Hoping to like Pittsburgh a lil more (Washington, Lawrenceville: mattress, how much)

[Canarian]

As suggested, I'm beginning a new thread in the hopes I might get some different views.

I've been looking online for various forums where I can talk to some people about Pittsburgh.

I am a Canadian citizen and thinking about moving to Pittsburgh to live with my boyfriend. I met him overseas while studying in Europe. We've been together for 3 yrs now and trying to work out a way to live together.

I've been down to Pittsburgh on several occasions. Even stayed there for the summer last yr (3 months). I studied arts, so my major issue is needing to be in a place where I can socialize with like minded people. I didn't really get to experience a whole lot of that while being there. For me culture and the arts is an essential. Just because I'm not naive enough to believe that love is enough to keep anyone going. Without trying to sound too snobby, I would like to know what you can provide as far as information/opinions in regards to Pittsburgh's arts/culture. I've also lived in cities my whole life, therefore it's difficult for me to imagine living in a place like Pittsburgh. I know there's a downtown part (which is quite nice I have to admit-Mt. Washington is impressive)....but it's mostly rural regions and suburbs. I usually adapt to new surroundings fairly easily, but for some reason I couldn't quite warm up to Pitt entirely.

Any feedback would be welcome. I'm hoping you guys might be able to persuade me....Thanks

[ExPit]

What are you looking for exactly? A community of visual artists to support you, to inspire you?

[ExPit]

An edit to my previous post.....

It might have sounded sarcastic, like a challenge; that's the problem with this kind of voiceless communication; you don't get inflection, and I didn't mean it that way at all. I am truly trying to understand what you are looking for, and to help if I can.

[dugdogmaster]

If you want to be immersed in visual arts check out The Mattress Factory.
The Mattress Factory Art Museum
Also, the 16:62 Design Zone, it stretches from the Strip District neighborhood through the Lawrenceville neighborhood.
Welcome to the 16:62 Design Zone, Pittsburgh’s interior design and decorating district
Really though, there is arts and culture everywhere in Pittsburgh, there's art galleries in just about every neighborhood, featuring many different types of art. You just have to get out, explore and find it.

[Katiana]

I think she wants to meet artists to hang out with. Not being an artist myself, I have no idea how to go about doing that.

There is kind of a dichotomy in Pittsburgh, with the blue collar community not terribly interested in the arts, and an arts community that is, from what I hear, quite active. I don't mean to offend anyone with my blue collar comment, I'm just saying that's how I remember it from growing up there. Going to a symphony, art museum, something like that was considered very "hoity-toity".

[fleetiebelle]

I don't know if this is what you're interested in, but here's info on:

The quarterly gallery crawls in the Cultural District: Gallery Crawl in the Cultural District :: Throughout the Cultural District, Pittsburgh

Lawrenceville's Art all Night: Art All Night: Lawrenceville

Penn Avenue Arts Initiative: Penn Avenue Arts Initiative :: Home

Good Fridays at the Warhol: The Warhol - Calendar - Good Fridays

[Humanoid]

Going to a symphony, art museum, something like that was considered very "hoity-toity".

It still is.

[Copanut]

Originally Posted by Katiana

I don't mean to offend anyone with my blue collar comment, I'm just saying that's how I remember it from growing up there. Going to a symphony, art museum, something like that was considered very "hoity-toity".

"hoity-toity"??? Last time I heard that was right before Moe poked Curley in the eyes.

As someone who grew up lower-middle class blue collar I just want to thank my Mom and all my teachers for exposing me to the arts. Nothing better than a Heinz Hall play then a quick dash to Primanti's to do a few shots and a beer.

I'm willing to guess that there is a very large population of people that live in NY City that don't frequent the hoity-toity part of town. It's just not limited to Pgh.

[Katiana]

Oh, come on COPANUT. I think you know what I mean, and I certainly don't think you are uneducated. OK, this OP wants to warm up to Pittsburgh. From this exchange she is going to learn that some people get very defensive when anything less than positive (doesn't even have to be negative, in other words) is said about Pittsburgh. It doesn't matter how much good I say about the place, I say one thing that paints Pgh in a less than stellar light, and people get going.

Certainly, there are people from NYC who do not attend arts event, either. But we're not talking about NYC.

[Copanut]

Hey, The Three Stooges is art. I know what you meant, sad to say that the WWE still sells out the arena. I only know cuz I was there.