7PM WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24…
For the April event The Bridge Series is having a Spring Fling!
Our featured organization will be announced soon and our feaured readers will be Melanie Dione, Michele James-Parham and Deesha Philyaw. Our featured organization will be The Maya Organization, represented by Amber Edmunds.$5 Suggested Donation
Thanks to Deesha Philyaw for organizing this event
Bios to follow
8PM THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13…
Tastier than a fruitcake, easier to assemble than a Fisher-Price playhouse, for the FIFTH year in a row, we are bringing some of Pittsburgh’s finest writers together to entertain you with tales of their holiday work experiences. This year, our readers will also play Secret Santa with each other, because nothing says “I’m broke” more effectively than “I WROTE you this gift.”
$5 suggested donation, proceeds benefit the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank.
Hosted by Jason Baldinger (who was once run over by a Black Friday crowd on a rampage for office supplies) and Stephanie Brea (who once lifted her skirt and flashed an entire roomful of folks during an especially spirited performance of “Jingle Bells”).
This year’s roster of writers includes
Bob Pajich
Vanessa Vesch
Deesha Philyaw
Bob Walicki
Bart Solarczyk
Adam Matcho
Lori Jakiela
Matt Ussia
Meghan Tutolo
Andrea Laurion
Melanie Dione
Nathan Kukulski
Aaliyah Thomasand more (maybe) TBA.
7PM WEDNESDAY…
Mark your calendars -The Bridge Series returns Wednesday, October 24th with our focus is twofold Veterans and Displacement. Our featured performers include Matt Borczon, Melanie Dione and Chris Ivey.
$5 donation
Our Guest Organization is Project Love Coalition
Matthew Borczon is a nurse and Navy sailor from Erie, Pa. He has published four books of poetry, A Clock of Human Bones (Yellow Chair Review), Battle Lines (Epic Rites Press), Ghost Train (Weasel Publishing), Sleepless Nights and Ghost Soldiers (Grey Boarders), and The Smallest Coffins are the Heaviest (Epic Rites Punk Chapbook). He was a recipient of the Emerging Artist Grant in his hometown of Erie, Pa. He was nominated for a Pushcart and a Best of the Net for poetry in 2016. When not writing he raises four children with his wife of 21 years.
Melanie Dione is a geeky mom, bookworm, writer, and podcaster from New Orleans, currently residing in Pittsburgh, PA. She can be heard weekly on the popular “Bad Advice Show” when she isn’t making famous people laugh at her Twitter feed. Melanie currently leads the league in creative ways to hide her phone in her bra at work
Chris Ivey is an award-winning commercial director who is best known internationally for his documentary series East of Liberty. The series has chronicled race, class and gentrification issues in Pittsburgh, for over a decade. The East of Liberty series is a historical document and the only interactive documentation project in recent Pittsburgh history. Chris’s work has been featured on NPR’s All Things Considered Going There in Pittsburgh segment about the unaddressed impacts of urban renewal and gentrification on the city’s Black community.Chris is currently at work on East of Liberty: Youth Rising, a film that interweaves the experiences of youth in Pittsburgh, Baltimore, New Orleans and Philadelphia with additional related footage of youth in Cape Town and Johannesburg. This installment of the series presents the voices of young people on topics including teen pregnancy, gangs, and the prospects for their futures.
Project LOVE Coalition is a unique organization which encourages diverse community partnerships. In Project Love Coalition, we are dedicated to the universal spread of love in our great work of uplifting fallen humanity. Project Love Coalition encourages all people of all faiths and cultures to become part of our unique collaborative initiatives to serve those veterans who are now in need. At Project Love Coalition: > We aim to provide affordable healthy housing to homeless veterans and their families. Additionally, we seek to provide a welcoming space which honors and provides support services those who have served our country while connecting veterans with other community residents and veterans affairs pipelines that enable them to be workforce assets and leaders in neighborhood sustainability. > We are a grassroots organization which brings veterans and other community residents together to use arts to improve and build an inclusive, sustainable community where peace, dignity and a sense of belonging are among our top priorities. Project Love Coalition aims to create social and economic opportunities that include veterans. > We welcome all to participate regardless of belief, nationality, age, or gender. Project Love Coalition was originally started by a group of Americans in the Hill District and Homewood community sectors of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. https://www.facebook.com/projectlovecoalition/
Six Gallery Press 