the viewer. One of her prints, “Yee-haw,” uses stunt horses to bring a jolt of exhilarating energy to the oft-photographed Eiffel Tower in Paris. In the museum’s screening room, visitors can watch I wish I am fish, an absurd film where Pivi chartered a plane for 84 goldfish so the creatures could experience the thrill of flight.

Then there are the polar bear cub sculptures. So many cubs, all covered in soft, neon features, disarming you with their surprisingly expressive eyes and realistic teeth. They roll and play, some hanging acrobatically from trapeze rings, others snuggling up with each other (this is the one time Pivi’s works crossover, as one cub is seen chewing on a Jimmy Choo pump).

While I could wax on the profound meaning behind the fanciful ursine display, all I can think is, “This is cute as hell.” This is arguably what Pivi wants to accomplish with I Want It All, and what the audience needs after struggling through a pandemic and, for most of us, seeing the same four walls and same people for years. Pivi unabashedly indulges in extravagance, preciousness, and familiar comforts (in this case, being reminded of the “Shoes” video, which I easily watched dozens of times in my younger days, seems appropriate).

Whether intentionally or not, The Warhol has found the perfect show for the late COVID-19 era, one that encourages seeking moments of joy and delight because, as we’ve seen, they come at a premium when times get tough. •

Follow a&e editor Amanda Waltz on Twitter @AWaltzCP

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SEVEN DAYS IN PITTSBURGH

IRL / IN REAL LIFE EVENT VIRTUAL / STREAMING OR ONLINE-ONLY EVENT HYBRID / MIX OF IN REAL LIFE AND ONLINE EVENT

PHOTO: EMILIO MADRID

^ Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of The Temptations

THU., MAY 12 THEATER • IRL Get ready to laugh when South Park Theatre presents the madcap comedy Moon Over Buffalo. The story follows fading 1950s theater stars George and Charlotte Hay as they navigate marital problems while attempting to reclaim fame. Their second chance at the spotlight comes after discovering that director Frank Capra may cast them in a major movie remake. The show is described as a welcome return to South Park Theatre’s indoor stage after years of performing outdoors due to the pandemic. 7:30 p.m. Continues through Sat., May 14. 1801 Brownsville Road, South Park. $16. southparktheatre.com

LIT • VIRTUAL Author and educator Hil Malatino will join White Whale Bookstore for a virtual discussion of his book Side Affects: On Being Trans and Feeling Bad with Zena Sharman, author of The Care We Dream Of: Liberatory and Transformative Approaches to LGBTQ+ Health. The University of Minnesota Press describes Side Affects as opening

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“a new conversation about trans experience that acknowledges the reality of feeling fatigue, envy, burnout, numbness, and rage amid the ongoing onslaught of casual and structural transphobia in order to map the intricate emotional terrain of trans survival.”

7-8:30 p.m. Free. Registration required. whitewhalebookstore.com

FRI., MAY 13 DANCE • HYBRID Attack Theatre promises to “seamlessly” blend “the planned and spontaneous” when it presents the return of Some Assembly Required. Described as combining dance, live music, artwork, and conversation, the event invites audiences to “influence and interact with the creative process,” as well as partake in a facilitated discussion. The performance will include music by cellist Ricki Weidenhof and percussionist Justin Kelly, and feature several Attack Theatre dancers. 7 p.m. Continues through Sun., May 15. 212 45th St., Lawrenceville.

Livestream also available on Sat., May 14.

“Pay what moves you.” Registration required. attacktheatre.com/sar-2022

SAT., MAY 14 MUSIC • IRL One of the most anticipated music festivals in Pittsburgh returns to Schenley Park, bringing with it a day of free live performances, activism, and more. Head to the Vietnam Veterans Pavilion for Pittonkatonk, a community event that has presented “music without boundaries” since 2014. See local, national, and international acts like the Gili Yalo & Anbessa Orchestra, Son Rompe Pera out of Mexico City, and the Toledo, Ohio-based all-female drumline Bitch, Thunder. There will also be a potluck and food vendors. 1 p.m. Panther Hollow Road., Oakland. Free. pittonkatonk.org

CRAFTS • IRL Guests of any age can enjoy fun artrelated activities when Contemporary Craft hosts its Family Day. Take part in a copper project with Jennie DiBeneditto, a bead project with Artist-in-Residence Andrew Thornton, a community needle punch with Kirsten Ervin, a mini-loom project with Artist-in-Residence Jamie Boyle, and a woodturning demo with Dave Dudney. Guests will also get a preview of the new Fiberart International

