Our print gallery features images from over 25 photographers, for sale online as a fundraiser for Obscurae and the important work done by Braddock Redux.
Change is underway in Braddock, Pennsylvania as groups working with and within the community bring renewed energy to a town that many wrote off. Inspired by the town’s potential for grassroots urban renewal, many artists, social entrepreneurs, community organizers, urban homesteaders and others with a pioneering spirit are using the inherent energy in Braddock to fuel their creativity. It is with this spirit that OBSCURAE views the maligned town – turning a photographic eye towards the borough’s oft-overlooked beauty and the spaces amidst the former grandeur and “urban blight” that Braddock has come to represent for many in the Pittsburgh area.
Curated by Braddock residents Jenny Fremlin and Jodi Morrison, with guest curator John Ryan Brubaker, OBSCURAE pays homage to Braddock’s unique post-industrial urban beauty. From the borough's Victorian and industrial-era construction to particulars of its natural surroundings, each photograph captures a unique perspective of the town. In creating OBSCURAE, the curators hope to encourage others to look deeper and appreciate the small wonders that drew them to Braddock.
Interested in finding out more?
Obscurae will be at the upcoming I Made It! Market in Squirrel Hill. Here’s the official blurb:
I Made It! Cozy
More than 40 I Made It! Market artists join with the American Jewish Museum at the Jewish Community Center on Sunday, June 7 from 2 - 6 pm to celebrate the AJM’s current exhibit, Nests, and to offer handmade objects for your own nest. Artist Anna Divinsky will give demonstrations about her techniques and conduct workshops with visitors at the I Made It! Cozy Market. For more information, visit http://www.imadeitmarket.com or http://www.jccpgh.org.
The JCC is located at 5738 Forbes Avenue (enter from Darlington Road) in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood.
Also, we have been asked to do the Art Lottery again this year—Our tentative date is September 19, we’ll keep you posted!
To raise funds to offset the cost of putting on the show we set up a project on Kickstarter. If you haven’t heard of Kickstarter, it’s time to check it out!
They connect artistic, creative, inventive individuals with pledges of support to get their projects started. Once you read about the amazing set up they’ve created (and forward on the Obscurae project to friends and family) stop over to donate $1 to their cause.
In other social media news, Obscurae Gallery is now on Facebook. Become a fan of Obscurae!
If you have yet to check it out—two of our photographers, Dan Buczynski and Todd Hryckowian, have created an amazing new magazine, STRONGBOX. We highly recommend that you download the first issue!!
And if you tweet, you can keep up on events in Braddock by following BraddockNews. Jenny started this social media news feed for Braddock and has been able to get the Braddock Youth Project involved in coverage through their summer program.
We are happy to say that some proceeds from the online gallery have gone to start Delicious Donations, a mini-grant by Jeanine Hall, the director of UnSmoke Art Space Gallery. Delicious Donations is a monthly, community-created mini grant with an open-to-all application process. We are very excited that Obscurae helped to fund another project whose purpose is to help fund even more projects that will create new work in the Pittsburgh area. Small ripples….
The first official Delicious Donations was a Belgian Waffle Brunch in Braddock on Saturday May 9. There were a variety of projects submitted for this round—a victory garden/ guerrilla gardening project for abandoned buildings – a bi-monthly film screening series called “one take on super eight”—a textile sculpture project – a philosophical documentary style book of the changes the recent economic decline has created in the US—an online social media project—… and more. For $8 participants voted on the project they wanted to fund and enjoyed a waffle brunch as a thank you for supporting the projects. All of the money raised during the day went to support the project with the most votes. The winner was “Avant-Savant Micro-Cinema” One Take Super 8 PGH event. Artists: Cody Darling, James Rowell & Brett Kashmere.
If you are interested in submitting a project for the next round, the deadline is June 16. http://deliciousdonations.wordpress.com/
