Three Rivers Arts Festival: What to do, who to see

It wouldn’t be June in Pittsburgh without the exciting sights, sounds and tastes of the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival.

The annual arts extravaganza is even more special this year as the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust unwraps its 60th anniversary gift to the city with 10 days of free live music, theater, dance and gallery exhibitions; free public art installations, and an Artist Market featuring more than 300 artists from around the country.

“This is going to be the best festival yet,” said J. Kevin McMahon, the Trust’s president and CEO.

Sarah Aziz, director of the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival and Festival Management for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, agrees.

In her fourth year as coordinator of the event that draws nearly 500,000 visitors to the city during its 10-day run, Aziz says this year’s festival from June 7-16 not only features a diverse lineup of local, national and international performers, it also pays tribute to six decades of the cultural arts celebration.

“Everyone has their own stories and memories of good times spent at the Arts Festival,” she says.

Families are encouraged to participate in the Cultural Trust’s interactive Three Rivers Arts Festival Historic Timeline, where they can share their own photos or videos of their favorite festival visits and relive past milestones in the 60-year journey celebrating the arts.

The festival’s roots date back to June 1960, when the Women’s Committee of Carnegie Institute created the event as a way to “move art beyond museum walls” and take the show downtown.

“To inherit the festival and build on it to make it even greater is really a privilege for me,” Aziz says.

5 featured performers

This year’s Three Rivers Arts Festival will have more than 85 acts offering a wide range of musical sounds on the Dollar Bank Main Stage, Acoustic Stage at Gateway Center and Stanwix Stage.

India.Arie

Kicking off the featured music lineup at 7:30 p.m. June 7 on the Dollar Bank Main Stage will be India.Arie (India Arie Simpson), four-time Grammy Award winner from her 21 nominations. With record sales of 3.3 million, the singer/songwriter combines soul, folk, pop, R&B and hip hop for her chart-topping sound.

With her new 16-track album, “Worthy,” – her seventh studio recording – she further defines her mission to spread love, healing, peace and joy through her words and music.

An opening-night Critical Mass Street Party will follow India.Arie’s concert from 9-11 p.m. on the Stanwix Stage featuring UNION with DJ Big Phill, DJ Blakk Steel and DJ Selecta.

Esther Rose

Due to a personal family matter, previously announced headliners Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives will no longer perform June 8.

Esther Rose will now be the headlining act on the Dollar Bank Main Stage 7:30 p.m. June 8. The Beagle Brothers, a Pittsburgh-based country band, will open for Esther Rose at 6 p.m. June 8.

Kaia Kater

Montreal-born Grenadian-Canadian Kaia Kater grew up between her family’s deep ties to folk music and the years she spent learning and studying Appalachian music in the U.S. Her old-time banjo-picking skills and songwriting abilities have earned her praise from outlets such as NPR, CBC Radio and BBC Music.

Her third album, “Grenades,” has received acclaim from Rolling Stone as being “smart, atmospheric Americana.”

She will perform 7:30 p.m. June 12 on the Dollar Bank Main Stage. Her appearance is funded through Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Mandolin Orange with Parsonsfield and Mipso

Mandolin Orange, a North Carolina duo featuring singer-songwriter Andrew Marlin and multi-instrumentalist Emily Frantz, will perform at 7:30 p.m. June 15 on the Dollar Bank Main Stage.

Their latest album, “Tides of a Teardrop (2019)” has been called their fullest, richest and most personal effort. For this album, Marlin and Frantz enlisted their touring band that they also worked with on their last recording, “Blindfaller.”

NPR called Mandolin Orange “a slow-burning, steadily rising folk duo … they’ve mastered a largely acoustic sound that exudes gentle elegance.”

Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe

Singer and saxophonist Karl Denson and his band the Tiny Universe merge funk, soul, rock, jazz, blues and more. The songs he writes deliver a message of fellowship – across generations, genders, religions and cultures.

Performing at 7:30 p.m. June 16 on the Dollar Bank Main Stage, Denson will introduce his latest album, “Gnomes and Badgers,” that takes on the current state of politics and the need for listening to each other.

“I’m still trying to connect with my audience and people around me, in terms of trying to keep all of us responsible for what we say and do,” he says.

