Skip the lecture, seek spontaneity with Wing and a Prayer Players
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Wing and a Prayer Pittsburgh Players -- first row: Soyinka Rahim, Pamela Meadow�croft, LaVerne Baker-Hotep, Toni McClendon; second row: Jim Holland, Elizabeth Downey, Sheila K. Collins, Pat Gusman: back row: Richard Citrin -- will add some motion to the art exhibit "Interplay" Friday at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.
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After an art exhibition opens, it's customary for the curator or jurors to speak about the show.
But at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, the traditional lecture will be replaced by a more spontaneous performance.
Members of Wing and a Prayer Pittsburgh Players will perform their responses to the "Interplay" art exhibition 6:30 p.m. Friday at the PCA, 6300 Fifth Ave., Shadyside.
This art show is the first collaborative exhibition among the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Filmmakers/Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, and the eight affiliated PCA guilds, which represent fiber arts, print, painting, sculpture, watercolor, mixed media and a group of African-American artists. The show was juried by Eric Shiner, Milton Fine curator of art at The Andy Warhol Museum.
Sheila Collins, who founded Wing and a Prayer Pittsburgh Players after moving here in 2005 from Fort Worth, Texas, is a professionally trained dancer who earns her living as a social worker.
"We are going to start on the staircase gallery. People can sit or stand on the stairs. We will be using the different pieces of art as our inspiration for what we make up on the spot," Ms. Collins said, adding that some performers may sing, dance, move, play instruments or tell stories.
"We don't have time to research anything. We practice making stuff up in the movement. We think it's a handy skill to have. You don't get to rehearse everything."
"When you see this happening, you begin to see the moment of creation. You can see the wheels turning in the person's brain. Watching the moment of creation -- it doesn't get any better than that."
Many of the troupe's members have already seen the "Interplay" exhibition, which runs through Aug. 22.
Audience members are asked for their ideas and thoughts.
"We will probably have them help us get from one gallery to the next using music and movement. Nobody has to do anything they don't want to do. It's great, relaxed fun," Ms. Collins said.
Admission is a $5 donation to the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.
First Published August 12, 2010 12:00 am
