The Mall at Robinson to display graduates' work in art, technology and industry
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Recent Pittsburgh Technical Institute graduate Taylor Banks mounts his design work in display cases that will showcase work of the school's students. Mr. Banks recently graduated in graphic design.
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For fun on otherwise boring Friday nights, Tanner Rose took jaunts to The Mall at Robinson, relaxing after a week of schoolwork just a few miles from his dorm.
Starting Saturday, Mr. Rose will have another reason to visit the mall -- to see a display featuring a video he created while he was a multimedia student at Pittsburgh Technical Institute in North Fayette.
"I'm excited because I think that mall gets a lot of traffic from people, so it'll expose me to people who normally wouldn't see my work and possibly generate some work for me in the future," said Mr. Rose, 21, who graduated from the two-year career college in October with an associate degree in multimedia technologies.
"It will show people how I think creatively and have them be able to see [my video] in a whole different setting before they see me. Let my work speak for itself, I guess you would say."
Through March 28, PTI Showcase: A Gallery of Art, Technology & Industry will highlight portfolio pieces by 13 recent graduates of the college's graphic design and multimedia programs, including Mr. Rose.
The exhibit will be inside Entry C near Macy's on the lower level of the mall at 100 Robinson Centre Drive.
A monitor will show Mr. Rose's 30-second title sequence for a fictional television show called "Small World" that features music and miniature human figures set against real-life street scenes of Downtown Pittsburgh.
"Visitors and retailers who work here on a daily basis can really look forward to a lot of surprises and unexpected twists in these PTI showcases," mall marketing director Shema Krinsky said.
Rotating exhibits will be in the mall for 15 months and include works by PTI graduates, students and faculty as well as high school students.
The Visions and Voices show, from March 30 to May 17, will celebrate the best work of regional and national students in grades 9-12, including winners of $150,000 in PTI tuition scholarships.
Taylor Banks, 21, worked in a tuxedo store in The Mall at Robinson before graduating from PTI in October with an associate degree in graphic design. For the first time outside his college or his hometown of Cadiz, Ohio, his work will be on public display -- in the same mall where he'd spent so many hours as a student and employee.
"It's pretty cool," he said. "I never expected it to be there."
Using computer programs for photos and illustration, Mr. Banks designed bright green and yellow posters, postcards and other promotional materials for fall's student portfolio show, whose winners, chosen by industry judges, will be featured in the mall exhibit.
Currently interviewing for jobs in his field, Mr. Banks hopes the exhibit might draw interest from potential employers.
The mall shows are expected to reflect the college's diverse programs, including multimedia and graphic design, health care, criminal justice, business and building technology.
From May 19 to Sept. 20, the exhibit will feature trade show presentations by hospitality students based on their trip to San Francisco, PTI vice president Eileen Riley said.
"This has given us an opportunity to not only look at our creative programs, which are natural to go into the gallery showcase at the mall, but also to look creatively at our other programs and see how we can showcase our students and what they do," Ms. Riley said. "All of our programs really use some form of creativity and innovation."
Greg DeFeo, president of PTI, said students in all the fields need to be comfortable presenting and explaining their work and communicating their profession to the outside world.
"We see the gallery as just one example of how we can get our students that exposure and that experience," Mr. DeFeo said.
Other shows will be a second portfolio display by PTI students from Sept. 22 to Jan. 3, 2013, and a PTI faculty show from Jan. 5 to March 28, 2013.
The upcoming showcase marks the first time PTI will curate art exhibits at the Robinson mall, taking the reins from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, which had sponsored the display for nine years.
The 120-store mall, which celebrated its 10th anniversary last year, draws an average of about 125,000 visitors each week. The busiest day is Saturday, when traffic averages 35,000 people, according to mall officials.
Ms. Krinsky said the mall draws from the local region and often from Beaver and Washington counties; Weirton, W.Va.; and Steubenville, Ohio.
The art exhibit will be inside the second most popular mall entrance, she said. The most popular is at the food court.
Ms. Krinsky said guests enjoy the art galleries because they show a local connection.
"When you come to the mall, it's not just shopping," Ms. Krinsky said. "It's really a community gathering place."
Multimedia graduate Mr. Rose -- whose family likely will make the trip from Parker, Armstrong County, to see the mall exhibit -- now works as an editor for a company that produces training videos for the steel industry.
His college helped him secure the job, and he was pleased PTI was supporting his endeavors by including his work in the mall display.
"PTI is very good at continuing good relationships with their alumni after graduation," he said.
First Published January 26, 2012 12:00 am
