As you might imagine, cutting and priming 80 plywood boards in preparation for the community art workshops seemed like a daunting task. So did clearing the brush and debris along Whitney Avenue. Luckily, some pretty amazing people were willing to give up their Saturday on a holiday weekend to help out.

WAAG would like to extend a huge THANKS to the following individuals:

Holly McIntosh of AmeriCorps KEYS. Holly allotted AmeriCorps volunteers to clear the brush and debris from Whitney Avenue and allowed WAAG to tie-in priming of the plywood boards with AmeriCorps' day of service.

Wilkinsburg Department of Public Works' Operations Manager, Melanie Hall. Melanie was a lifesaver, making the WDPW garage available to store and paint the plywood boards. She received delivery of the boards and made sure her team followed the cut list diagram measurement instructions provided by WAAG.

The Wilkinsburg DPW team:  Robert "Bob" Noe, Larry Malone, Otis Carswell and Roy Clark. These guys did all the heavy lifting, and with lots of smiles. Additionally, Bob had pre-cut and labeled the majority of boards while Larry made sure we had enough horses set up to accommodate priming the boards.

AmeriCorps/Jumpstart volunteers and University of Pitt students:  Melissa Schmidt, Holly Keene, and Thomas Bryant. Never taking a break, these three helped WAAG's Project Manager prime all 80 boards in record time.

AmeriCorps KEYS and everyone who volunteered their time to serve WAAG and Wilkinsburg on May 29th. Thank you!!!

YOUTH WORKSHOP ORIENTATION SESSION

Date:  May 28th (Fri)

Time:  6pm - 7pm

Location:  Hosanna House, 807 Wallace Avenue, Wilkinsburg, PA 15221  -  Room 420
click here for directions from Google Maps

Come meet Lead Artist, Ernest Bey of MAD DADS. This orientation session is for youth participants and their parents/guardians. An overview of the concept for Whitney Avenue Art Gallery will be presented and questions will be addressed. Ernest will share his ideas for how youth participants will be engaged to interpret the theme Houses in Waiting through visual art.

click here for the youth workshop series schedule
Person Ernest BeyRight click for SmartMenu shortcuts

Activities scheduled for Saturday, May 29th:

9:30am  =>  Registration, morning snacks, and a few words from Mayor John Thompson.

10am - 3pm  =>  Service Projects (see below).

3pm - 4pm  =>  Thank you reception with refreshments and entertainment.

Families and youth groups will be:
•  Decorating and planting flower pots.
•  Creating raised flower beds from tires - painting and planting.

Adult volunteers will be:
•  Cleaning out a string of garages to be turned into a greenhouse.
•  Doing different large scale abandoned lot clean-up.
•  Boarding up vacant homes with chip board.
•  As a part of "Beautiful Blocks" people will be sent out to different locations in Wilkinsburg to assist elderly residents cleaning up their yards and clearing back foliage.

To volunteer for service, please contact
Emily Ludwig:  em_lud@hotmail.com