Community building through art, cooking

“There are so many sad stories in our community,” she says. “This is a way to show our culture in a good way.”

After signing up, the women were broken into two groups. Each met four times between March and June, with half the time spent on cooking and the other on visual arts. The project included traveling to Chatham University’s Eden Hall campus in Richland to cook in the kitchen. Some of the women brought their daughters to the sessions, and they all found the project a great way to engage with other Spanish speakers in a relaxed setting, says Ms. Zapata, who is of MexicanAmerican heritage.

The exhibition showcases the talent and heritages of many different countries — Columbia, Venezuela, El Salvador, Mexico and Dominican Republic are all represented— and the recipe cards the artists will distribute at the opening reception on Friday are printed in both Spanish and English. Some of the food will be familiar, says Ms. Cook, like Ms. Beckett-Rumberger’s recipe for tres leche cake. Other dishes might not ring a bell, such as a recipe for tortillas from Paraguay. When the cookbook is completed later this fall, organizers hope to do a run of at least 200 copies.

And if you make it to the opening? PF/PCA also is hosting a Raku firing workshop and potluck from 6 to 9 p.m. where attendees participate in a community firing and bring food/drinks to share. It costs $30 and you can sign up on the center’s website at http://center.pfpca.org (search raku potluck). There is no charge for folks who come to watch the firing or view the exhibit.

“Cocinando con Arte” holds its opening reception on Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. in the PF/PCA Center for the Arts’ Scaife Building, 1047 Shady Ave., Shadyside. Regular exhibition hours are 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday; and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday. The exhibit runs through Aug. 20.