Edinboro University Announces Bruce Gallery Pop-Up Gallery In Pittsburgh For First Night Pittsburgh, January Gallery Crawl

Edinboro University’s Bruce Gallery will serve as an artistic bridge between the metropolitan cityscape of Pittsburgh and the thriving rural art community of Edinboro when its “Chimera” pop-up gallery exhibition arrives at 820 Liberty Ave. on Dec. 31 in downtown Pittsburgh as part of First Night Pittsburgh 2014 festivities.  Highmark First Night Pittsburgh is a production of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

The pop-up gallery will feature “Chimera,” an installation of student art. It will remain open for the January Gallery Crawl on Friday, Jan. 24, 2014, a free quarterly showcase of art and entertainment in the heart of the Pittsburgh’s Cultural District.

The works slated for inclusion in “Chimera” are those chosen for Edinboro’s annual art and literature journal, also named Chimera. The student-produced journal showcases the best art and literature created by Edinboro’s students. In the decade since its first edition, Chimera has won 31 national and international awards, including three How International Design Awards, an Associated Writing Programs Directors Cup Prize and multiple “best of show” prizes from the University and College Designers Association.

“What is so exciting for me as a curator and director of Bruce Gallery is this opportunity to act as a connector of communities,” said Tavia La Follette, Director of Bruce Gallery. “I am quickly learning about the rich and layered art culture in Erie County. There are many parallels between Edinboro, Erie and Pittsburgh. The landscape of community is changing in both Erie and Allegheny counties.  Therefore, it is a truly exciting time to tap into that change and share it as a reflexive practice.”

“Chimera” is the second pop-up of a larger project of the Bruce Gallery, titled “Transpose.” The first pop-up gallery of the project will debut on Friday, Dec. 6, as part of Gallery Night in Erie. At this 7-10 p.m. showing, which will go up in an open storefront located at the corner of Seventh and State streets in downtown Erie, graduate students Nash Quinn and Aaron Pickens will display  works that are featured in Bruce Gallery from Dec. 2-6 as part of the Graduate Candidacy Show, an exhibition of new works by EU graduate students for their candidacy application at the University.

The “Transpose” project takes the already existing season in Bruce Gallery and extends it one step further, transferring the shows out of the Gallery, located on the Edinboro University campus, and taking them to both downtown Pittsburgh and downtown Erie via the pop-up gallery method. As part of “Transpose,” 15 shows will be produced, seven in Bruce Gallery and seven as pop-up galleries, plus one summer festival pop-up show. One show can begin in Edinboro, travel to Erie and then on to Pittsburgh.

According to La Follette, the mission for “Transpose” is twofold: “Transpose” will export the incredibly rich Erie region art scene to Pittsburgh, while also showcasing the best of the eclectic contemporary works that Bruce Gallery already offers lovers of art. Bruce Gallery events always have been open to the public, but by creating satellite temporary galleries, the projects, artists and workshops the Gallery is famous for can be brought directly to the people of Erie and Pittsburgh.

“Transpose” is funded by the Edinboro University Art Department and with grant monies from ArtsErie.