Culture of Pittsburgh

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Main article: Pittsburgh

The Culture of Pittsburgh stems from the city's long history as a center for cultural philanthropy, as well as its rich ethnic traditions. In the 19th and 20th centuries, wealthy businessmen such as Andrew Carnegie, Henry J. Heinz, Henry Clay Frick, and nonprofit organizations such as the Carnegie Foundation donated millions of dollars to create educational and cultural institutions.

Pittsburgh at night, 22 July, 2005.

1 Architecture
2 Conventions
3 Film and theater
4 Foods and drinks
5 Gardens and parks
6 Libraries
7 Music and dance
8 Museums and art
9 Recreation
10 Counter-Culture
11 See also
12 References
13 External links

[edit] Architecture

Cathedral of Learning, Pittsburgh, May 14, 2005.

The Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece Fallingwater is about an hour's drive from downtown. The North Shore has an 1895 neogothic church, Calvary Methodist, with an interior designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. The church's stained glass windows are some of the largest and most elaborate work Tiffany ever created. The Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Pittsburgh, an opulently decorated edifice with elaborate Old World flourishes is one of the finest examples of the so-called Polish Cathedral style, ^[1] dominating the skyline over Polish Hill. The Allegheny County Courthouse (1886), designed by H.H. Richardson, is a unique and influential building. At 42 stories, the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning (1937) is the second tallest educational building in the world. The tallest skyscraper in Pittsburgh is the triangular U.S. Steel Tower. Both Heinz Field (2001) and PNC Park (2001) are designed to give fans a view of the city skyline.

[edit] Conventions

David L. Lawrence Convention Center, as viewed from I-579 bridge.

The David L. Lawrence Convention Center, located on the south bank of the Allegheny River, is quickly becoming some of the most sought after convention space in the country, as it is able to accommodate all sizes of conventions, exhibitions and conferences. Certified with a Gold rating by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design initiative, the building is considered the first ever "green" convention center and world's largest "green" building.

[edit] Film and theater

Pittsburgh Filmmakers teaches media arts and runs three "arthouse" movie theaters.

The Pittsburgh Playhouse at Point Park University has four resident companies of professional actors. Other theater companies include City Theatre, Quantum Theater, Public Theater, Attack Theater, and Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theater.

Friday Nite Improvs, an improv show at the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning, is Pittsburgh's longest-running theatre show. It has produced a number of professional writers and actors.

[edit] Foods and drinks

Traditional Pittsburgh foods reflect the city's multicultural heritage, especially that of the European immigrants of the early 20th century. While these immigrant populations introduced foods such as pierogis to the city, they are now enjoyed by Pittsburghers in general. Other Pittsburgh foods were developed in the city. In general, these foods are still popular because for many years, they satisfied the hearty appetite of the archetypal Pittsburgher: the hard-working, blue-collar steelworker.

The Slavic-American communities introduced the pierogi to Pittsburgh

Cabbage rolls – Beef, pork, rice, green pepper, wrapped in cabbage and baked with sauerkraut and tomato soup or juice
Chipped Ham – thinly-sliced processed ham, from Isaly's since 1933
City chicken – cubes of pork and/or veal baked or fried on a wooden skewer
Clark Bar – chocolate candy bar; developed in the city in 1886
Devonshire Sandwich – open-face chicken or turkey sandwich; invented in Oakland, 1936
Haluski – noodles with fried cabbage (Polish), or cottage cheese (Slovak)
Heinz Ketchup – condiment and foodstuff developed in Pittsburgh and consumed worldwide; considered by Pittsburghers to be correct on hot dogs, hamburgers, fries and scrambled eggs
Iceballs – old-fashioned snow cones sold by Gus & Yia Yia on the Northside
Iron City Beer – native brew; with a shot of whiskey, a boilermaker; with a shot of Imperial, an imp-n-arn.
Italian sausage – with grilled peppers and onions
Kielbasa – eastern European sausages
Klondike bar – an ice cream treat made famous by Isaly's
Pierogies – Polish dish, pasta dough filled with potato and cheese, onion or sauerkraut
Primanti Brothers – sandwich with fries and coleslaw in it
Roethlis-burger – Hamburger named after Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger; made up of ground beef, sausage, scrambled eggs, grilled onions and American cheese

See Category:Pittsburgh cuisine

[edit] Gardens and parks

See also: ArtGardens of Pittsburgh

Main entrance to Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens

Pittsburgh houses the country's National Aviary. Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, in Schenley Park, feature seasonal and global plants in a recently-remodeled Victorian-style greenhouse.

[edit] Libraries

The city has an extensive library system, both public and university. Most notable are the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh's University Library System.

