Arts converge at Three Rivers Arts Festival

Artist Greg Stones didn’t anticipate the enthusiastic response he’d get bringing his zombie… Artist Greg Stones didn’t anticipate the enthusiastic response he’d get bringing his zombie and penguin art to Pittsburgh.

“Pittsburgh tends to have a really great sense of humor. It’s not a stodgy town at all, so it’s a good fit,” he said.

The 38-year-old artist from Greenville, R.I.,  first came to the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival eight years ago, and he said it’s become his best annual show.

Now in its 53rd year, the Three Rivers Arts Festival serves as an opportunity for Pittsburghers to enjoy the work of local and national artists, musicians and performers. For four of those years, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has run the festival and has taken steps to expand its arts and increase its eco-friendliness.

“Well, I think that today, just like 53 years ago when the fest started, the fest focuses on connecting the community to art and art to the community,” said Derek Scalzott, the trust’s show marketing manager.

Another thing the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust wants to bring to the community is a more eco-friendly festival. Free bicycle valets and a survey that determines how festival-goers arrive encourage people to think about how they get to the fairgrounds. There’s also a green machine that calculates how much waste these green additions keep out of landfills.

Event organizers have even asked artists to bedazzle trash, leading to works such as a giant fish made of soda cans titled “Catch of the Day,” created by local artist Ashley Hodder. Scalzott explained that the trust hopes to educate people and involve them in their mission of sustainably revitalizing Pittsburgh’s arts.

“We are constantly trying to educate ourselves, trying to educate the public,” Scalzott said.

In addition to being concerned with green, the trust is also adding some blue — bluegrass, that is.

Bluegrass Day, which will take place this Saturday, June 9, is a new addition to the festival. The day’s lineup includes DelFest bluegrass festival founder Del McCoury and contemporary quintet Greensky Bluegrass. The addition, Scalzott explained, has to do with bluegrass regaining popularity in the U.S.

“I’d like to think, personally, [that] it has something to do with folks having an interest and taking pride in the music they listen to … Folks get tired of the music we’re spoon-fed … The re-emergence is important. We’ve seen other festivals pop up all over the country,” he said.

All the Three Rivers participants — musical and artistic — are hand-selected by the festival’s organizers. It ensures the events include a range of acts, from rock band Dawes performing on the main stage to local group Squonk Opera performing a preview of their upcoming show in a flatbed truck.

The trust has added space for more booths to increase the variety of artisan goods at the festival. This helps artists like potter Bryce Hemington, whose earth-toned ceramics are making their first appearance at the event.

Hemington, of Bridgeville, Pa., will appear as an “Emerging Artist” at the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival. The scholarship program gives Pittsburgh-area artists the opportunity to participate in their first outdoor festival.

“I’m hoping to start my business and make a living doing pottery,” said Hemington, who recently received his Masters in Fine Arts from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Artists like Hemington add to the varied spectrum of cultural enrichment that the festival attempts to offer the public.

“[We] try to make sure we’re offering something that somebody ­— anybody — would be interested in. We try to have an array of style,” Scalzott said.