LG

As creative communities adapt and emerge from Covid, the past two summers (2021 + 2022) I partnered with the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, PA, to help develop and co-curate a new outdoor music and performance series that would offer much needed space to gather safely. Inside/Out runs each summer in the museum’s sculpture garden to support and showcase local djs, musicians, performers, visual artists, food/bev purveyors and more. I encourage you to check out the full Inside/Out weekend program that features an incredible roster of organizations and artists who are actively curating around the city.

For Inside/Out I curated Thursday nights (2020 solo, 2021 with sara huny young). In 2021 we expanded the program with the theme “+Plus 1” which invited local crews to bring an artist from a different city or creative circle to continue expanding connections. With each show I published a series of interviews called LINER NOTES, where I talked with crews about their work and the impact nightlife has for them. My hope with LINER NOTES is to have a record at the museum that amplifies the thoughtfulness, ingenuity, and cultural importance Pittsburgh nightlife has, and inspire readers to participate in building back a better nightlife in their city. You can read the LINER NOTES below.

When I was approached by the museum and Dana Bishop-Root (Dir. Education) to help shape this series, it was not our first rodeo together. I’ve collaborated with CMOA as a guest curator for close to 10 years now, curating music & performance programs, film premiers, audio-visual commissions, and DJ-focused events that brought nightlife into the museum. I linked the museum with all the projects I’ve been part of while living in Pittsburgh from VIA Festival to the STUDIO for Creative Inquiry, Hot Mass, and gfx because I’ve always firmly believed nightlife is as culturally relevant as any painting.

My desire to connect cultural activities inside the museum with those going on outside, began when I was a college intern, so to continue this relationship over the years is a personal record of sorts. Doing this work I’ve been able to express my love for the creatives who are shaping Pittsburgh in often unseen ways, literally in the dark. I am excited that Inside/Out is a recurring place for different communities to come together. We can always use more free, outdoor, all-ages events that challenge, connect and inspire us, no matter where we live. Thanks always to the artists, organizers, and dancers who make it happen from the ground up.

READ 2022 LINER NOTES - Title Town / Chosen Fam / Jellyfish + MESH / Cold Cuts / Dyspheric / Curator’s Night + Mostbeautifullest / Afroheat! / Everything The Light Touches

READ 2021 LINER NOTES - Afroheat! / Jellyfish / Mostbeautifullest / UHAUL Disco / Sappho / YAAS Queen / Kinselland Radio / Hot Mass / Diamond Life

featured artists: ARCHANGEL, Ari Cole, Based Grace, Boo Lean, Buscrates, Calin, Chadkid, Darrell Kinsell & Anquieniwque Wingfield, Discogundam/Joshua Orange, DJ Aesthetics, DJ Bamboo, DJ Erin, DZ Partytime, DJ SMI, Forest Getemgump, Freeter, Gianni, Gladstone Delux, Gordy, Formosa, HUNY, Jack Swing, Jarrett Tebbetts, Jesley Snipes, Jin & Juice, Jwan Allen, J Malls, Kerem Gokmen, Planningtorock, Private Sea, pvkvsv, Ricky Moslen, Royal Haunts, Samira Mendoza, Sassy Suggestions, Sis Girl, Suave Pav, Suzi Analogue, Theodore Rex, Tony 2 Keys, W00dy, Yessi, XC-17