News Around the Neighborhood
Reel Q Presents a Regional Premiere of The Many Lives of Kojin
Film Screening and Talkback Presented by Reel Q
The Many Lives of Kojin
Wednesday, February 17
7:00 pm
Join us for the regional premiere and unreleased screening of The Many Lives of Kojin, hosted by ReelQ. This program includes an exclusive interview with director Diako Yazdani.
Film synopsis: Diako Yazdani, an Iranian Kurd and political refugee in France, goes to Irak where accompanied by Kojin, a 23-year-old gay friend, he confronts his devout family, friends and other members of the Kurdish community with their prejudices on homosexuality. Through humor and poetry, the director presents a powerful portrait where encounters between people are an invitation to a universal reflection on being different.
Netflix Filming Updates for Allegheny West
- 2/10/21-2/19/21: We will be permitting W North Ave between Brighton Rd and Galveston Ave for our work truck parking. NO PARKING SIGNS will be posted in advance. We will be prepping on Wednesday, 2/10 through Friday, 2/12/21. There will be no work at the location on Saturday 2/13 through and including Monday, 2/15/21. We will also prep on Tuesday, 2/16/21.
- 2/17/21: Filming will occur between approximately 6am-1pm.
- 2/18 and 2/19/21: We will be wrapping out and cleaning up.
CCAC Presentations will Highlight Industrialists of Allegheny West
From Ann Gilligan:
You may recall that representatives of CCAC Allegheny’s Phi Theta Kappa chapter, Alpha Mu Theta, joined us at our December Membership meeting. Their Honors in Action research project is focusing on the legacy of industrialism and industrialists in our Allegheny West neighborhood. They’ve researched local residents with ties to industry in our area, particularly the Denny family and the Painter family who had homes on campus grounds, and the effect they’ve had on our immediate neighborhood and the region as a whole. They’ve also examined the future of industry in our area and are planning to incorporate a discussion on CCAC’s new Workforce Training Center into a future presentation.
They are hosting a series of Zoom events on Thursdays in February. The first event on Thursday February 11, (info available here) will introduce the greater topic of industrialism and its overarching effects on society and will feature Dr. Jacqueline Cavalier, Professor of History at CCAC and active member of local historical societies and organizations. Our second event will focus on the legacy of industry in Allegheny West, and the third event will focus on CCAC’s new Workforce Training Center and the future of industry in our region, details are TBA.
Everyone is welcome to join.
Lecture: America’s Best Antique Skyscrapers
America’s Best Antique Skyscrapers
Mark Houser
Writer and Tour Guide
MultiStories
Thursday, February 18
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Fee: $5
This lecture will be held via ZOOM conference. Click here to get your ticket and RSVP.
Pittsburgh writer and skyscraper tour guide Mark Houser spent two years traveling the country for his new book, MultiStories, seeking out the most beautiful turn-of-the-century office towers. He will share his own photos of Beaux-Arts facades, dazzling lobbies, rooftop decks, and several behind-the-scenes surprises in venerable high-rises from New York to Chicago, Boston to San Francisco, Milwaukee to Miami — even Vancouver and Liverpool. He’ll also reveal some fascinating details about the early millionaires who transformed American cities by commissioning the world’s first skyscrapers.
About the presenter: Mark Houser is the author of MultiStories: 55 Antique Skyscrapers & the Business Tycoons Who Built Them. He is a frequent contributor to Pittsburgh Magazine and gives occasional Downtown rooftop tours for Doors Open Pittsburgh. Houser is director of news and information at Robert Morris University and a former newspaper reporter and editor. More at HouserTalks.com.
Virtual Workshop: Assessing What to Fix on Your House
Assessing What to Fix on Your House
Regis Will
Carpenter and Craftsman
Vesta Home Services
Thursday, February 11
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Fee: $5
This virtual discussion will be live from the Vesta Workshop via Zoom Conference. Click here to get your ticket and RSVP.
You will receive a login e-mail at 5:00 pm on February 11. (Don’t see an e-mail, be sure to check your Spam/Junk folders.) Please log in at 5:45 pm to allow us enough time to let you into the lecture.
Join us for a discussion on springtime maintenance checks on old and historic houses. Regis Will, a woodworker, craftsman, and restoration expert will discuss how to assess wooden windows, paint, exterior woodwork, roofs, and other aspects of how to restore, and maintain old houses.
About the presenter: Regis Will is the proprietor of Vesta Home Services a consulting firm on house restoration and Do-it-Yourself projects. He blogs about his work at The New Yinzer Workshop.
Letter from the President – February 2021
Winter
When icicles hang by the wall
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail,
When Blood is nipped and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
Tu-who;
Tu-whit, tu-who: a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
When all aloud the wind doth blow,
And coughing drowns the parson’s saw,
And birds sit brooding in the snow,
And Marian’s nose looks red and raw
When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
Then nightly sings the staring owl,
Tu-who;
Tu-whit, tu-who: a merry note,
While greasy Joan doth keel the pot.
– William Shakespeare
I miss milk pails.