Many local history materials are available on-line at Historic Pittsburgh, a collection that includes materials from the University of Pittsburgh's University Library System, the Library & Archives of the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania at the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center, and the Carnegie Museum of Art. Pittsburgh History is an on-line service maintained by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

[edit] Music and dance

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Lobby of Heinz Hall.

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performs in Heinz Hall, which also plays host to other events throughout the year. The Benedum Center and Heinz Hall provide venues for numerous musicals, lectures, speeches, and other performances. Pittsburgh is also home to one of the few professional brass bands in the world, the River City Brass Band. Other musical arts groups include the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra (PYSO) and the River City Youth Brass Band. The Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh is an acclaimed semi-professional choir, with performances that are usually free to the public.

Pittsburgh is one of the most important cities in the development of American Jazz music. Important contributors to Jazz from Pittsburgh and its surrounding suburbs include singer Billy Eckstine, trumpet players Roy Eldridge and Tommy Turrentine, tenor saxophone player Stanley Turrentine, piano players Sonny Clark, Erroll Garner, Earl Hines, Ahmad Jamal and Mary Lou Williams, guitar player George Benson, drummers Art Blakey and Jeff "Tain" Watts and the noted composer and arranger Billy Strayhorn, who was Duke Ellington's primary musical collaborator for almost 30 years. Erroll Garner, Ahmad Jamal and Billy Strayhorn all attended Westinghouse High School in the Homewood district.

Recently, Pittsburgh has gained a reputation for its large indie and punk rock scene. Several notable indie rock bands have come from Pittsburgh in recent years, including Rusted Root, The Clarks, Don Caballero, and punk rock bands Anti-Flag and Aus-Rotten. The city is also famous in the underground for its strong hardcore scene, producing bands such as No Retreat,End Of Humanity and Built Upon Frustration. 2006 brought about more mainstream success with DJ Girl Talk's Night Ripper and indie rock TV on the Radio's Return to Cookie Mountain (two of the members grew up in Pittsburgh) making the Rolling Stone end of the year list and rapper Wiz Khalifa's Pittsburgh Sound making the Hot List once as well as being a featured artist.

From June through August, Stars at Riverview is a weekly open-air jazz concert at Riverview Park.^[2]

Pittsburgh Dance Council and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater host a variety of dance events. Polka, folk, square and round dancing have a long history in the city and are celebrated by the internationally famous Duquesne University Tamburitzans, a multicultural academy dedicated to the preservation and presentation of folk songs and dance.

The Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble (PNME) is an American ensemble dedicated to the performance of contemporary classical music.

[edit] Museums and art

Tyrannosaurus Rex skull, Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

Pittsburgh has several visual arts museums, including the Andy Warhol Museum, dedicated to the works of Pittsburgh native Andy Warhol. The Carnegie Museum of Art is home to works by such luminaries as Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Robert Adam and many others, along with galleries of sculpture, modern art, the Heinz Architectural Center, a large film and video collection, and various traveling exhibits. Installation art is featured outdoors at ArtGardens of Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Center for the Arts shows contemporary art and provides resources for Western Pennsylvania artists.

The town's premier history museum is the Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center with an annual attendance of 130,000.

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History, located in Oakland, has extensive dinosaur collections on display, including the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever discovered, and an Egyptian wing. The building may be distinguished by a life-size statue known as, "Dippy the Diplodocus" to the right of the main entrance. Other dinosaur statues are visible around the Pittsburgh area, these decorated by artists nationwide and sold as a benefit to the Carnegie Museums. The Carnegie Science Center, located in the North Side near PNC Park and Heinz Field, is more technology oriented.

[edit] Recreation

See also: Sports in Pittsburgh

The Thunderbolt rollercoast, Kennywood Park

Close-by the Phipp's Conservatory is the Schenley Park Golf Course, a public golf links. Kennywood Park is widely regarded by rollercoaster enthusiasts to have some of the best rollercoasters in the world, including several early 20th century wooden coasters: the Racer, the Thunderbolt, and the Jack Rabbit. A water park owned by Kennywood, Sandcastle, is another local amusement park.

[edit] Counter-Culture

Pittsburgh has recently gained attention as a burgeoning center for counter-culture.^[3] The annual Pennsic War, the Society for Creative Anachronism's largest re-enactment of pre-17th-century Europe, is hosted nearby. Anthrocon, the world's largest anthropomorphics convention, returns every summer to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. The Pittsburgh Cacophony Society is also very active^[4], and in 2008, the Pittsburgh Burning Man community launched a winter regional burn event called Frostburn.