PITTSBURGH, PENN. — Initiatives in Art and Culture will present its 17th annual Arts and Crafts conference, “Multiple Modernities: From Richardson to Wright and Beyond, The Arts and Crafts Movement in Pittsburgh and Environs,” September 17–20 at the Carnegie Museum of Art.
The conference focuses on Pittsburgh and environs to explore the wealth of expressions of the movement in media ranging from architecture to stained glass to painting. Influences from Boston and Philadelphia and by the Tonalist and Aesthetic Movements were particularly strong. The approach again is to embrace a multiplicity of sources and styles, rejecting the notion of a single Arts and Crafts aesthetic.
Edward and Kathryn Friedman House interior. —Edward Addeo photo; reproduced in Arts & Crafts Homes, 45 (winter 2011).
The Arts and Crafts movement was fueled by Pittsburgh’s increasing prosperity and role as a center of heavy industry. By 1857, Pittsburgh’s 1,000 factories were consuming 22 million coal bushels annually, and the American Civil War would soon boost the city’s economy. Andrew Carnegie began steel production in 1875 at the Edgar Thomson Steel Works in North Braddock, and by 1911, its population swelling with European immigrants, Pittsburgh had become the nation’s eighth largest city and accounted for between a third and a half of the nation’s steel output.
The conference is hosted by the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, the Frick Art & Historical Center, the Duquesne Club, Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob, with participation by the First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh, Sacred Heart Parish, East Liberty Presbyterian Church, Rodef Shalom Temple and the Sewickley Presbyterian Church.
Formal sessions take place at the Carnegie Museum of Art at 4400 Forbes Avenue.
The conference fee is $550. Readers of Antiques And The Arts Weekly receive a discounted rate of $475 in lieu of $550; enter promo “BEE” code at www.artsandcrafts2015.eventbite.com. Single-day rates are possible and the student rate is $200.
For additional information, 646-485-1952.