2022 exhibition before it officially opens on June 3. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. 5645 Butler St., Lawrenceville. Free. contemporarycraft.org

EVENT • IRL Support the arts while looking absolutely fabulous during the Maecenas Ball XXXVII at Pittsburgh Opera. Named after Roman stateman Gaius Maecenas, the fundraising event celebrates the conclusion of the opera’s season and recognizes individuals who have “contributed significantly to the performing arts in Pittsburgh or within their respective fields.” Dust off your finest gown or stylish suit and enjoy cocktails, dinner, and dancing at the Bitz Opera Factory. 6:30 p.m.

2425 Liberty Ave., Strip District. Tickets start at $250-550. pittsburghopera.org

SUN., MAY 15 THEATER • IRL PICT Classic Theatre performers will bring Samuel Beckett’s famous play Endgame to the Fred Rogers Studio at WQED. The show features four characters (played by Martin Giles, James FitzGerald, Karen Baum, and Ken Bolden) who get stuck in a room together while hiding out from an outdoor catastrophe. The show focuses on the topic

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^ Vadim Neselovskyi

MON., MAY 16 MUSIC • HYBRID City of Asylum continues its Jazz Poetry Month with pianist Vadim Neselovskyi.

The Ukrainian musician honors his homeland, now under attack by Russian forces, with “Odesa—A Musical Walk Through a Legendary City,” a solo piano piece inspired by his hometown on the Black Sea. The work is described as being rich with “melodic tunes, folk music, jazz, and sprinklings of classical music,” and this performance promises to fully immerse the audience with multimedia projections.

7-8:30 p.m. 40 W. North Ave., North Side.

Event will also stream online. Free. cityofasylum.org/jazz-poetry-month

Experience an exciting Tony Awardwinning Broadway show when Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of The Temptations comes to the Benedum Center. The “electrifying smash-hit” musical follows the famous Motown group from their time on the streets of Detroit to being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The show includes fan-favorite songs like “My Girl,” “Papa Was a Rolling Stone,” and more, all presented in a way never seen before. 7:30 p.m. Continues through Sun., May 22. 237 Seventh St., Downtown. $33-120. trustarts.org

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WED., MAY 18 FILM • IRL Head to the Buhl Planetarium at Carnegie Science Center for By The Waters of Babylon, a special showing of the awardwinning 360-degree documentary, presented by the Holocaust Center of Pittsburgh. Made possible by the Heinz Endowments, this project takes viewers on an immersive journey into the lives of composers who were silenced by the Holocaust. As part of a mission to bring their music to the world, The Clarion Quartet performs “String Quartet #3” by Viktor Ullmann, a composer who suffered under Nazi oppression. Weaving together images of the past and present, this documentary is a must-see. 7 p.m. 1 Allegheny Ave., North Side. $36. hcofpgh.org

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of ending — “ending life, ending time, and what we find at the conclusion,” according to PICT’s website. Directed by Alan Stanford, the show is described as “wickedly funny and deeply relevant.” 2 p.m. Continues through Sat., May 28. 4802 Fifth Ave., Oakland. $20-48. picttheatre.org/play/endgame

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NAME CHANGE

NAME CHANGE

NAME CHANGE

NAME CHANGE

NAME CHANGE

IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-21-12123 In re petition of Edward Ryan Auth for change of name to Ryan Edward Auth. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 6th day of June, 2022, 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-22-002733 In re petition of Jayne Morgan Taylor for change of name to Morgan Taylor Hardy. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 18th day of May, 2022, 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.

Kevin T. Brett, Esquire attorney for petitioner.

Bunde & Roberts, P.C., Benedum Trees Building, 223 4th Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 (412) 391-4330

IN The Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: No. GD-22-3415 In re petition of Heather Angel Bohin for change of name to Hez Poole.

To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 13th day of June, 2022, 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-22-4741, In re petition of Crystal Amber Mae Ghee parents and legal guardian of Keirra Marie Lynn Rowe for change of name to Keirra Marie Lynn Ghee. To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 6th day of June 2022, 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-22-003382 In re petition of Cameron James Miller for change of name to Cameron James Pack.

To all persons interested: Notice is hereby given that an order of said Court authorized the filing of said petition and fixed the 10th day of May, 2022, 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.

PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER MAY 11 - 18, 2022

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