Pitt-starter is our occasional series about local crowdfunding projects on websites like Kickstarter. You can see our past Pitt-starter posts here.
Pittsburgh artist and author (and DJ) Matthew Buchholz is running a Kickstarter campaign to fund his new Pittsburgh Alternate Histories Book, “Pittsburgh in Olden Times.” Buchholz published Alternate Histories of The World in 2013; the book is available on the Alternate Histories website and Amazon (pro tip – if you order the book from the Alternate Histories website you will receive a signed or personalized copy from the author).
Photo Credit: Alternate Histories Website.
Not familiar with the book? You may have seen some of the Alternate Histories prints on the walls the Independent Brewing Company in Squirrel Hill. Take a look at this blog post on the Alternate Histories website to learn more about the installation at The Independent Brewing Company. It is great to see that many of the frames are from Pittsburgh Center for Reuse.
(If you are a fan of beer and local food, be sure to sign up for The Independent Brewing Company’s email list, an occasional, humorous look at what’s on tap and on the menu. While writing this post, I was inspired to stop in there on Tuesday for dinner, and the guest at the table next to me had such a good time at The Independent’s Dancing Gnome Beer Dinner on Monday, he was back for more on Tuesday.)
Kickstarter for Alternate Histories of Pittsburgh Book
If you would like to pre-order a copy of the Pittsburgh Alternate Histories book or pick up one of these Monongahela Monster t-shirts, head over to Kickstarter and back this project. The project has already met the initial goal of $4000. There is a new stretch goal and eight days left to contribute.
Last week, I took a trip out to Brookline to sit down and get defeated at a variety of games at Looking for Group (LFG). The name and its abbreviation is a well known phrase in gaming communities- the online call of “does anyone want to play with me?”
Looking For Group’s storefront on Brookline Boulevard
LFG hopes that you want to do more than just play. LFG is positioning itself as an unusual hybrid: it’s a co-working space combined with a pay-to-play gaming space. John Lange, one of the founders, doesn’t think that combination is odd at all. It grows out of his own interests: he’s an IT professional and a passionate gamer. John talks about that passion and how it develops his friendships in a talk he gave earlier this year.
“I think a lot of people don’t have the same community that I’ve built with my friends and family and I want to share that with everyone,” John says. That community focus shows even now, as the space is still finishing construction. They’ve already hosted a game jam, and while they’re doing work, they’ve invited the neighborhood to pop in and play some games and chat. While I was there for a few hours on a Tuesday afternoon, several neighborhood kids popped in for a few rounds of games. By combining work and play in the same space, LFG hopes that a playful, open and inviting community forms.
John explains:
I think gaming startups and even established gaming companies would be interested in our coworking space because it feels really awesome, when you’re getting burnt out on working, to come see everyone in the gaming side smiling and laughing together and have that instant reminder of why you’re working and sweating and bleeding to build a game.
The storefront portion of the space is the gaming floor. The first thing you’ll notice is the large television facing the street as a lure for the passerby. PCs line the walls, with ergonomic chairs that steal their design cues from race cars. Console “pods” take up the center of the floor- dedicated televisions and gaming machines for each player. The storefront is open to the public in the late afternoons and evenings.
John and Edd take a break from installing floors to school me at several games
Behind the gaming space, separated by thick doors and sound-insulating walls, is the co-working office. John guarantees that between keeping gaming to the later portions of the day, plus the insulation, it’s a perfect space for heads-down concentration. There’s a small kitchenette and a modern conference room, which covers all of the vital amenities- with one more.
While the gaming storefront isn’t open to the public during core business hours, the members of the co-working space have unrestricted access to the building- including the games- 24 hours a day. I can’t imagine a better way of resolving conflicts in your team than settling your differences over a competitive round of a game like Speedrunners or Gang Beasts (two of the games John and his fellow founders were happy to beat me at while showing me the space).
But you don’t have to be a member of the co-working team to start making games. Their gaming PCs provide all of the software that you’d need to make your own games, and they’re planning a series of technical events to teach the public how to do everything from write code to a “Build Your Own Console” event, where participants take a Raspberry Pi computer and turn it into a gaming console.
