Local brewery converted into gallery for 24 hours

Art All Night

Iron City Brewery

3340 Liberty… Art All Night

Iron City Brewery

3340 Liberty Ave.

Saturday, April 30, 4 p.m. – Sunday, May 1, 2 p.m.

No admission charge, artists of all ages are free to submit one piece

www.artallnight.org

412-235-1950

For almost any college student, “all-nighter” means a night spent studying while downing Red Bulls in the library. When finals are over, however, the term can also refer to a night spent absorbing art and entertainment.

Artists — both amateur and professional — will come together for Art All Night at Iron City Brewery in Lawrenceville this weekend to showcase a variety of works. The event begins at 4 p.m. on April 30 and ends at 2 p.m. on May 1, lasting almost a full 24 hours.

This year, the event will start early enough for children to participate in various activities like button making and a puppet dance party. In addition, children may submit art to be displayed in the gallery.

Jewelry designer and owner of Deandrea Designs, Vincent DeAndrea, discovered the event last year when he stumbled upon its website. He decided to attend that night, and his jewelry was displayed next to a sculpture on a table full of many other pieces.

“For the city of Pittsburgh, I was very impressed by number, range and caliber of the art. You could see that there were beginners — there was an entire section of children’s art. There were professionals, and all side by side. It was great to see different media mixed all together,”  DeAndrea said.

Anyone and everyone is encouraged to submit one piece of artwork for free to facilitate a range of experience levels and mediums. Though a child might showcase a piece of art just for kicks, others use the opportunity to improve their career prospects..

“I hope to gain some new friends and possible clients for commissioned art,” Brittany Paige said in an e-mail.

Paige is a student at Carlow University who entered a piece in the show last year after being encouraged by the art instructor she has had since age 16. Paige said she found that the gallery setup presented the artwork well.

The transformation of the space, along with all of the preparation, is done by about 300-400 volunteers, spokeswoman Tiffany Wilhelm said. She added that most people hear about the event by word of mouth and the event organizers do not pay for advertising.

This year, there is a push to support the environment by lessening the event’s waste. People are encouraged to walk, bike or use public transportation to get there. The website provides information about buses as well as a link to Bike Pittsburgh, which is loaning free bikes for the event.

“It is so important for every event to be green. Art and the environment go well together, but events often generate so much trash. So we want to promote being green as much as we can,” Wilhelm said.

While the night is focused on the displays of artwork, entertainment and food are necessary to sustain guests throughout the night. This year, bands will perform, and video art by participating artists will be displayed.

“I noticed that some people who attended the event were there were some for serious art, but there were a lot of people who wanted a cheap night out,” DeAndrea said. “There was music, food and a ton of people.”