Three Rivers Arts Festival- 2007.
As an artist, I completely appreciate that efforts need to be made to expose a wider audience to the world of art. There should be opportunities for people to engage artwork that don't require an MFA to understand and enjoy. It's true that there is an insular quality to much of the stuff that gets exhibited at local galleries and even museums. But at the same time, the integrity of art and artists needs to be preserved. This is a timely topic for me as I have spent the last two days attending public spaces involved with the dissemination of art.
June has always been the time for the Three Rivers Arts Festival. For almost as long as I've been in Pittsburgh, I have made it a point to check out the event. I'm not sure whether it's my own evolving perspective, or if it is objective reality- but it sure seems like every year TRAF becomes less and less about the "art". Years ago they used to have a juried show outside, protected by mini-pavilions. It's true that there was always plenty of room to meander through those works. Even then it attracted mostly serious art fans. But it was my absolute favorite thing about the festival. Then they moved the juried show into the 937 Gallery, and space considerations limited the number of pieces they could include. This year they had their "Best of Pittsburgh" show in the PPG Wintergarden. I don't know how many people even realize it's there.
I enjoyed the "Best of..." exhibition, but it was the leanest offering I've seen yet. There were quite a few artists I know personally, and I did enjoy seeing what they submitted. Pieces by Adam Welch and Chris Lisowski were among the standouts. But there were only 48 total works, and they were labeled in the most confusing way possible. They had xerox copies of floor plans, completely unadorned with sufficient information to locate the individual pieces. The only way I could figure out that puzzle was by identifying the works of the artists I knew by sight, and working backwards from there. God help the visitor that isn't familiar with the Pittsburgh art scene.
And then I checked out the "Artist's Market", which is always held around Gateway Center. I think calling the vendors "artists" is generally a bit misleading. By and large the tents contain crafts and such. If you enjoy that sort of thing, more power to you. The people making those products are certainly artisans. There are many fine pieces of handcrafted jewelry, wind chimes, homemade wooden instruments and lots of stock photography. I know I risk sounding like an elitist snob.... but that's not representative of Pittsburgh "arts". Of course, there are always a handful of vendors selling paintings that you couldn't find at every other such event in the country.
I had a short conversation with Kentucky-born transplant and fine artist Mark Traughber. We were both puzzling over the lack of quality artists. Perhaps it has something to do with the jurying process- maybe the organizers don't want to include "challenging" artwork. Or maybe not many local artists take the market seriously enough to consider setting up downtown. I do know that Unicorn Mountain and some local galleries had booths this year, but they only set up for the first session and I missed out on them.
Anyway, it didn't help matters much that the TRAF this year was hampered by the construction going on down at the Point. Usually there is some interesting outdoor sculpture down by the performance stages. This year,the city has decided to fill in the trench that exposed the last surviving wall of Fort Pitt. That's right... on the eve of our 250th anniversary, our leaders are burying our history. Construction is underway, and so the stage and the food booths are jammed in tight with everything else going on. I'm sure there were a few people this year who wondered why they even bothered to fight the traffic. At least there will be more lawn for people to trample while watching the crappy Jimmy Buffet cover bands they always bring in for the Regatta.
Maybe I'm being a bit too harsh. On Saturday night they are having a Flux event (#15) in conjunction with TRAF, and it might redeem my opinion of the festival. There are a lot of good people involved with making that night a success, and I don't want to invalidate the energy they put into it. So show up on Saturday... see what there is to see of the "art" downtown... and then come to the tri-annual celebration of local artists at 610 Smithfield Street. There's free bike parking for the environmentally-conscious.
June has always been the time for the Three Rivers Arts Festival. For almost as long as I've been in Pittsburgh, I have made it a point to check out the event. I'm not sure whether it's my own evolving perspective, or if it is objective reality- but it sure seems like every year TRAF becomes less and less about the "art". Years ago they used to have a juried show outside, protected by mini-pavilions. It's true that there was always plenty of room to meander through those works. Even then it attracted mostly serious art fans. But it was my absolute favorite thing about the festival. Then they moved the juried show into the 937 Gallery, and space considerations limited the number of pieces they could include. This year they had their "Best of Pittsburgh" show in the PPG Wintergarden. I don't know how many people even realize it's there.
I enjoyed the "Best of..." exhibition, but it was the leanest offering I've seen yet. There were quite a few artists I know personally, and I did enjoy seeing what they submitted. Pieces by Adam Welch and Chris Lisowski were among the standouts. But there were only 48 total works, and they were labeled in the most confusing way possible. They had xerox copies of floor plans, completely unadorned with sufficient information to locate the individual pieces. The only way I could figure out that puzzle was by identifying the works of the artists I knew by sight, and working backwards from there. God help the visitor that isn't familiar with the Pittsburgh art scene.
And then I checked out the "Artist's Market", which is always held around Gateway Center. I think calling the vendors "artists" is generally a bit misleading. By and large the tents contain crafts and such. If you enjoy that sort of thing, more power to you. The people making those products are certainly artisans. There are many fine pieces of handcrafted jewelry, wind chimes, homemade wooden instruments and lots of stock photography. I know I risk sounding like an elitist snob.... but that's not representative of Pittsburgh "arts". Of course, there are always a handful of vendors selling paintings that you couldn't find at every other such event in the country.
I had a short conversation with Kentucky-born transplant and fine artist Mark Traughber. We were both puzzling over the lack of quality artists. Perhaps it has something to do with the jurying process- maybe the organizers don't want to include "challenging" artwork. Or maybe not many local artists take the market seriously enough to consider setting up downtown. I do know that Unicorn Mountain and some local galleries had booths this year, but they only set up for the first session and I missed out on them.
Anyway, it didn't help matters much that the TRAF this year was hampered by the construction going on down at the Point. Usually there is some interesting outdoor sculpture down by the performance stages. This year,the city has decided to fill in the trench that exposed the last surviving wall of Fort Pitt. That's right... on the eve of our 250th anniversary, our leaders are burying our history. Construction is underway, and so the stage and the food booths are jammed in tight with everything else going on. I'm sure there were a few people this year who wondered why they even bothered to fight the traffic. At least there will be more lawn for people to trample while watching the crappy Jimmy Buffet cover bands they always bring in for the Regatta.
Maybe I'm being a bit too harsh. On Saturday night they are having a Flux event (#15) in conjunction with TRAF, and it might redeem my opinion of the festival. There are a lot of good people involved with making that night a success, and I don't want to invalidate the energy they put into it. So show up on Saturday... see what there is to see of the "art" downtown... and then come to the tri-annual celebration of local artists at 610 Smithfield Street. There's free bike parking for the environmentally-conscious.
Labels: Adam Welch, Art, Art Marketplace, Christopher Lisowsky, FLUX, Fort Pitt, Mark Traughber, Pittsburgh, Three Rivers Arts Festival, Unicorn Mountain
posted by Merge Divide at 6:07 PM
2 Comments:
There is a market for Jimmy Buffet style music and crafts. Too many "artists" are painting in hopes of 15 minutes and not because they have to.
JM
That market certainly exists, otherwise there wouldn't be such a surplus of it to be annoyed by. It just so happens that the forums for the "wannabes" I believe you are referring to are much rarer, and thus easier to avoid if you so choose. The masses are always offered the lowest common denominator. The stuff at the arts festival is designed to be innocuous and safe, so that it will sell in the mass market. I don't think you can ascribe any pure motives to these artisans, as you seem to be doing.
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