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Build it and they will come (and then ask you to build another).

Over the past six years, Carnegie Science Center has designed and built 80,000 square feet of permanent and traveling exhibits, and much of that work was either commissioned by other institutions or is being enjoyed by others through the Science Center’s traveling exhibits. Some of its permanent offerings such as the UPMC SportsWorks exhibits are so popular, in fact, that it’s not unusual for the Science Center’s exhibitions staff to receive calls from institutions as far away as Israel.

“I received a call about recreating our sports exhibits for a group in Israel just the other day,” says Tom Flaherty, maintenance and operations director for the Science Center. “We receive those kinds of calls every day, from every corner of the world, requesting our help building exhibits or inquiring about renting a traveling exhibit.”

Among the Science Center’s clients are the Miami Museum of Science, the New York Hall of Science, Space Center Houston, the Maryland Science Center, the NCAA Hall of Champions, and Transitions Optical, a joint venture between PPG Industries Inc. and France’s Essilor International, which approached the Science Center in 2004 about designing a traveling exhibit on vision and eye health. In less than three months, the Science Center exhibits team conceived, designed, and fabricated Eye Didn’t Know That, an 1,800 square-foot traveling exhibit that stopped for a visit at its Pittsburgh homebase this summer before moving on to Science World in Vancouver, British Columbia. Transitions Optical and PPG recently announced they would donate the exhibit to the Science Center once its current tour is complete.

“ We strive to make our exhibits relevant and accessible to a diverse population,” Flaherty notes. And with traveling exhibits such as ZAP! Surgery still touring the United States after five years on the road, and more calls coming in every day for custom work, obviously they’re succeeding.

To Russia with Warhol.

Would Andy ever have guessed they’d someday wait in line to see his work in Russia? They did in the summer of 2000, when the first eastern European traveling exhibition of Warhol art opened to the public in Moscow. And they’ll probably do it again this fall, as a much larger and more comprehensive exhibition, Andy Warhol: Artist of Modern Life, sponsored by Alcoa Foundation and Alcoa, starts a three-Russian-city tour this September.

“ We are proud to sponsor this exhibition, to bring masterpieces and archival riches of The Andy Warhol Museum to the people of Russia,” says Alcoa Chairman and CEO Alain Belda. He adds that, with the company’s acquisition of two Russian fabricating plants in Samara and Beleya Kalitva, Russia, “this exhibition celebrates Alcoa’s presence in Russia.” It also offers a nice connection between the city where Alcoa was established—Pittsburgh —and communities in Russia where so many new Alcoans live.

Andy Warhol: Artist of Modern Life will feature more than 300 paintings, drawings, photographs, films, and archival material from the museum’s permanent collection, as well as a
catalogue and educational components created specifically for Russian audiences.
“ The previous exhibition of Warhol in Russia provided merely a soupcon of Warhol’s vast body of work,” says Thomas Sokolowski, director of The Warhol. “This new exhibition offers a more comprehensive, multi-faceted look at Warhol’s artistic career.”
Russia can’t wait.

A new face of contemporary art in Pittsburgh

He’ll travel the world to find the next big things in contemporary art—and bring them back to Pittsburgh. He’s Douglas Fogle, the new curator of Contemporary Art for Carnegie Museum of Art. Fogle will be responsible for organizing the next Carnegie International, scheduled to open in May 2008. Most recently, he was curator of Visual Arts at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

"Douglas embodies characteristics that distinguish the best curators of contemporary art,” says Richard Armstrong, The Henry J. Heinz II Director of Carnegie Museum of Art. “His prescience and empathy, articulate thinking, and organizational skills make him rare among his peers as well as a tremendous addition to the arts in Pittsburgh.”

“ I’m honored to have been invited to join an institution that has been at the forefront of presenting the ‘new’ to local, national, and international audiences for more than a hundred years,” Fogle says. “I am equally excited about the incredible possibilities that the Carnegie International will offer me as a curator to open a dialogue between the world at large and the community of Pittsburgh.” Fogle succeeds Laura Hoptman as the museum's Contemporary Art curator.

Why not raise a little Carnegie Cash this school-fundraising season?

It’s back to school: time for reading, writing, and fundraising. Before you gain another pound (or two) buying the rest of your kids’ unsold candy bars, talk to their teachers or your fellow PTA moms and dads about Carnegie Cash for Schools, a way to earn money for schools through the renewal or new sale of Carnegie Museums memberships.

“ At almost any school in the region, many of the students’ families are already members of Carnegie Museums or are planning to be—so the school could earn money just by asking its families to renew their Carnegie Museums memberships, or purchase new memberships, as part of this program,” says Karen Poirier, director of Membership at Carnegie Museums.

It’s simple enough: when any new or renewing membership is registered as a “Carnegie Cash for Schools” purchase, the school associated with the transaction gets cash back—$10 for each new membership and $5 for each renewal. The school can also receive cash bonuses and savings on school field trips to the four Carnegie Museums. Anyone can help raise money through Carnegie Cash for Schools—parents, alumni, friends, neighbors, grandparents, and even out-of-town relatives.

“ Best of all, students do no selling and collect no money, so they can concentrate on learning,” Poirier says. “And the school community feels great because it’s supporting three great causes: its families, its schools, and Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh!”

More than 50 area schools are currently signed up for the program. To find out if your child’s school participates, or to get more information about Carnegie Cash for Schools, visit the Member Center at www.CarnegieMuseums.org, or call 412.622.8860.

He conquered the Nile—find out how on October 27

Pasquale Scaturro (standing left) has climbed Mount Everest twice, the second time leading a blind climber to the summit. And he’s well-known for being one of the world’s most experienced river guides, whose most recent exploits on the Nile River are captured in the current OMNIMAX^® movie at Carnegie Science Center, Mystery of the Nile.

On October 27, Scaturro will bring his adventurous spirit and knack for telling a good story to the Science Center for a one-night-only guest appearance. After a special showing of Mystery of the Nile, he’ll share some additional insights into his trip down the famed river with explorer and filmmaker Gordon Brown. The duo became the first to make—and live to talk about—the 3,250-mile voyage from the mouth of the river to the Mediterranean Sea.

Scaturro kept a journal throughout the 114-day journey, which brought the team face-to-face with unfriendly hippos and crocodiles, blinding dust storms, “bone-crunching” class 6 rapids, unfathomable heat, and bullets fired by guards of various nationalities protecting their turfs. Want to know which of these obstacles caused Scaturro the most grief during his 114 days on the Nile? Come to Carnegie Science Center on October 27 and ask him!

For more information, call 412.237.3400 or visit the Science Center website at www.CarnegieScienceCenter.org.

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