Creative in the Park

I am just now discovering Pittsburgh, which is odd to say because I grew up in this city. “In the city” is not the right words; I grew up outside of the city, literally right outside of the city about a half hour from downtown. PGH suffers from an “edge” culture in which people work in the city and live on the outside edge of the city. Suburbs to the city and back to the burbs, repeat this daily. This is life for most Pittsburghers.

In the past two years I have started discovering and enjoying this city. Mainly due to creative need (a lot of options in one place). PGH has been the backdrop to many projects that I have worked on. Waterfront is my meeting place for my “Photo Walks”, the parks have provided background to portrait shoots and the city skyline has provided me with countless nights to sit on top of the overlooks shooting night photography.

I am thinking about pitching an idea to the parks conservancy, “Creative in the Park”. The idea would be to have local artists discuss and teach their craft in the parks. For me, I could hold my photo walks. I could see writing groups using the landscape for creative non-fiction, between the nature and the people there would always be something interesting to write. Or maybe a painter teaching watercolors or oil painting, to the community. The parks blend the grounds so well with the city skyline. This is one of my favorite things about sitting in a park; to be seated on a vast lawn while the city architecturally surrounds me in the not so far distance.

What do you think? “Creative in the Park”; be outside, breathe fresh air, exercise and create something new. Let me know???

Tonight I went to Highland Park for a “Walk in the Woods”, an ongoing outing that is free and open to all. It is held every Wednesday evening in a different city park. More info can be found (here).

The tour guide gave a history of the park and introduction to what the park will evolve into. For me my part was to sit back and observe the walkers enjoying the landscape. What I enjoyed was seeing older couples holding hands while walking. It always gives me hope to see people holding hands, not enough of couples do that anymore. The only thing nicer than seeing an older couple holding hands is a father and daughter holding hands while walking in the woods. This little girl walking with her father has a future job working for Mother Nature. She loved the woods and the flora, she would stop to study leaves and petals never removing them from the plant, simple enjoying them.

You can see a slide show of my photos (here).