CREATING AN OPEN DIALOGUE

#notwhite collective mounts exhibition at Brew House

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

An arts exhibition that is as much an invitation to dialogue will open with a free public reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Brew House, 711 S. 21st St., South Side.

“In Between the Middle” is the inaugural exhibition organized by the #notwhite collective comprising 11 Pittsburgh-based women artists.

The collective formed in February 2016 with an invitation from Christiane Dolores to “women that I’ve either collaborated with or I have watched work and thought they were fierce,” she said.

She described collective members as “bi/multiracial/cultural, immigrant or descendants of immigrants” who don’t fit neatly into standard cultural categories or consensus boxes. Their art includes visual, poetic, musical and performative expression.

The other members are Sarah Aziz, Veronica Corpuz, Amber Epps, Fran Flaherty, Geña, Carolina Loyola-Garcia, Liana Maneese, Maritza Mosquera, Maggie Negrete and Christina Springer. An additional 21 artists will participate in the exhibition.

Ms. Christiane Dolores, 51, describes herself as a multiplatform artist; her creative work ranges from painting to poetry. Born in Orleans, France, to a German mother and an American father, she settled in Pittsburgh in 1991 and lives in Knoxville.

Over several meetings collective members stepped out of their art making, and comfort zones, to discuss issues relevant to their experiences of life