Well, I hear the polar vortex is about to make a return, so thanks to Shakespeare’s Tom for bearing those logs into the hall. Looking for a way that you can help others this month? Well, you could take a turn at keeling the pot so that greasy Joan can wash up, but I have a better idea. If you’re hale and hearty, consider joining the city’s Snow Angels program. It connects willing snow shovelers with nearby neighbors who need help clearing their walks due to age or disability.
If you’re fit and would like to become a Snow Angel, just go to the city’s website at: https://pittsburghpa.gov/snowangels/ If you need the help of a Snow Angel, just dial 311 and ask.
In other news, we have started a program to collect all those old civic council records that have accumulated in our homes. Over the years, many of you have volunteered your time as AWCC officers or committee members. And over the years, lots of records, both paper and digital have found their way into boxes, shelves, and hard drives. So, if you find that you have some old AWCC documents lying around, please don’t throw them out or burn them as winter fuel. Instead, drop a line to Cathy Serventi at communications@alleghenywest.org and let her know what you have. Please don’t just drop them off at her house, though. Thanks!
Time for me to sign off. A reminder before I go: don’t forget our next membership meeting on Tuesday, February 9 at 7:30 pm. You’ll be able to see your neighbors from the warm comfort of your home via the magic of videoconferencing. No masks required! The Zoom room details will be sent out in a e-newsletter. I look forward to seeing you then.
I hope you have a great February.
Bob Griewahn
President, AWCC
AWCC Informational Meeting – February 9, 2021
Via Zoom (details)
February 9th at 7:30 pm
- 7:30 – Gather, Say Hello, Make Trivia Contest Side Bets
- 7:35 – Update: City of Pittsburgh Zone 1 Police (Officer Burford)
- 7:40 – Update: City of Pittsburgh Mayor’s Office (Leah Friedman)
- 7:45 – Update: Councilman Wilson’s Office (Mohammed Burny/Faith Mudd)
- 7:50 – Update: Representative Wheatley’s Office (Thomas Graham)
- 7:55 – Update; Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy (Erin Tobin)
- 8:00 – Treasurer’s Report
- 8:05 – Iron Deer Playground
- 8:15 – Executive Committee Report
- 8:25 – Conclude
Norfolk Southern Railroad Pittsburgh Vertical Clearance Project Updates
If you have additional questions or comments please contact Glenn Olcrest (glennolcerst@gmail.com) from RPPP or Northfolk Southern directly.
Poems as Resistance Language
Dr. Haki Madhubuti
Taught By Women: Poems as Resistance Language New & Selected
Monday, February 1
7:00 pm
Poet, author, editor, and publisher of Third World Press, Dr. Haki Madhubuti, visits City of Asylum’s virtual channel to celebrate his newest poetry collection, Taught By Women.
Written with warm verses and timeless reverence, each poem is a vivid portrait of the array of women who have influenced Dr. Madhubuti and contributed to his five-decade career. From his artistic mentor and mother-figure, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gwendolyn Brooks; to Shirley Chisholm and Coretta Scott King; to Margaret Burroughs—the Chicago artist, and founder of the DuSable Museum of African American History.
Taught by Women is filled with more than 100 women who have shaped Dr. Madhubuti as a person, poet, and leader.
A founding member of the Black Arts Movement, Dr. Madhubuti remains a leading Black artistic, political, and social revolutionary—”a poet who still writes about the Black experience from deep inside the community.” –Chicago Sun Times
This is Dr. Madhubuti’s first single-authored book of poetry since 2005 and is an event not to be missed. Moderated by Romi Crawford (Ph.D.) is a Professor of Visual and Critical Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
PHLF: Lecture – Preserving Fallingwater
Fallingwater: Preserving A World Heritage Landmark
Thursday, January 28
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Fee: $5.00
In 2019, Fallingwater, one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s most widely acclaimed works, which best exemplifies his philosophy of organic architecture, along with seven other Wright structures, was designated a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage site. In this lecture, Scott Perkins, Director of Preservation and Collections at Fallingwater, will discuss current and upcoming preservation projects at Fallingwater, located in the Laurel Highlands in Fayette County, about 70 miles east of Pittsburgh. He will also share recent acquisitions to the Fallingwater collection and introduce the site’s 2021 exhibition architect Joseph Urban’s design for Kaufman’s Department Store.
This lecture will be held via Zoom Conference. Click here purchase a ticket for your household. You will receive a login e-mail at 5:00 p.m. on January 28. (Don’t see an e-mail, be sure to check your Spam/Junk folders.) Please login at 5:45 p.m. to allow us enough time to let you into the lecture.
About the Presenter: Scott W. Perkins is Fallingwater’s Director of Preservation and Collections, and was previously Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at Price Tower Arts Center in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. He has written on Wright’s Price Tower and Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum interiors, and his essay on Zaha Hadid’s addition to the Price Tower appeared in Richard Longstreth’s Frank Lloyd Wright: Preservation, Design, and Adding to Iconic Buildings. A frequent contributor to Save Wright, the Frank Lloyd Wright Quarterly and OAD: The Journal of Organic Architecture and Design, he most recently contributed to the effort to place eight Wright structures onto the UNESCO World Heritage List. He received his MA and MPhil from the Bard Graduate Center, in New York City, and his BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.