Rivers of Steel kicks off Homestead First Fridays with a new site-specific art installation at the Bost Building
This Friday night Homestead’s historic Eighth Avenue will light up like never before—literally.
To celebrate the inaugural Homestead First Fridays season, Rivers of Steel has commissioned a new site-specific LED installation by contemporary artist Ian Brill. The piece, entitled Aggregate, is installed in the exterior glass stairwell of the Bost Building at 623 East Eighth Avenue.
Rivers of Steel will flip on the switch at 8:00 p.m. on May 3 and invite the community to experience the piece from the street and from the interior, as they make their way to the third floor galleries to view the current archival exhibition, From the Vault.
Aggregate will be on display through mid-August and will be lit nightly.
Developed by Rivers of Steel in partnership with the local artists and businesses of Homestead, along with the borough, the Homestead First Fridays Arts and Entertainment Series offers visitors art exhibitions, make-and-take projects, nightly specials, artists’ studio tours, live music, and more.
“Ian’s installation will not only light up this end of Eighth Avenue, it truly gets at the heart of our vision for Homestead First Fridays,” said Rivers of Steel Arts Director Chris McGinnis. “Efforts of this scale require lots of people working together, as an aggregate of sorts. Rivers of Steel is lucky to work with a passionate group of stakeholders here in Homestead whose collective efforts join with this unique piece of public art to showcase our borough in a new light.”
Art events that evening include a pop-up exhibition by Associated Artists of Pittsburgh at 101 East Eighth Avenue, an exhibition of ceramic art at Eberle Studios, live music at Enix Brewing and Pip & Lola’s, and live painting at Honest Johns.
Rivers of Steel will also debut a street art style exhibition of site-specific murals in the former CVS building at 233 East Eighth Avenue.
Other happenings include live axe throwing, kids workshops, open studios and more. Homestead’s many restaurants, craft breweries, and unique retail shops will complement the arts experiences.
Homestead First Fridays opens Friday, May 3, 2019 from 6 to 10 p.m. along Homestead’s historic Eighth Avenue. The series runs until October 4.
Homestead First Fridays is a project of the Mon Valley Creative Corridor and is made possible with support of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.
For more information and for a schedule of events, visit the Facebook event for the series.
Mon Valley Creative Corridor
It’s safe to say, Pittsburgh has officially outgrown its reputation as a declining steel town. The art & restaurant scenes aside, the city is flourishing in large part because of its renewed investment in innovation—robotics, eds and meds, self-driving cars, and more.
Yet innovation is not something new for our region—it’s been a part of its evolution for centuries. Colonial agriculture gave way to boatbuilding and river trade before business shifted from commerce to industry, making use of the region’s natural resources for glassmaking, coal mining, small-scale iron production, and of course for Big Steel.
Innovation was inextricably linked to steel. Throughout the 20th century, communities across southwestern Pennsylvania’s Monongahela River Valley thrived in large part due to a robust network of synergistic community organizations and industrial enterprises stretching from the South Side of Pittsburgh to Rices Landing in Greene County and beyond.
This innovative heritage is worth celebrating, and Rivers of Steel is excited to launch its second season of the Mon Valley Creative Corridor to do just that. Mon Valley Creative Corridor programs are inspired by the region’s legacy of hard work, grit, and community spirit.
Throughout the summer, Mon Valley artists will be partnering with community stakeholders to host a variety of pop-ups and happenings, all of which celebrate creative inquiry by crafting opportunities to interpret the region’s past, reimagine its future, and explore a sense of place.
Launched in 2018 with support from the Benedum Foundation, the Creative Corridor was inspired by the robust interest in the arts that also defines our region. During its first year, events included pop-up exhibits, public talks, film projects, metal pours, and more.
The highlight of the second season is the introduction of the Homestead First Fridays Arts & Entertainment Series.
Other events include Hot Metal Happenings at various locations throughout the area, a mural unveiling in Ohiopyle, a video installation by Valery Lyman at the Carrie Furnaces in August and much, much more.
For a full schedule of events, Mon Valley Creative Corridor section of the Rivers of Steel Arts 2019 Schedule of Events.
