Hi,
I’ve written about these people a couple of times in the past, Urban Tree Forge. This is the group out in the Lincoln-Lemington area of the city whose founder, John Metzler, was tragically killed by a run away rental truck last spring. This is a group that gets trees cut down in the city and recycles them in the most innovative ways. They make works of art, furniture, flooring, anything they can think of to keep these past city residents from going in a land fill. There was an article on them a few days ago in the Trib, John Eastman, who is leading this artist-run manufacturing organization, says they decided to continue in John Metzler’s memory. They’re having a show this coming Friday at Guardian Storage Solutions at 2839 Liberty Avenue. It’s a fund raiser for Friends of the Pittsburgh Urban Forest, the organization that is trying to plant 20,000 trees in Pittsburgh. They plan on having the Mon City Ramblers and cellist Gordon Kirkwood. They’re going to have food, drinks and an artist’s market. One of the things that will be there is bunk beds made from salvaged city trees. How cool would that be to put your child to bed in a bed of the forest. They had a few pictures of some of their pieces and they are exceptional. Admission to this fund raiser is about $30. If I didn’t have a wedding and am sold out this weekend, I’d definitely be there (I may be able to squeeze out, Derronda’s working.)
There’s a REALLY cool store in Pittsburgh, but you can’t go to it. Spector Studios is over in Sharpsburg and they hand craft costumes. They don’t have an outlet store, they only sell on line or through several retail outlets. Their products aren’t cheap, but they’re all hand made here and of exceptional quality. Their resident artists are involved from conception, through all phases of production. One of the reasons they are here is they recruit Carnegie Mellon University art graduates. They were voted one of the best places to work in Western Pennsylvania (next to The Parador, of course). 🙂
They’re filming another movie here, In a New York Heartbeat is filming out in the Shadeyside/Squirrel Hill areas starring Eric Roberts. I think they’re only filming parts here, the majority elsewhere.
Phipps Conservatory, my favorite space in the city, got a corpse plant. A very interesting plant from Sumatra. The entire visible ten foot stalk is actually a leaf with leaflets on top. A huge purple and lime green flower will come and it emits a foul odor, hence it’s common name. For some reason, it’s only on display Thursday through Monday in the main lobby.
Well, in about an hour I head to the orthopedic surgeon to find out the fate of my left hand, with me luck. 🙂
ed
