Pitt hosts city’s artists

Theater, art and musical organization representatives came to Pitt’s 10th Annual Arts Fair… Theater, art and musical organization representatives came to Pitt’s 10th Annual Arts Fair hoping to attract a new generation of art consumers. ‘These students are our future art patrons,’ said Sylvia Ehler of the Silver Eye Center for Photography. Representatives from city-wide cultural organizations filled the William Pitt Union Ballroom yesterday afternoon to promote a new season of the Pitt Arts. The Annual Arts Fair hosted a number of popular Pittsburgh arts organizations, including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Opera, the Silver Eye Center for Photography, the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Pittsburgh Public Theatre, among others. ‘It’s about enrichment, experiencing the complexity of arts and culture that comes with an urban campus,’ said Pitt Arts director Annabelle Clippinger. ‘We’re trying to educate the whole student and give them something to connect to in addition to the skills sets they acquire in school.’ Clippinger, the organizer of this year’s Arts Fair, said that it is important for students to endorse the arts and enhance their learning experiences. The Arts Fair offered students a free lunch in addition to the opportunity to meet representatives from arts organizations. Attendees entered contests for free tickets and picked up information about event discounts. According to Lauren McCutcheon, a representative from the Carnegie Museum of Art, studio classes offered at the museum are one of the most popular Pitt Arts events for students. ‘Ceramics classes were so popular with students last year that we had to add more to our schedule,’ said McCutcheon. Randy Adams, who represented the Pittsburgh Opera at the event, said that students who perceive opera as entertainment for only upper-class members of their parents’ generation are much mistaken. ‘Opera is actually the fastest growing of our classic forms,’ said Randy. ‘The majority of the groups attending are college students.’ According to Adams, more than 1,000 Pitt students attended a Pittsburgh Opera Production last year. ‘It’s fun. It’s multimedia. In its heyday, it was the entertainment for the masses,’ said Randy. Aja Jones, a representative of the Pittsburgh CLO Cabaret and a Pitt alumna, said she understands the appeal of the arts theater program to students. According to Jones, the atmosphere at the CLO Cabaret is one of relaxation. Students can eat and drink in a casual atmosphere and are not required to dress up to attend productions. ‘It’s all about getting the next generation of theatergoers into shows they can afford,’ said Jones. Pittsburgh CLO Cabaret productions include ‘Shear Madness’ and ‘I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.’ Student tickets for these shows cost $12. The Pittsburgh Repertory Theatre also attended the fair. It promoted productions such as ‘The Clean House,’ which deals with the themes of class and race, and the well-known ‘Angels in America.’ Last year more than 35,000 students participated in Pitt Arts events, said an e-mail from Pitt Arts.