Take your time crawling through galleries

Sometimes the best pace to take in art is a crawl.

That’s exactly what the Pittsburgh… Sometimes the best pace to take in art is a crawl.

That’s exactly what the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is banking on this Friday with the continuing tradition of the Gallery Crawl in the Cultural District.

Although past gallery crawls have united wide-ranging exhibitions and performances into a complex amalgam of art, the upshot has been exposure to a variety of artistic views and enough experiences to please the pickiest of crawlers.

This year, for example, is the Latin music performance by Chino Nunez in the Katz Plaza. Meanwhile, there’s an exhibition at the August Wilson Center Gallery entitled “Black Clay in Pa.: a Dialogue in Flux,” which presents black art.

“Each one has its own little niche,” said John Tronsor, an art student at the University of Pittsburgh.

Museum attendees more influenced by the hunger niche will be well served by the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute at 808 Liberty Ave.

The institute will be showing food art created with tallow and sugar as well as serving refreshments for a small fee.

On a related note, at nearby 801 Liberty Ave.’s Crazy Mocha, attendees will have access to David Connelly, who will be speaking about painting a mural in the district.

The wide array of experiences available is comparable to the Three Rivers’ Festival recent use of cargo containers to house installation art in the street.

Except here, each installation is a building, and the installations are galleries reminiscent of those in New York City.

Another striking exhibit displays different comic book-inspired pieces, another remnant of past years.

One of the other performances, aside from Nunez’s, is the Chatham Baroque, which is a classical three-piece string set appealing to a different audience entirely.

This group is slated to perform at Future Tenant, located at 819 Penn Ave.

The Cultural Trust, originally founded in order to revitalize the Downtown area around the Byham and Benedum theaters, is presenting more of an overall experience than an exposition of only one aspect of contemporary art.

The result is a strong suggestion of pop art that serves as an interesting and esoteric look at the indie art scene.

As evidenced by the exhibit at the future site of the August Wilson Center, at Liberty Avenue and William Penn Place, interest in the community is still present.

Eight high school students were selected for the National City MLK Community Mural Project. Attendees will be able to speak to the artists as well as view how far the work has come.

In another throwback to local art projects, SPACE at 812 Liberty Ave., with the title “You Are Here,” is reminiscent of “Life on Mars,” the current exhibit at the Carnegie Museum, with its references to the self in relation to places and time.

Those looking for a more hip experience will enjoy the many bar scenes opening Friday.

Bars such as the Backstage Bar are opening their doors to attendees to hear the likes of Dwayne Dolphin, who will be playing a jazz set and releasing his CD.

The best part? No admission fees.

Which isn’t the case for the crawl’s flagship bash, located on top of the Theatre Square Parking Garage.

Titled “Cosmopolitan Pittsburgh,” this swank bash is only available through tickets priced from $30 to $100, and purchase is preferable in advance.

Although each gallery and performance alone is valuable, all of them coming together might seem daunting to the casual artist.

However, this shouldn’t deter anyone, as the exhibits are all free and worth at least a look.