I asked John what his vision of success was for Looking For Group, and he explained:
I think a lot of people who are my age miss playing games together and a lot of the younger kids out never had the chance to really play games with their friends next to them. It’s too hard to bring your computer over to play Minecraft next to your best friend. It really doesn’t matter how good or bad the game is when your friends are next to you, playing with you.
LFG has already secured their core equipment, and has enough funding to guarantee their operations for the near future. They’ve launched a Kickstarter, not to launch the space, but to secure even more equipment and make the space better. They’ve already cleared their modest goal of $2,000, and are shooting for stretch goals. You can check the space out yourself by visiting them at 924 Brookline Blvd, 15226. They’ve been doing a soft launch through September, and the gaming space goes officially live this Saturday, the 25th.
Pittsburgh artist Alexi Morrisey is in the final 2 weeks of funding for his Kickstarter project for “Have You Seen Me? A Memorial to Slavery.” One of the reasons I think this project is worth a look is that it brings together several different types of story telling medias – milk bottles, advertising, oral history – to tell a story.
One of the many interesting things about this project is that it uses the 1980’s “kid on the milk carton” to create a memorial to slavery:
By putting the faces of real slaves on hand-crafted, archival, milk bottles, we are seeking to both repurpose the European obsession with pure white porcelain, as well as pay homage to the slave’s life – by attaching these precious images to a precious material we give the slave a dignified voice in a context historically unavailable to them.
You have not one, but two chances to meet the artist, and learn more about the project in person this week. I am including the Kickstarter video below, but if you have some time on Tuesday or Friday, come meet Alexi and see his work in person.
Artist Talk: Alexi Morrissey will give an overview of his art practice and discuss in detail his most recent project “Have You Seen Me?”
Tuesday, July 7, 7pm @ Pittsburgh Filmmakers on Melwood Free, please RSVP on Facebook
Morrisey is originally from Boston but has been living and working in Pittsburgh for the past 2 decades. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. You can read more about his 2010 Artist Residency at the New Hazlett Theater in this Q & A from Pop City Media.
As of today, “Have You Seen Me?” is only 38% funded, with 11 days to go. Each bottle is a limited edition and the milk bottles will sell for $400 and up after the Kickstarter campaign. There are a handful of bottles left at the $300 level. If $300 is bit much for your art budget this year, Morrisey has some prints of the bottle logo designs starting at $25.
This summer, you might spot a white cargo van with NASA markings unloading some mysterious-looking technology at the Pittsburgh Airport. No, it isn’t partnership between CMU and NASA to explore the final frontier from Pittsburgh. It’s artist Tobey Fraley bringing back “Fraley’s Robot Repair Shop”.
From 2011–2012, for 17 months, Pittsburghers and visitors were tickled by “Fraley’s Robot Repair Shop” downtown. The Lonely Robot waited for his human return, and Pittsburghers did their best to keep the robot company.
Mr. Fraley wants to bring the storefront back, and he’s turned to Kickstarter to make it happen.
Mr. Fraley’s NASA themed van grows out of a life-long fascination with flight and space-travel. That fascination is why he contacted the Pittsburgh Airport and offered to build a new Robot Repair Shop as a gift. The airport was more than happy to give him a spare storefront near gate A15.
Fraley’s retro-futuristic robot shop is a natural fit with the “Airport of Tomorrow” themed exhibits. Fraley draws inspiration from old Popular Mechanics magazines, and mid–20th century design. “It was more permanent, less disposable.”
That taste for futuristic design shows in Mr. Fraley’s favorite classic robot: HAL–9000, from 2001, A Space Odyssey. “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched that movie. Technically speaking, he was probably more of an operating system unless you think of the entire Discovery spacecraft… as the robot’s form. A robot doesn’t always need to take on a humanoid form.” Perhaps an ironic contrast, considering Mr. Fraley is so well known for his whimsical humanoid robots.
The exhibit was popular when it was installed in downtown- so much so that the Kickstarter raised its funding in only five days. Mr. Fraley credits the fans for the Kickstarter’s success:
There was a couple that had their photo taken out front to use as their Christmas card, there was a guy who rode into town on the bus every two weeks with his son to see what Lonely Robot was up to (while also getting to spending quality time with his child), people would shove notes under the door for me to find, it had a hard core group of followers
What drives that sort of fandom? Mr. Fraley suspects it’s how the display rewards you for paying attention.
