Dark alleys house the best art

The last time I went to Pittsburgh Filmmaker’s for an art opening at their new gallery, I went… The last time I went to Pittsburgh Filmmaker’s for an art opening at their new gallery, I went alone. I took the bus to Melwood Avenue, then walked another three or four blocks to the Filmmaker’s building.

As I walked briskly down the dark street, especially the poorly lit and deserted area adjacent to Filmmaker’s, I avoided making eye contact with strangers and I wondered to myself, “Why the heck is this place located here?”

I am not exactly a wilting flower who won’t leave her house without an escort, but Filmmaker’s is not the only art institution in Pittsburgh whose location makes me feel uncomfortable.

The Mattress Factory on the North Side, for example, is a very cool place to visit, and one that any culturally minded Pittsburgh citizen should patronize at least once. The North Side is also home to the stadiums, the National Aviary, the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum and the Andy Warhol Museum – so how bad can it be?

But no matter how many times I go there, I always get lost; the North Side is difficult to navigate by bus and car.

It makes perfect sense then, that The Mattress Factory should call that Pittsburgh neighborhood home. Perhaps its location was not as difficult to access when it was founded 25 years ago, but currently, figuring out the proper route to the museum makes my head spin. Plus, the area is not particularly inviting, either.

The Mattress Factory and Filmmaker’s are not the only cultural settings located in uninviting or hard-to-find neighborhoods. The Roboto Project in Wilkinsburg, the Shadow Lounge in East Liberty, the Quiet Storm Cafe in Friendship and the Brewhouse on the South Side are all out of the way of normal travel.

Contrast their placement with that of the Benedum Center Downtown, or the Carnegie Museum of Art in Oakland. When there are college seniors in Oakland who have never been to the museum down the street, how likely are these same students to branch out and patronize these other, more independent, organizations?

I’ve been trying to understand why these places have chosen to call less favorable neighborhoods “home.” In some cases, venues like the Roboto Project have moved outside the city limits to avoid dealing with Pittsburgh’s regulations on arts institutions. It’s also likely that nonprofit organizations and independent venues can’t afford the same rent as the Carnegie – not that the Carnegie pays rent.

But maybe there’s another reason cultural institutions pop up in unlikely places – perhaps it’s because these places are the unlikely places.

Not too long ago, I visited The Slaughterhouse Gallery in Lawrenceville, which is difficult to reach by bus without going through Downtown. I walked most of the way, and on my way down Butler Street, the main drag, I noticed at least three small galleries I had never heard of before.

When I think of art galleries, I don’t think of Lawrenceville, but maybe this is a sign of progress. Like East Liberty, Friendship and Wilkinsburg, Lawrenceville is another Pittsburgh community that is in the process of rejuvenating itself. The presence of art in a community is a sign that people in the area care about where they live, and the owners of the Slaughterhouse Galley indicated that they hope the artist’s co-op they’re trying to start will benefit the community as a whole.

Whatever your take on Pittsburgh’s arts organizations, there are definitely places worth visiting, even if they’re a little out of the way. Don’t be afraid to venture after more independent locales, even if they require the use of a bus map. If more people take the time to stop by a photo exhibit at Filmmaker’s or a gallery in Lawrenceville, maybe the road less traveled won’t be.