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The purpose of The AP Collection is to collect stories from the people around me. We tell each other stories to learn about and relate to one another. It's the basic way in which we get to know people and build relationships. The stories we create within our own personal network strengthens those bonds throughout our lifetime. I want to collect these stories and create portraits of the people I talk to using their own words and storytelling voice. My focus is mainly on those who are also ‘cr ...
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Chris Williams is an artist from New York but also defines himself as a multi-maker, which he defines as a combination of being both multifaceted and a maker. He has a background in biology, and a lot of his work includes themes of life and environment. Chris Williams talks about his time in Texas, working for a woman who used robotics to save live…
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Lesley Rains is the woman behind East End Book Exchange on Liberty Avenue in Bloomfield. Before that, Lesley's love of books and the lack thereof in the city drove her to start something new. The exchange started by setting up bookstalls at community public markets around the city. In this chat, Lesley discusses her journey to opening her own busin…
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Selling yourself, or being a working creative has nothing to do with being the best. I will never be the most talented or amazing painter. I am however, one of the most dedicated and determined people you will ever know in just about any field out there. The AP Collection has always been a journey for me to figure out what helps me create. As of ri…
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Rachel Arnold Sager is an illustrator and designer. After having her daughter and leaving her job at a design agency to pursue freelancing, she decided to try out new things that scared her, to get out of her comfort zone and take risks. She tried creative writing and improv, to name just a few of the things, and she continues on the path towards t…
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Travis Mitzel is a Pittsburgh-based artist, who was also born and raised in the city. His body of work focuses on sculpture and photography, using these mediums to tackle and explore different topics. From creating styrofoam-replicas of unknown people by memory to leaving plastic on plants in a futile effort towards conservation, Travis' work incor…
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Jordon Milchak is the creator and curator of On The Skids Studios & Gallery in Allentown. He's lived in Allentown for the past 11 years and has seen the town grow. Before that, Jordon owned a bike shop up in Mt. Washington, but stopped because life happened and he enjoyed riding bikes (BMX!) more than he liked fixing and selling them. There's some …
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Mayor of Pittsburgh Bill Peduto graciously gave us his time and sat down to have a chat! He talks briefly about his past –– his upbringing, the early years as a Chief of Staff to Dan Cohen, and his years as City Councilman. As you probably know, Pittsburgh has a rich history, which Peduto knows a good deal about. He has a way of talking about Pitts…
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Today's chat is brought to you by The Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council A Fair in the Park is the yearly celebration of visual art, craft, and making from Southwestern PA creators. Everything from wearables, ceramics, fiber, glass, jewelry, mixed media, wood, two dimensional work, leather, and metal are on display in a series of tents nestled cozily …
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General updates in order of when they popped into my brain: Great news! The Society of Illustrators accepted me as a full member! Go to pittsburghillustrators.org to see where my portfolio will be posted and check out some >amazing< local talent. Patreon update: I'm shooting my video (hopefully) this weekend while I'm in DC for The National Book Fe…
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Today, we have something a little bit different from the usual chat with creatives. This is our first one with someone who is a part of the local government – Councilwoman Deb Gross! If you live in District 7, you've probably heard of her, and if you live in the Pittsburgh area... well, you've probably heard of her. Deb Gross grew up in a few parts…
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Ashley Cecil is an illustrator originally from Kentucky, who specializes in painting birds, bugs, and botany. When you see her artworks, this much is surely loud and clear. Her love of painting these subject matters has propelled her to start her own artist in residency, painting at the Phipps Conservatory, National Aviary, and Carnegie Museum of N…
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Jeremy is a Los Angeles filmmaker, who grew up in New Castle, a small town just an hour north of Pittsburgh. After college, Jeremy moved out west to go to film school at University of South California. In early 2016, he is finally coming back to Pittsburgh (specifically, New Castle) to film his first self-directed film, Yinz, which is about growing…
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So, I just finished up a live version of That's What You're Good At. My goal was to see if I could interview and create pieces for the site in one space in the span of a few hours. Once this is perfected, I want to take the project on the road to different spaces in the city of Pittsburgh and maybe even beyond... I have to thank Assemble for lettin…
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This is the first of a series of journal entries. In 2015, I've decided to pursue two projects spawned from the work I've done on The AP Collection. Finder Quigley, a series of private, invitation only art shows featuring artists interviewed for this website and That's What You're Good At, a brand new website using micro-podcasting and my own skill…
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Before our chat, Addi and I met up in front of my place walked over to the Lawrenceville Farmer's Market and did a little shopping. I bought these neat little candies that are painted to look like cool rocks of something... and we hung out with some of my neighbors. Getting back to my place to record, we started off the chat with me being a little …
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Stephen and I planned on meeting at my place to chat—both of us bussing after work. While in the South Side on the 48 headed Downtown he walked on the bus and I recognized him instantly. We've been friends on Instagram for a while and I recognized his square framed glasses that sat parallel his angular jawline. Instead of introducing myself, I deci…
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The Greater Pittsburgh Coliseum has a long and varied use history. It started its life as one of four large buildings used to service the many trollies with which Pittsburgh streets were once lined and crossed. "It was the shady side of the street for blocks." John Brewer Jr. told me—pointing out where we were in a large photograph illuminated by a…
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Amanda Narcisi makes me believe that I can do anything. I can absolutely relate to her busy schedule and always wanting to do more. She created the online magazine BOLD Pittsburgh and is a major organizer for Podcamp Pittsburgh and is a designer and artist herself. Recently, she covered the NKOTB, TLC, and Nelly concert that rolled into town as wel…