The shop is unassuming. Tucked between actual operating stores it could even be missed if you’re not paying attention. I think discovering it for the first time really impacts people and leaves an impression. It’s an entertainingly random installation on a grand scale. That in turn draws people in, taking them out of their daily grind, if only for a moment. It’s not a traditional piece of artwork either, you really need to take a few moments and absorb what you looking at. The books on the shelf, the scraps of paper pinned to the bulletin board, the graphics on the paint cans, the shipping labels on the cardboard boxes, they’re all customized and all telling a story. It’s a bit ‘Where’s Waldo’ in that way. It’s a treasure hunt that you can really get sucked into.
Beyond that, Mr. Fraley credits the Kickstarter’s success to Pittsburgh itself. “Pittsburghers are… really proud of our city… having as the welcome mat a totally unique art installation at the airport is… yet another quirky, memorable thing that makes Pittsburgh stand out as a different city.”
It’s not just his fans that are part of that, either.
We have great arts entities in Pittsburgh such as The Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council and The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. Those two in particular have really helped me with my career. In fact going back maybe 6 years I took a workshop with GPAC called Public Art 101. It was the catalyst for me to take my work in the direction of public art projects such as this one.
Speaking of Pittsburgh pride, Lonely Robot is going to be sharing the airport with two icons of Pittsburgh statuary: Franco Harris and George Washington. Fraley thinks it’s a great match. “I’d love to get a photo of the robot between Franco and George. What a disjointed, nonsensical grouping that would be. It’s totally humbling though thinking that the first thing someone sees as they step off their plane is going to be this art installation. It’s really an honor many artists would be thrilled to have.”
The Kickstarter has raised over $10,000 and is reaching for a $15,000 stretch goal. What is Mr. Fraley’s dream for the shop?
The dream version of Robot Repair will look like your flight to Pittsburgh has somehow transported you to an alternate reality. Robots are suddenly common-place and people actually pay to get them fixed instead of sending them to landfills. It will have the same retro-futuristic feel of the prior shop with a slight aviation and travel slant. A globe marked with pins showing how they “Care for the World’s Robots” will be proudly on display, rotating in the front window. A slightly tattered sign on the wall will advertise that the shop “Now Services Autopilot Robots”. The first dollar taken in by the shop will be thumbtacked on the bulletin board. The little odd details are what made the first installation work so well and I have a bunch planned out for this new installation.
For those wondering if the “Lonely Robot” has a “real” name: no. In true robot fashion, each robot is given only a number. Mr. Fraley admits, however, that the Lonely Robot has exceeded his programming, and has joined the rest of us in using that name for it.
Mr. Fraley’s Kickstarter ends on June 17th. He’s already reached his funding, but is offering a variety of rewards and stretch goals until the project closes.
It is an honor to support the IndieGoGo campaign for Pittsburgh Art Car 2015. Jason and Nina Sauer are two incredible Pittsburghers who run the art gallery Most Wanted Fine Art in Garfield. They have just launched an IndieGoGo campaign to raise $7000 to take a group of Pittsburgh artists on a tour of the US this spring.
Here are 7 reasons why I am happy to support the Pittsburgh Art Car project…
1. USA, Meet Seven Pittsburgh Artists
A Great Project that takes some of the best of Pittsburgh to the rest of the USA. You can watch the video to learn more about the details.
2. Most Wanted Fine Art Really Saved Christmas
Jason and Nina Sauer are AWESOME, inspiring Pittsburghers who make this city a better place. Remember back in December how we helped with an emergency toy drive? All of that was started by Jason and Nina. As soon as they heard about the toy shortage, they graciously offered up Most Wanted Fine Art as a spot to collect toys. What started as a small toy drive, snowballed into a massive effort that literally took over the gallery for four days before Christmas. Prior to the #PghSavesXmas Toy Drive, I had only stopped into the gallery a few times during the monthly art walk. The day we started the toy drive, I met Nina at the gallery and I was truely inspired by her spirit and willingness to do whatever it took to make sure every kid in Pittsburgh had a toy for Christmas.
