On Wednesday, July 19 from 5-7pm I'll be premiering my newest and biggest art installation, a 50+ piece gallery wall at the Independent Brewing Company in Pittsburgh. This has been something I've been working on for the past few months and it looks really fantastic; if you're in the city, I'd love for you to stop by and check it out! RSVP here!
In addition, the Independent (located at 1704-1706 Shady Ave in Squirrel Hill) will be debuting their new pint glass design featuring an original Alternate Histories design. My work has been hanging in the Independent since its first month of opening, but this marks the first project I've created entirely for the space.
I’d been to the Independent when it first opened and I loved the vibe, but noticed that the walls were almost totally bare. I had some framed pieces laying around and emailed the owner, Pete Kurzweg, to see if he was interested in hanging them. He wrote back that day asking how soon I could be there! And my work has been there ever since.
Creating the new gallery wall meant removing the haphazard display that was hung years ago, and meticulously planning and framing new and old pieces. I was inspired by the look of old museum galleries and showrooms, like this one from Detroit Publishing in 1900.
A big challenge was finding as many vintage frames as possible. Since I started Alternate Histories in 2010, I've been collecting old frames from estate sales and vintage stores, as well as one of my favorite shops in Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse! This awesome shop recycles old art materials (and tons of other stuff) to provide new building blocks for artists, as well as providing tons of great education programs. The one problem I had with many of the vintage frames was that many of them were just the frame; no glass front. So fortunately my friends at Framezilla were willing to custom-cut some plexiglass for me so I could bring these old frames to life. I'm so fortunate to live and work in Pittsburgh, a really supportive arts community!
I'll be there from 5-7pm with books, prints, and buttons for sale. It will also be happy hour, and a good time to sample a locally-brewed beer, in a newly-branded pint glass!
I hope to see you at the Independent on Wednesday! Cheers!