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Max C Lee is an artist getting his MFA in New York City at the School of Visual Arts. He was in town over June 5th and 6th for a show he booked at Unsmoked in Braddock over a year ago. Since scheduling this show he has developed a performance piece revolving around the many conversations held about the city. This conversation is about critique, how…
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The other day I biked down to the Point to see Essential Machine play on the main stage at the Three Rivers Arts Festival. After I headed out, Matt Dayak texted me saying that next time I should stop by to check out the Yellow Couch Studio's set up next to the main stage space. He's recording the videos for Stephen Foxbury's series. If I've learned…
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Michael Johnson is Genevieve's neighbor in Lawrenceville, who lives just a handful of doors down. They met at the Lawrenceville Organic Community Garden in the Allegheny Cemetery and have been friends since. Michael has worked at the Cemetery Garden for three years and has seen it grow and expand to double its size. Soon, harvest from this expanded…
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Dan Striker, the Executive Director of Pittsburgh Fringe, was kind enough to bring over two of his artists to chat about this year's festival. Both Hudson Rush and The Mad Muse are hands on and devoted performers seeking to push the boundaries of the theatre stage and performance with audiences. Rush will be in the Free For All which is free for ar…
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Duncan MacDiarmid and Ashley Hickey are both sculptors and members of Society of Sculptors (SOS). They have both been members of the board, and Ashley Hickey is currently the President. Established in 1935 as a part of the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, SOS is one of the oldest groups that promotes the visibility of sculptors both locally and nati…
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When you support the AP Collection, you can opt into the APC (after dark) newsletter. Six times a year, a password is emailed to you with access to a secret blog where I post cool stuff exclusively for the people that support the site! Here is a little taste of an event I'm working on that members get a first crack at an invitation. It's a secret a…
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Njaimeh Njie grew up in Stanton Heights and came back to Pittsburgh after going to school in St. Louis and doing some traveling. She has since stayed to develop her skills as a filmmaker. Njaimeh balances the roles of filmmaker, producer, and event planner. Currently, she is working on a documentary that follows the lives of 50 black women in and a…
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Joe Mruk is a freelance illustrator and artist, who has travelled to the desert and back and has long since stayed in Pittsburgh to work on commissions and other projects of the like. Although not always a steady road towards success, Joe Mruk has dedicated himself to his work and passion since the beginning. From hand-drawing to rendering on the c…
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Kristin Ward started bellydancing shortly after she moved to Pittsburgh in 2000. She has performed and taught this practice ever since, her venues ranging from weddings to corporate functions to festivals. Her love of bellydancing comes from both the understanding and honoring of the Middle Eastern culture, as well as her passion for dancing as a w…
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I went into my interview with Genevieve armed with twenty-five rehearsed questions and a preconception on how I wanted the chat to go. Alas, my plan was laid to waste almost immediately. I intended our talk to be a genial discourse on what “art” is, along with discussing its current standing in our macro- and micro-societies. What I got was an aval…
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Talk to Baron Batch for even five minutes and you will know why he's passionate about his work. Visit Studio A.M. in the Pittsburgh neighborhood of Homestead and you can see why. The AP Collection was invited to Studio A.M. to sit down and chat with Baron. He mentioned that there is no way to establish yourself in art but through hard work, and ste…
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Kate Daly and I have had a long distance Twitter love affair for at least a year at this point. Connecting on local issues and nerding out about cute internet things, we quickly bonded. She has even connected me with people to chat with for The AP Collection. We’ve been planning on hanging out and chatting for a while but life and more life got in …
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Before scheduling this chat I'd always had an interest in learning more about web design and development but admittedly didn't know the difference between the two and felt entirely intimidated by the subject. A few days before my chat with Val and Jason took place, I decided that being scared of such things was completely ridiculous. In order to br…
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The first time that I met Brian, he had graciously invited me into the third floor studio space of his Lawrenceville home. Since we're neighbors, since it was freezing outside, and since he hadn't left his space in a while, we conducted this chat in my place. The plan was originally to chat about his upcoming shows but we quickly delved into philos…
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Genevieve sits down with RB who is behind the farESH brand. Primarily known for their clothing, RB and farESH have begun fostering collaborations with musicians and artists in Pittsburgh. Their Fresh Pick of the Month series showcases these artists and promotes the brand and the artist creating a synergy among the projects in Pittsburgh. (Check out…
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Born only blocks from where he currently resides, Christopher Boring is a dedicated painter gaining a lot of notoriety in the Pittsburgh art scene. During our chat we get down to brass tacks regarding his art-making process, where his inspiration is derived, and self-curation. As it turns out, he's a collector as well and we get into how his obsess…
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Aaron Corbin is a very lucky man. Not because of the stage-4 inoperable brain cancer that he has been fighting for the past 4 years. No, this Iraq War veteran is a lucky man because he is surrounded by people that will go to great lengths to help him when he needs it most. His wife Natalie, along with his large network of family and friends, have c…
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After connecting with Charles on Instagram, (thanks again Matt Gondek), we arranged to meet in the Larchmont Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles at 9AM on a Saturday. He was getting a trim at his usual spot, the Larchmont Barber Shop—describing it as, "...just like Cercone's in Bloomfield." This wasn't an embellishment. The most noticeable differen…
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Los Angeles in January is a sensation that cannot be recreated during any season in Pittsburgh. This is an obvious statement, but simply describing my time in Southern California as “nice” seems severely lacking. It’s was an escape from the damp and chilly ‘Burgh that felt medically necessary. Instead, the dry air and very visible sun in Southern C…
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