Green Playces’ Art Partners

We have worked hard to make our Green Playces a program that fosters creative partnerships. We’ve developed a close working relationship with Allegheny Partners for Out-of-School Time (APOST) to convene local educators and community groups and create curricula. We’re bringing in interested schools beyond existing Green Playces locations to collaborate and improve each project and get more youth involved. We establish lasting relationships with each of our primary Green Playces Partners to ensure long-term maintenance. The list goes on.

On top of all that, we’ve also had (and are grateful for) the opportunity to partner with a couple of great arts organizations on two exciting creative projects currently in development for our first two Green Playces: Northside and Homewood.

Northside: A Neighborhood Made of Clay

With Union Project

The kids at Propel: Northside – our first Green Playces partner – have the opportunity to create all sorts of art with some really great teachers. One medium they can’t really work in, due to equipment constraints, is clay. To provide them with that experience, and to provide the Northside Lot with an awesome new installation, we partnered with Union Project to set up some field trips.

An organization with a mission to, “bring the arts and community together to create social change. Union Project is a historic space that is community restored and maintained; the space itself transformed as a creative solution to a community problem…We believe that art can create change, and help us build a more inclusive, empathetic, and just community.” Check out their website for more about this fantastic community space and arts organization.

First though, Propel: Northside art teachers worked with us to come up with a project that we think accurately portrays the spirit of Green Playces: Each student created a “neighborhood asset” – their house, favorite building, or another place or thing that represents their community – and will assemble their own neighborhood!

To create their assets, two classes of 5^th grade students got to travel to the Union Project twice – once to sculpt and once to glaze. Now, around 50 amazing tile creations await their final assembly in the Spring. Keep an eye out for the unveiling of this exciting community art project.

Homewood: A Countertop Mosaic For a Learning Kitchen

With Pittsburgh Glass Center

A key component of the Homewood Green Playce, created in collaboration with the Bible Center, is the outdoor learning kitchen, complete with a grill and ample counter space for prep and serving. Extending from this counter is an addition crafted specially for youth who want to learn about cooking – it’s a bit shorter and soon will be a lot more colorful than the other counter space thanks to an upcoming project with the Pittsburgh Glass Center.

One of Pittsburgh’s most unique assets, “Pittsburgh Glass Center is a nonprofit, public access school, gallery and state-of-the-art glass studio dedicated to teaching, creating and promoting glass art. World-renowned glass artists come here to make studio glass art. People interested in learning more about glass come here to take a class, explore the contemporary glass gallery and watch live hot glass demonstrations.”

In this case, Glass Center staff will join us in Homewood to design and create a glass mosaic with kids from Westinghouse High School, enlivening our outdoor kitchen, inspiring community, and exposing youth to one of the most exciting and unusual mediums in art.

You can art, too!

Both projects will be completed this spring, so be sure to check back in for event information, photos, and more! In the meantime, these amazing organizations offer classes to the public. If you are interested in learning about clay, or glass, these are your Playces!