One of the advantages of attending the University of Pittsburgh, or any college with a city… One of the advantages of attending the University of Pittsburgh, or any college with a city campus, is the ability to experience the art and culture the city has to offer.

This can be difficult for students who have to consider transportation, ticket prices and how to find out about cultural events. Here at the University of Pittsburgh, Pitt Arts is the answer to these problems.

Pitt Arts is a program that allows students to attend free and discounted cultural events throughout the city. It encapsulates a number of programs, including Arts Encounters, Cheap Seats, Free Visits and Artful Wednesdays.

Arts Encounters are events such as concerts, plays and performances by poets, writers, dancers and other performers, and they’re free to undergraduate students. Transportation and a catered reception are also provided free, and many of these events take place on Pitt’s campus. An educational component is also included, such as discussions with the artists, e-mailed essays or hands-on workshops. Pitt Arts sponsors about 110 Arts Encounters every year.

Students itching to find out about these events can sign up for the Pitt Arts mailing list by visiting the website at www.pitt.edu/~pittarts/. Information about new events is e-mailed every Monday. Students who wish to sign up for an event can click on the link provided in the e-mail and fill out the online form. They will be notified within 24 hours if they are admitted to the program.

Admission to Arts Encounters is not based on a first-come, first-serve basis. Many variables determine which students are admitted, including the number of previous events they have attended, with those who have attended the fewest being favored. Those attending may bring a Pitt undergraduate student as a guest, as long as they indicate this when they sign up.

Additionally, if a student signs up for an Arts Encounter but can’t make it to the event, he must let Pitt Arts know in advance. Pitt Arts operates on a two-strike policy, where if a student fails to attend two events he signed up for, the student will be blocked from attending future events.

Not only do Pitt IDs allow students to ride Port Authority buses for free, they also enable students to access many of Pittsburgh’s finest museums for free. Pitt Arts’ Free Museum Visits program allows students to visit the Carnegie Museum of Art and Natural History, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, the Mattress Factory and the Andy Warhol Museum for free, simply by presenting their Pitt IDs upon arrival.

Another element of Pitt Arts is the Cheap Seats program, which offers discounted tickets to the opera, symphony, ballets, plays, concerts and many other cultural events in Pittsburgh. Tickets can be purchased with cash, check, credit or debit from the Pitt Arts office at 929 William Pitt Union. Four tickets can be purchased at a time, and the students’ guests do not have to be affiliated with Pitt. Tickets can be picked up one hour before the show at the appropriate venue.

But that’s not all Pitt Arts offers. Its “Artful Wednesdays” program brings a variety of performers to Towers lobby every Wednesday in the fall term. The scheduled acts perform from noon until 1 p.m. A free lunch is provided, and no sign ups are required.

Funding for Pitt Arts is not provided through student fees but by the Office of the Provost and through grants and donations.

Students who want to learn more about Pitt Arts and the programs it offers can visit its office at 929 William Pitt Union, call (412) 624-4498, or visit the website at http://www.pitt.edu/~pittarts/.