From Pittsburgh, the city that brought you Andy Warhol, Perry Como, Gene Kelly and August… From Pittsburgh, the city that brought you Andy Warhol, Perry Como, Gene Kelly and August Wilson, comes an impressive variety of museums, theaters and galleries.

The Carnegie Museums

Across Forbes Avenue from the Cathedral of Learning, the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History compete for attention.

The art museum includes a wide range of modern, impressionist and ancient art from America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

This museum is worth a visit, not only because Pitt students get into all the Carnegie museums for free by flashing their ID card, but also because there are national and international exhibits that rotate into and out of the museum every few months.

The current exhibits are “Panopticon: An Art Spectacular,” “It’s Not Just Mud: Centuries of Ceramics,” “Windshield: Richard Neutra’s House for the John Nicholas Brown Family,” and “Transmodernity: Contemporary Austrian Architects.”

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History adjoins the art museum and is perhaps best known for its Dinosaur Hall. It also includes permanent exhibits on gems, insects, wildlife and anthropological studies.

For a more interactive experience, you can venture out of Oakland to the North Shore, where the Carnegie Science Center offers visitors the opportunity to try out reality games, earthquake and aquatic life simulations or just sit back and relax in the larger-than-life Rangos Omnimax theater.

The center also has a planetarium that features laser shows accompanied by popular music, for an exciting late-night activity.

Downtown and North Side Museums

Those interested in Pittsburgh’s rich and evolving history should visit the Sen. John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center, located in the Strip District. It highlights historical points, from the days of the steel mills to the famous Eat’N Park smiles.

Across the river, on the North Side, are the Andy Warhol Museum and Mattress Factory. Housed in an old, multilevel warehouse, the Warhol museum displays some of the legendary pop artist’s finest work, from the oft-imitated Marilyn Monroe portraits to the Silver Cloud room.

Periodically, the Warhol shows movies in its large screening room and offers exhibit openings as an alternative to the traditional Friday night bar scene.

The Warhol Museum is considered to be the largest museum dedicated to a single artist in the world. Admission is free to Pitt students during the school year, making the bus ride to the North Side well worth the trip.

The Mattress Factory, though less famous, is equally impressive. It showcases local and international installation pieces and modern artwork.

Art around the city

Many independent art galleries exist throughout the city, from the South Side and the Strip District to Walnut Street and Ellsworth Avenue in Shadyside.

The Brew House in the South Side features contemporary art by local artists, on display and for sale. For those interested in the new outsider folk art, the Society for Contemporary Craft in the Strip District showcases this particular style.

While in Shadyside, visitors can stop by the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, one of the largest community arts centers in Pennsylvania. The center not only exhibits local artwork, but also offers art classes, activities and lectures by featured artists.

Another prominent gallery, in downtown Pittsburgh, is the Wood Street Gallery, a two-story building filled with works and installations by a wide range of international artists.

If you are interested in art by Pitt students and faculty, stop by the Frick Fine Arts building on campus to see the latest paintings and sculpture on display in the gallery.

Performing arts

If you are interested in experiencing some of the performing arts Pittsburgh showcases, a trip to downtown’s cultural district will surely suffice.

The Byham Theater and the Benedum Center offer a variety of performances by both local and traveling acts. Performing Arts for Children, the Pittsburgh Ballet, Pittsburgh Dance Council, Pittsburgh Opera and the Civic Light Opera offer frequent performances at these venues.

Also set in the cultural district, the O’Reilly Theater is home to the Pittsburgh Public Theater. It features a thrust stage, where audience members are placed along three sides of the stage, providing for a very intimate experience.

The City Theater, located in the South Side, offers local actors and actresses the opportunity to showcase their talent.

On campus, in the newly renovated Charity Randall Theater ? next door to the Cathedral ? Pitt student and faculty actors and directors put on several performances each semester.