Author Archives: Maya

Building a Beloved Community

Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at the Union Project on Monday, January 18th. The event is separated into Afternoon and Evening Activities and the event program is designed for the whole family:

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WYEP Holiday Hootenannny this Thursday!

Hootenanny: a thingamajig

I started out with a lot of clever openings to this post … and then I decided to look up the exact definition of ‘hootenanny.’ The first definition is exactly what you envision, (n.) “a social gathering or informal concert featuring folk singing and, sometimes, dancing.” However, an older use of the word hootenanny is in fact a ‘thingumbob.’ If I was going to a thingumbob on Thursday night I figured I should find out what it was. And there it was… the definition of thingamabob, according to Dictionary.com was thingamajig! All confusion cleared up, I emailed a couple of friends to see if they wanted to attend a thingamajig on Thursday night where members of some of the best local bands would be performing holiday music at the Pittsburgh Opera (2425 Liberty Ave.) as Silver & Gold. The event starts at 6:30PM – music at 7PM – tickets are $5 suggested donation along with a canned good for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, and, sometimes, dancing. I’ll see you at the thingamajig on Thursday.

Behind Our Scenes:"Backstage" Artists at SPACE

Often times museum employees “are artists who dedicate their days promoting the artwork of others and their nights & weekends creating artwork of their own.” Curators Laura Mustio and Nicole Rosato celebrate this fact with a new show, Behind Our Scenes, opening Friday night from 6-9PM at SPACE (812 Liberty Ave. in Downtown). Rosato herself is the Visitor Services and Volunteer Coordinator at The Mattress Factory, and the artists are all employees of some of the most well-known Pittsburgh cultural institutions: The Carnegie Museum of Art, Oakland; The Mattress Factory, North Side; The Andy Warhol Museum, North Side; Fe Gallery, Lawrenceville; Future Tenant, Downtown; Wood Street Galleries, Downtown. The show runs through February 13, 2010. Read a guest post by curator Nicole Rosato over at The Mattress Factory’s blog!

PGH Photographs

Panoramic shots of Pittsburgh at Gallery on 43rd St in Lawrenceville

I heart these images of Pittsburgh (hint, hint) at Gallery on 43rd St in Lawrenceville by photographer Scott Davidson of Portersville, PA. The black and white panoramic views of Pittsburgh are available in different sizes (from greeting cards to six-feet-wide canvases). Gallery on 43rd St also has tons of gift items and fine art from local artists. These pictures are a perfect present for that friend who moved away and needs a reminder of why they should come back home!

Black and Currant

That's no grape arbor! Greendance welcome guests with a kiwi vine (which they someday hope to turn into a new fruit wine!)

This past Thursday I raided the wine rack (made of reclaimed shutters and purchased at Fresh Heirlooms – check out the shop on this year’s Joy of Cookies Cookie Tour in Lawrenceville) in search of a few bottles to take along to our friend Anne’s Thanksgiving dinner. Nestled between a Malbec leftover from a wine and cheese tasting and the bottle of mead I had refused to open on our wedding night, I found just the thing: a bottle of Black Currant wine from Greendance: The Winery at Sand Hill on the Southwest Passage Wine Trail. While my explorations of the trail took place with my almost-husband, now actual-husband, almost two months ago, there isn’t really a better time to revisit that trip as the holidays rapidly approach. If you remember, Sunday left me with Ben and Rachael (BK and RK respectively) as we finished watching a rainy concert on a lake at Stone Villa. BK, our designated driver for the day, navigated us to Greendance, our next stop, and parked in a dirt lot a few paces from the good-looking main building surrounded by a lush garden. We tore RK away from the parking-lot-adjacent goat pen and located the tasting room where the winery’s owner, Susan met us.

RK wanted to take a goatie home with her but there wasn't enough room in the car.

Susan was enthusiastic about explaining the winery’s history and philosphy, which she described to me as maintaining an intimate feeling and a green environment. (To read more about the history of Greendance and Sand Hill Berries visit the Greendance website. Sharon gave a great overview which I am hesitant to paraphrase here, I was tasting a lot of wines, remember). What sets Greendance apart from all of the other wineries we visited is its affiliation with Sand Hill Berries. Sharon described how through partnerships they began to envision a winery using only berries and fruits from the exisiting farm. Slowly that evolved to include grape wines and now Greendance stocks at least 5 varieties from grapes grown on-site. Other grape wines adhere to the requirements that grapes come from within a 350-mile radius. But let me get back to the berries! The above-mentioned Black Currant wine (oh, and there is a port as well) is divine with holiday fare (turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, the fixins). I have to say I was surprised that I enjoyed this fruit wine (do I need to remind you I prefer the dry whites?) but the flavor was deep and not too sweet. I also enjoyed the Vidal Blanc and Pinot Gris, both of which I purchased, but I have to say I SO enjoyed (as did my compatriots) the Black Currant. My suggestion? Head to Greendance (only 29 miles away) before Christmas and purchase some to go along with your holiday dinner! And here is the secret of Greendance: Sand Hill Berries not only contributes to the fruit wines, you can buy homemade pies and locally made ice cream just 20 feet from the winery door!