New leadership at the top
In June, Geovette Washington, senior vice chancellor and chief legal officer for the University of Pittsburgh, was elected chair of Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh’s board of trustees. She joined the board in 2017 and was named vice chair in February 2021. “The four museums play such a vital role in our lives—in the education and inspiration of our children and the cultural vitality of our community,” Washington said. “Now more than ever, we need the expansive view of the world that these world-class museums have to offer. I am excited to continue and build upon the good work and leadership of Bill Hunt.” Washington succeeds Hunt, president of Elmhurst Group, who had chaired the board of trustees for the past seven years.
A striking cedar waxwing captured on Aug. 6 at Powdermill Nature Reserve has the distinction of being the 800,000th bird captured and banded at the world-renowned Powdermill Avian Research Center. Two defining features of the milestone bird: It hatched this summer and included a distinct band of orange at the tip of its tail. Cedar waxwings, a common capture for Powdermill banders, usually have yellow tail bands, but if the birds eat non-native honeysuckle berries while their feathers are growing, the pigment in the berries is incorporated into the feather color. The species was a favorite of Bob Leberman, the late founder of the 60-year-old program—a sweet reminder of a dear friend and the enduring legacy of Powdermill’s ongoing avian research, which helps scientists understand birds’ natural history and how they’re responding to our rapidly changing world. There’s more big news to come for Powdermill: After receiving a $1 million grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation in 2020 for construction of a new state-of-the-art avian research facility, the groundbreaking is expected late this fall.
“The path back to the moon goes through Pittsburgh.”
– NASA executive Thomas Zurbuchen about the new partnership among Carnegie Science Center, Astrobotic and its Moonshot Museum, the Keystone Space Collaborative, the Readiness Institute at Penn State, and Discovery Space of Central Pennsylvania—a collaboration meant to inspire and build a pipeline of talent for a new space economy in Pittsburgh.
Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh invite the community to “crash” the historic Oakland campus on Saturday, Nov. 6, and Sunday, Nov. 7, in a free celebration marking their shared 125th anniversary year. The four Carnegie Museums and the Library will be joined by cultural organizations from around the city in activating the museum and library spaces with live performances, hands-on artmaking, science demonstrations, and more. Wander between the two locations through the “secret” door connecting the art museum and the library. Watch your inbox for more details.
The dates are in! The next Carnegie International, Carnegie Museum of Art’s signature exhibition through which it has been collecting the “Old Masters of tomorrow” since 1896, will run Sept. 24, 2022, through April 2, 2023. Like the show’s iterations in 2013 and 1991, Sohrab Mohebbi, the Kathe and Jim Patrinos Curator of the 58th Carnegie International, says it will extend beyond the walls of the museum.
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