5 ‘don’t-miss’ attractions

‘Origami’

The exclusive North American premiere of Compagnie Furinkaï’s “Origami,” fusing public art and contemporary dance, will be featured during the Arts Festival’s closing weekend June 14-16. Co-presented by Pittsburgh Dance Council, “Origami” is inspired by the art of Japanese paper folding and pairs a 40-foot shape-shifting shipping container with a gravity-defying dancer.

Only five opportunities to see Origami performances will be offered at the confluence of the three rivers, at the Point at 9 p.m. June 14, 5 and 9 p.m. June 15, and 2 and 7 p.m. June 16.

‘Los Trompos’

Award-winning Mexican artists Héctor Esrawe and Ignacio Cadena will share their “Los Trompos” (Spinning Tops), a colorful piece of public art displayed on Point State Park’s Main Lawn. These brightly-colored, interactive sculptures that function as both artwork and rotating seating spaces are made possible by support from the Laurel Foundation.

Ocean Sole Africa

The Gateway Center area will feature Ocean Sole Africa’s brightly colored art sculptures created entirely out of flip-flops reclaimed from the Indian Ocean. Ocean Sole Africa, based in Kenya, collects, cleans, compresses and carves the old flip-flops into masterpieces.

Tut’Zanni Theatre Company ‘Beep and Bop’

Tut’Zanni Theatre Company is a troupe of six performers-storytellers who create fun, interactive experiences for audiences and “expand the views of not only what theatre can be, but what people can be.”

Their Three Rivers Arts Festival production introduces Beep and Bop, siblings who must create their own world to survive.

They will perform at Point State Park from noon to 8 p.m. June 7 and 8. Their performance is supported by The Barbara L. Widdoes Founders’ Endowment Fund.

Public Art in the Cultural District

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust continually leverages opportunities to upgrade the Downtown Cultural District’s physical look, feel and experience through outdoor, public works of art, public parks and plazas, streetscape beautification projects and building restoration.

Festival visitors can spot numerous works of art around the Cultural District.

One of them, the 25-foot bronze fountain centerpiece in the Agnes R. Katz Plaza, was created by the late American artist and sculptor Louise Bourgeois, who drew inspiration from Pittsburgh’s rising topography.

5 festival favorites

Artist Market

More than 350 independent artists will be selling their handmade art in an open-air setting, from noon to 8 p.m. daily. Each artist participates for a varying number of days, so visitors are encouraged to make multiple visits to discover new artists on June 8, 12, 14 and 15.

Eileen Yeager of Murrysville is one of the artists, a printmaker who focuses on everything that grows, including flowers, fruits, herbs, vegetables and the landscape. Celebrating her 21st year at the Arts Festival, she will be displaying her art creations from June 7-11.

Her nature prints are made from dried herbs and leaves and printmakers’ oil-based ink. Her Sweet Corn Strata combines nature prints cut up and collaged together; her American Bouquet combines etching with nature prints.

Festival food

With a growing number of food trucks and vendors offering everything from funnel cake and fresh-squeezed lemonade to gyros and lobster burgers, food is a major attraction at the Three Rivers Arts Festival. If festival fare isn’t on the menu for hungry visitors, the Cultural District offers a variety of restaurants in walking distance of the attractions.

The Pittsburgh Time Capsule

In celebration of the Arts Festival’s 60th anniversary, artist Toby Atticus Fraley will be collecting messages from the public that will be stored in two time capsules, one entrusted to the Mayor’s Office of Pittsburgh and the other with The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust.

Anyone is welcome to leave any message they feel would be important for an audience to hear in the year 2120. Each participant will have one minute to leave a message for this exhibit.

The Time Capsule exhibit will be open from noon to 9 p.m. June 7-10 at Gateway Center.

‘Remember Me’ Juried Art Exhibition

“Remember Me” is the theme for the 2019 Juried Visual Art Exhibition for the Festival’s 60th anniversary. Fifty-two works of art by 39 artists were selected through a blind jury process from more than 500 submissions and 300 artists.

The works are driven by the basic human desire to be acknowledged, accepted, represented and remembered.

The exhibition is located on the fourth floor of the Trust Arts Education Center in the Cultural District and will be open from noon to 8 p.m. June 7-10.

Giant Eagle Creativity Zone

The Giant Eagle Creativity Zone at Point State Park features creative arts activities and demonstrations for all ages. Several community organizations will be on hand to provide fun projects for families.

The Creativity Zone will be open daily during the festival from noon to 6 p.m.