Nonprofit seeks co-creators for projects focused on food, STEM, public art | The Homepage

• 

• 

• 

Left: Arts Excursions Unlimited member Aceton Hill puts his pizza in filmmaker Tony Buba’s hand-built pizza oven. The Hazelwood-based nonprofit visited and tried out the oven as part of its Food, Art and Tech project that aims to build a more connected and accessible food network. Photo by Heather Mull. Center and right: Two pieces that will be part of the Catalyst Connection mixed-media mural. Right: Woven landscape photo by Denise Johnson. Left: Hand-drawn river currents by Denise Johnson.

By Edith Abeyta

Art and creativity are thriving throughout Hazelwood. Neighborhood nonprofit Arts Excursions Unlimited is working on several different projects, some of which I will touch on here. The artworks are at different stages with various levels of complexity, scale and timelines. There’s room for you in all our projects.

Food, Art and Tech

This is a program initiated in January by Arts Excursions Unlimited. It focuses on food issues in Hazelwood and is funded by The Heinz Endowments and the Opportunity Fund.

We are building a community-operated oven where volunteer time and shared knowledge act as an alternative currency for nourishing food and collective learning.

We’ve moved from data collection via community census and interviews to storyboarding and prototyping to reach a shared vision for a more connected and accessible food network in Hazelwood.

Will Scott and Free Soul are leading this activity. Mr. Scott is an engineer and researcher dedicated to building a more responsible and inclusive society through systems that center service, equity and growth for all. He is lending his technical expertise to help strengthen Arts Excursion Unlimited’s food distribution network, focusing on food sovereignty and cultural identity. He is also helping us use research methods to support our design process.

Free Soul applies artistic research and engineering to critique and design technologies, systems and infrastructures toward pro-social and ecologically aligned futures. His role centers on designing relational exchange systems that treat food, art and skill-sharing as community-held resources around a shared pizza oven. His methods are grounded in participatory and speculative design. He uses collaborative workshops and gatherings to reimagine how neighborhood assets like gardens, food banks, tool hubs and local artists can interconnect.

Together, they are facilitating research, design, fabrication, installation and activation sessions for a public art project co-created with people who live in Hazelwood.

The Food, Art and Tech team have surveyed more than 100 people at community events, the Hazelwood Towers and the Glen Hazel High Rise.

The majority of people surveyed take public transportation to get their food every two weeks. Many of the people surveyed rely on food banks and food pantries to fill their food gaps. Arts Excursions Unlimited transports people who live in Hazelwood to a food pantry once a week. One week, we scheduled a behind-the-scenes tour of the Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank in Duquesne. We used this research and the shared lived experiences of the neighborhood co-creators to shape and inform our approach to the artwork.

We also visited filmmaker Tony Buba’s pizza oven. He built his own wood-fueled oven, makes his dough from scratch, and regularly visits relatives in Italy to improve his pizza-making skills. Mr. Buba said the towns in Italy where his family is from share outdoor pizza ovens as community assets. A flag is flown when the oven is lit so people know it is ready for use.

The Food, Art and Tech team are close to wrapping up the design phase of the project and should start fabrication soon. The goal is to have the artwork completed by the end of the year with ongoing activation after its completion. An exhibit, interviews and a printed and online publication will complement the public art component of the program.

Catalyst Connection mural

In the spring of this year, Arts Excursions Unlimited took advanced manufacturing classes at the Catalyst Connection located at Mill 19. These classes included an introduction to advanced manufacturing, introduction to various software programs, a session on how to use a laser engraver, and an introductory 3D printing class. We took these classes to learn new processes to use to design and fabricate art. Catalyst Connection commissioned our organization to create an artwork on one of their classroom’s walls. We thought it would be ideal to learn how to use some of the machines in the classroom to make a mixed media mural.

This mural will include drawings of the Mon laser engraved in aluminum, laser-engraved historical architectural drawings of the mill site, 3D-printed advanced manufacturing tools and elements, and photographs of the sky, ground and middle ground in Hazelwood woven together to make a landscape tapestry.

Co-create this mixed media mural with us. Email your photos of the Greater Hazelwood sky, ground and middle ground to edithabeyta@gmail.com. Draw the movement of the Monongahela River with a black marker, paint and/or ink on white paper and drop it off at 5125 Second Ave. You can also weave and cut photos to create a landscape tapestry. Text 412-295-1795 to find out when our next weaving session is.

Hazelwood Park

Hazelwood Park will be an open public space between the U.S. Steel Community Field and Hazelwood Avenue, from Gloster Street to the Monongahela River. It will have groupings of trellises that provide overhead shade and visual art, as well as trees, benches, green space and walking paths. The first section, from Gloster to Lytle streets, is under construction and expected to be completed next month.

Two large, square panels per trellis will feature artwork. The theme is Open Air. This aligns with the Open Space, Open Mind banners installed throughout this section of Hazelwood Avenue along Blair Avenue and Lytle Street.

On Sept. 16 at 6 p.m. you are invited to a site visit to learn more about the park and the art project. At this event, we will begin brainstorming the conceptual and visual themes and elements for the artwork. Printed handouts, mark-making supplies, light refreshments and collaboration will be available to all who attend. This event is free and open to all ages of people who are connected to Hazelwood. A limited number of tables, chairs and tents will be available. Please text Edith 412-295-1795 for translation and accommodation requirements.

For more information on Arts Excursions Unlimited or how to join one of the co-creation projects, email edithabeyta@gmail.com or text me at 412-295-1795.

Edith Abeyta is an artist from Braddock and co-founder of Arts Excursions Unlimited.