3. Mozelle Thompson, Shaft and Most Wanted Fine Art
Flyer for the Mozelle Thompson retrospective held at Most Wanted Fine Art in November 2014
Most Wanted Fine Art is a great gallery. The last art show I saw there was The Album Art of Mozelle Thompson in November 2014. This exhibit was curated by J. Malls who is an icredible Pittsburgh DJ and very knowledgeable about records. Not only was this exhibit visually interesting, but a fascinating lesson in Pittsburgh history. Mozelle Thompson was an illustrator who was born in Pittsburgh and designed over 100 album, magazine and book covers. Including the cover to the first edition of the detective novel Shaft, by Ernest Tidyman. Take a few moments to learn more about Mozelle Thompson here, here, here and here.
4. Help Put More Pittsburgh Stories on the Road
In 2013, thanks to the generosity of the readers of this blog, I was a “passenger” on the Millennial Trains Project. MTP is a 10-day, cross country train trip of young leaders, movers, shakers and innovators. One of my biggest takeaways from the experience is that Pittsburgh MUST do a better job of going out and taking the Pittsburgh story to the people. I am happy to support projects like this that make it possible to take Pittsburgh to people outside of Pittsburgh. Read more about what I brought back from my train trip here.
5. Travel Brings Inspiring Ideas Back to Pittsburgh
There are cities all across this country that are struggling with some of the same issues that Pittsburgh is trying to figure out…
How do we make better neighborhoods?
How do we make streets safer for pedestrians?
What does it take to make great street tacos?
What do protected bike lanes really look like?
Can we really have a great public market?
What makes a great local coffee shop?
From serious community issues, to not-so-serious-unless-you-are-a-foodie issues the more Pittsburghers that go out and see how other cities are tackling these problems, the more ideas for solutions we can bring to Pittsburgh.
Last week, the Atlantic published For a More Creative Brain, Travel. While this article focuses on international travel, I think that many of these same ideas can apply to travel around the US.
6. More than Art, General Contracting & Job Training
Last spring, inspired by my participation in the Millennial Trains Project, I attended the StartingBloc fellowship in Los Angeles, CA. One of the speakers during the 5 day program was Kabira Stokes, founder of Isidore Recycling. Isidore is a business that recycles e-wastes and hires people who were previously incarcerated. After the fellowship program, I went to take a tour of the Isidore Recycling warehouse. Located just around the corned from Isisdore, is Homeboy Industries, another Los Angeles organization that works to help provide job training and opportunities to those who were previously incarcerated. Visiting Isidore Recycling and Homeboy Industries was an eye opening experience for me into just how difficult it is to get a job if you have spent time in jail.
What does my trip to Los Angeles have to do with Most Wanted Fine Art? In addition to running an art gallery, Most Wanted Fine Art runs a contracting business that provides job training to young men who were previously incarcerated. If you are in need of a general contractor, please consider Most Wanted Fine Art Contracting.
7. Art Cars & Demolition Derby
Last, but certainly not least on this list of reasons to support the MWFA IndieGoGo campaign… who doesn’t love a project that involves a demolition derby. I think I first read about “art cars” many years ago in the Pittsburgh City Paper or Pittsburgh’s other alt-weekly at the time Pulp. I believe there was a woman in Pittsburgh who had glued objects all over her car. A few years ago, Pittsburgh Art Car popped up and I have been following online and on the street. Since 1995, Jason Sauer has been painting art on a car, takes the art car to the Great Stonesboro Fair and then creates art out of the demolished car.
Bonus: Super Cool Perks
From beer koozies & t-shirts to souvenirs from the road. The MWFA crew has put together some impressive perks to say thank you for your contribution to their trip.
Pitt-Starter is our occasional series on local Kickstarter and Crowdfunding campaigns that support Pittsburgh organizations and businesses. Check out our past Pitt-Starter posts here. Have a crowdfunding campaign that you would like to share? Tell us about it on Twitter with the #Pittstarter
Pittsburgh artist and author (and DJ) Matthew Buchholz is running a Kickstarter campaign to fund his new Pittsburgh Alternate Histories Book, “Pittsburgh in Olden Times.” Buchholz published Alternate Histories of The World in 2013; the book is available on the Alternate Histories website and Amazon (pro tip – if you order the book from the Alternate Histories website you will receive a signed or personalized copy from the author).
Pittsburgh artist Alexi Morrisey is in the final 2 weeks of funding for his Kickstarter project for “Have You Seen Me? A Memorial to Slavery.” One of the reasons I think this project is worth a look is that it brings together several different types of story telling medias – milk bottles, advertising, oral history – to tell a story.
