pittsburgh artist

We have a surprise for everyone as we're dropping another episode this week. We are honored to have Jason Shorr, Co-owner of CURIO Cool in Zelienople, and Patrick Schmidt, Pittsburgh Area Painter.

CURIO hosts a different artist each month in their art studio at 113 North Main Street in Zelienople, PA. Included in the monthly artist series is a FREE Art Reception that is open to the public. This month's will be held on Saturday, October 22nd, from 6pm-9pm.

Jason takes time to explain the artist series and introduces the artist for October, Patrick Schmidt. Patrick's work is outstanding and he's bringing his "Surrender: Line, Shape & color" show to CURIO. The art is currently on display if you'd like to see Patrick's work prior to having the chance to meet Patrick on October 22nd.

Patrick spends time letting us get to know him as an artist. He talks about how he became an artist, his style of art, his inspirations for his artwork, and his most recent work.

If you would like to see more of Patrick's work and get to know more about his art:
Website: https://patrickschmidtstudio.com/home.html
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pschmidt61/?hl=en

If you would like to learn more about CURIO and what they have to offer:
Website:https://www.curiocool.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/curiocool
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curio_cool/?hl=en
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJAFCfL5Z0Yudh2AlGe5HtA/featured

Special thanks to Jason Shorr and Patrick Schmidt for recording this wonderful episode! Hope to see everyone at the free Art Reception to meet Patrick Schmidt on Saturday, October 22nd at CURIO in Zelienople! 

On our final National Poetry Month episode of the year, Bonita Lee Penn shares a hopeful poem inspired by death (no really). 

Find the transcript on our episode page.

Today's guest

Bonita Lee Penn is an alumna of our MFA in Creative Writing program, a Pittsburgh poet and the author of Every Morning a Foot is Looking for My Neck (Central Square Press). Her work has been included in the anthology Where We Stand: Poems of Black Resilience (2022 Cherry Castle Publishing); Taint Taint Taint Literary Magazine, The Massachusetts Review, Solstice: A Magazine of Diverse Voices, and others. Penn is also Managing Editor, Soul Pitt Quarterly Magazine, literary program coordinator with United Black Book Clubs of Pittsburgh, and Poetry Instructor for Madwomen in the Attic Creative Writing Workshop (Carlow University).

Check out previous Poetry Month episodes:

• "Soft" by Staci Halt
• "the world as it is" by July Westhale
• "Memo to the Border Patrol Agent Who Poured Out the Water We Left in the Desert" by Robbie Gamble
• "The Translator" by Kevin Prufer
• "As for the Heart" by Erin Belieu
• "We Be Womxn" by U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adebo
• Cowboys and "The Dread" by Lydia Leclerc

We're excited to say good riddance to 2020, and even more excited for our Season 3 finale guest, Shikeith!!! Shikeith is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work investigates the experiences of black men within and around concepts of psychic space. His work has recently been featured in solo exhibitions including the Alexander Brest Museum & Gallery, Jacksonville University, Locust Projects in Miami, FL, Atlanta Contemporary, and The Mattress Factory Museum of Contemporary Art in Pittsburgh, and his films have been shown at Moma in NYC. He received a 2019 Painters & Sculptors Grant from The Joan Mitchell Foundation, the 2020 Art Matters Foundation Grant, is a recipient of the 2020 – 2021 Leslie Lohman Museum Artist Fellowship. A Philly native, Shikeith currently lives and works in Pittsburgh, PA, and joins us today from his artist residency at Fountainhead in Miami, FL. We learn more about the deep and intentional symbolism and meaning behind his work and the materials that go into his work, the themes and intersections of blackness, masculinity, and queerness, we discuss specific installations, photographs, and films, and hear about his upcoming exhibitions! (see show links below)

Thank you for listening to The Queer Creative in 2020. We hope you've enjoyed listening, and hope you will leave us a rating and review! We thank you for your support! Check us out on Instagram @TheQueerCreativePodcast, on Twitter @CreativeQueer, and on YouTube by searching The Queer Creative. 

SHOW LINKS:

• Shikeith's website: https://shikeith.com
• Twitter: @shikeithism / https://twitter.com/shikeithism
• "Feeling the Spirit in the Dark" exhibition at The Mattress Factory: https://mattress.org/works/feeling-the-spirit-in-the-dark/
• Stream Shikeith's latest film, "A Drop of Sun Under the Earth," on the Criterion Collection: https://www.criterionchannel.com/a-drop-of-sun-under-the-earth