Media Contact:  Derek Scalzott

Senior Director, Communications & Marketing Management, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust
scalzott@TrustArts.org | 412-471-8715

Download: Media Kit with Photos & Video

2023 PITTSBURGH HUMANITIES FESTIVAL LINEUP ANNOUNCED:

IRA GLASS, WOMEN IN HIP HOP, COMMUNITY LEADERS, AND CHANGE-MAKERS 

The Co-Production of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and The Humanities Center at Carnegie Mellon University Returns to Pittsburgh’s Cultural District, March 24-26, 2023

Pittsburgh, PA, January 30, 2023:  Providing space for vital community conversations, the Pittsburgh Humanities Festival returns with a carefully curated, thought-provoking weekend of entertainment featuring acclaimed national talent as well as community leaders, artists, academics, and change-makers from around the region. Every presentation includes a Q&A segment, inviting community members into the conversation.

“When we launched the Festival in 2015, one of our primary goals was to take conversations often reserved for academic campuses and bring them to an accessible setting in the community,” explains festival co-director David Shumway, who also serves as the Director of The Humanities Center at Carnegie Mellon University. “The Pittsburgh Humanities Festival is for everyone. I think the diversity of this year’s lineup reflects that intention and we look forward to welcoming first-time guests as well as returning attendees.”

“Many guests attend the Festival for a specific speaker or topic that’s of interest to them,” reflects Randal Miller, co-director for the Pittsburgh Humanities Festival and Director of Special Projects for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. “What’s even more exciting to me is that others come purely for discovery—to learn about something new or to open themselves up to a different perspective. That’s what makes this entertaining weekend so special.”

The Pittsburgh Humanities Festival is generously supported by The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

Tickets for all events are on sale now at TrustArts.org/Humanities.

FEATURED EVENTS

These two featured events take place on Friday and Saturday evenings and are ticketed separately from the Core Conversations detailed below.

An Evening with Ira Glass: Seven Things I've Learned

Saturday, March 25 | Byham Theater

Tickets start at $32

As host and creator of the beloved public radio program This American Life, Ira Glass has pioneered a highly influential style of documentary storytelling for more than 25 years. This American Life is the first program ever awarded a Pulitzer Prize for audio journalism and is heard each week by more than 5 million listeners. In his thoroughly entertaining talks, Glass shares new stories along with reflections, anecdotes, and revelations from his fascinating decades-long career as an interviewer, producer, and broadcaster.

The Legacy of Women in Hip Hop | Monie Love, DJ Perly, Juliandra Jones, & Teena Marie Custer

Friday, March 24 | Trust Arts Education Center

Tickets start at $20

Kicking off the festival, this event celebrates the contributions, experiences, and legacy of women in Hip Hop culture over the past 50 years. The evening will open with a discussion featuring 2x USA DMC champion DJ Perly, graffiti artist Juliandra Jones, and street dance artist Teena Marie Custer. This will be followed with a concert by Grammy-nominated Rapper Monie Love, a DJ set by DJ Perly, and performances by local female emcees.

 

CORE CONVERSATIONS

For just $10 ($5 for students), a Core Conversations Pass opens the door to 14 events spanning Saturday and Sunday, March 25-26, between 12-5:30 pm in the Trust Arts Education Center at 805-807 Liberty Avenue. The Core Conversations are the heart of the Pittsburgh Humanities Festival. Event descriptions and Core Conversations Passes are available now at TrustArts.org/Humanities.

Saturday, March 25

Sunday, March 26

 

PUBLIC OPEN CALL

Application Deadline: February 10, 11:59 pm EST

Want to lead the conversation? The Public Open Call provides a chance for a new voice to be heard at the Festival. The open call for participants is a web-based audition opportunity open to anyone interested in leading a Core Conversation at the Pittsburgh Humanities Festival. Applications are being accepted now through February 10 at TrustArts.org/Humanities.

 

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The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has overseen one of Pittsburgh’s most historic transformations: turning a seedy red-light district into a magnet destination for arts-lovers, residents, visitors, and business owners. Founded in 1984, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a non-profit arts organization whose mission is the cultural and economic revitalization of a 14-block arts and entertainment/residential neighborhood called the Cultural District. The District is one of the country’s largest land masses “curated” by a single nonprofit arts organization. A major catalytic force in the city, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is a unique model of how public-private partnerships can reinvent a city with authenticity, innovation, and creativity.  Using the arts as an economic catalyst, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has holistically created a world-renowned Cultural District that is revitalizing the city, improving the regional economy, and enhancing Pittsburgh’s quality of life. Thanks to the support of foundations, corporations, government agencies and thousands of private citizens, the Trust stands as a national model of urban redevelopment through the arts.


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