A world premiere and a grand opening are part of the entertainment buffet Friday, when the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust ushers in the first Downtown Gallery Crawl of 2012.
The ToonSeum's Sprout Fund Comic Courtyard opens for business during the Crawl, and at 9 p.m., the evening continues at the Byham Theater with the multimedia opera "The News," a Distinctively Dutch Festival entry by avant-garde composer JacobTV.
The ToonSeum at 945 Liberty Ave. acquired the courtyard, fronted by James Simon's giant musician statues, last year, when it also expanded its interior gallery space. From 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, visitors can read free comics, grab a snack and enjoy entertainment by Uke Skywalker and Tuba Fett, as well as performers from Pyrotopia.
Activities and admission will be free until 9 p.m., when the ToonSeum will host Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School. The two-hour, post-Crawl event is $10 at the door.
As you move from venue to venue in the Pittsburgh Cultural District, the Dutch Festival influence is evident. Exhibitions by visual artists from the Netherlands include "Global Navigators," multimedia installations by various artists at Wood Street (601 Wood St.), SPACE (812 Liberty Ave.) and 707 Penn Gallery, and the photography exhibition "Guns'N'Girls" by Dutch photographers Rachel Nieborg and Ine Mulder at 709 Penn Gallery.
As the Gallery Crawl draws to a close at 9 p.m., the curtain goes up on "The News." The world premiere experience features singing "anchors" and the Fulcrum Point New Music Ensemble of Chicago performing a composition by avant-garde classical composer JacobTV, set to a montage of news clips from around the world.
Gallery Crawl Schedule
• • Denotes part of Dutch Festival.
• "Global Navigators," multimedia visual art: Wood Street (601 Wood St.), SPACE (812 Liberty Ave.) and 707 Penn galleries • •
• "Guns'N'Girls," photography (709 Penn Gallery) • •
• Music by DJ Soy Sos of WYEP, outside of SPACE (812 Liberty Ave.) • •
• "Cell Phone Disco," ongoing interactive installation (Tito and Exchange Way)
• VIA presents "Gentrification Battlefield" by Jeroen Beekmans and Joop de Boer & Coen Rens of Golfstromen. Elderly residents vs. advancing hipsters and yuppies (803 Liberty) • •
• "Degas: The Monotypes," Shaw Galleries (805 Liberty)
• Trust Arts Education Center. Lower Level: Pittsburgh Public Schools All-City Music Showcase. Third and fourth floors, Pittsburgh Public Schools All-City Visual Arts Showcase. (805-807 Liberty)
• Pittsburgh Filmmakers Short Films, Harris Theater (809 Liberty)
• MCG Youth and Arts Program, Catholic Charities Susan Zubik Welcome Center (212 Ninth St.)
• Bricolage Theater, 5 to 7 p.m., visit the train-station set of the play "Dutchman"; buskers and add graffiti to the walls (first floor, 937 Liberty)
• "Strange Radiance" video installation by Emily Newman and John Pearson (second floor, 937 Liberty)
• "Path: Installation," a maze with light and space by Elin Hansdottir (943 Liberty)
• Toonseum's opening of the Sprout Fund Comics Courtyard (945-947 Liberty)
• "It Is What It Is: People. Art. Music. Drinks. Food." Featuring Pittsburgh Public Schools All-City Music Showcase and exhibitions "Strength in the Struggle: Civil Rights" and "Josh Gibson: Negro League Legend"; August Wilson Center for African American Culture (980 Liberty)
• "Art as a Record and Reflection of Time" by CAPA students, CAPA Gallery (111 Ninth St.)
• "Spring It!" student artwork, plus poetry and Steel Pan performances. Urban Pathways 6-12 Gallery (914 Penn Ave.)
• "Broken Slogan," visual art with a text vocabulary. Future Tenant (819 Penn Ave.)
• "Art on the Walls" by mixed media artist Gwyn Rohrer, Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council (810 Penn, Suite 200)
• Live music by The Color Fleet, Katz Plaza (Seventh Street and Penn)
• Live music by Cool Breeze, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., and "I Want to Ride My Bicycle," a large triptych bicycle painting created by kids at The Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, Backstage Bar (655 Penn)
• kNOT Dance Presents "One Lonely House," 7:30, 8:30 and 9:30 p.m.; preview of a work in progress. Verve Wellness (third floor, 142 Sixth St.)
• Opening night of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's Paris Festival: The City of Light (through May 13), 5:30-6:30 p.m., live Parisian street music, Heinz Hall Garden (corner of Penn and Sixth Street, weather permitting)
• Project Pop Up: Downtown, various locations. Includes "Dream Cream Ice Cream Parlor" at 539 Liberty, where a portion of designated flavor sales will be contributed to causes in exchange for community service of the recipient, also known as "the dreamer."
For tickets to JacobTV's "The News": 412-456-6666 or trustarts.org. Times and sites subject to change; Gallery Crawl locations will be marked with a Cultural District Stop sign.
First Published: April 26, 2012, 4:00 a.m.
Updated: April 26, 2012, 4:38 a.m.