Overview
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Until
very recently, in Pittsburgh, it would have boded ill
for a man to build a handsome house a few miles out of
the smoke; and to this day it is said that a Pittsburgh
man of business who should publish a poem would find his
"paper" doubted at the bank. "A good man, sire, but not
practical."
James
Parton, 1868
The
arts help humans express what is important and see
things as if for the first time. Through good times
and bad times, Pittsburgh artists, writers, musicians,
dancers, and dramatists have helped us all be a little
more human.
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Related
subjects: Language
arts, art, music, dance, drama
Grade
levels:
Adaptable 4-12 grades
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FYI:
Background article
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Teaching
Tools
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Video about The Arts in Pittsburgh
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Introduction
From the
earliest humans who roamed this planet to the youngest child just learning
to grasp a crayon, humans have struggled to communicate not just the
empirical facts of an event, but the elusive emotions we attach to it.
But why not simply relay the facts and move on?
Perhaps it
is because, as Pablo
Picasso once said, "Art washes away from the soul the dust
of everyday life."
An artist
sees through the "dust," through the minutia, to the details
that give life its richness and texture. The artist then attempts to
communicate the significance of those details in a way that balances
individual expression with a "common" language others can
understand.
Marking those
observations as special is an action of art.
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