November 2002

<< BACK | NEXT >>

Eric Christopher Sloss | Age 28
Public relations coordinator,
Mon Valley Initiative

The arts permeate Eric Sloss' life.
"I have been an art enthusiast all my life," says the Highland Park resident. "I was impressed with the power of creation."

Sloss is not only a painter who has shown his work in Pittsburgh and Chicago, but he's also vice president with the Steel Valley Arts Council, a Mon Valley volunteer arts organization. Through the Council, the former South Sider brought the Artrain USA, a traveling art museum with pieces from the Smithsonian, to make a six-day visit to Homestead. He also lead the first-ever art exhibit in Homestead, "Art at Home in Stead," for which he served as art director and curator. Displaying works by 32 artists, the month-long event attracted more than 3,000 people to the Eighth Avenue business district.

"Everyone said no one would come to the Homestead business district," laughs Sloss. A second exhibit was up and running a month later.

Homestead Borough Council approved a proposal by Sloss, called the Homestead Sidewalk Art Project, to permit artists to display, sell or perform their art on the streets of the business district on Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., from July to October. He also actively promotes the area's empty spaces to the arts community and is seeking a permanent space for a gallery and/or theater performances.

"I saw a great potential here in Homestead," says Sloss.

Sloss is also heavily involved with Ground Zero's Flux event. He negotiated to host the fifth Flux event in Homestead in October 2001, drawing 74 artists and more than 900 visitors. Sloss is codirector of a new aspect to the Flux events -- an artist-to-community project. He collaborates with artists from the community in which the Flux event is held and organizes the creation of a piece of public art (such as the Wilkinsburg mural from the June Flux event).

His Ground Zero involvement doesn't end there: Sloss is an active member of the Ground Zero Action Network and coordinator of the Golden Triangle CDC's SkinnyBuilding project, an underused downtown building whose windows have become a public display space for artwork.

Sloss sees a positive future for the Mon Valley communities -- thanks to the arts. "I see an eclectic mix of art galleries, coffee shops, unique restaurants," says Sloss. "You'll see true grassroots development."

Christiane D. | Age 36
Artist

"What we do is as important as a doctor, as anything that exists today. We remind people of the beauty and horror of life," says Christiane Leach, who professionally goes by Christiane D. "It's our job. We take it seriously, and we deserve to be compensated like anyone else."

Wait, artists talking about compensation? As romantic as the idea of the starving artist is, it isn't a notion Christiane is willing to buy. She works to move the Pittsburgh art community forward, and while helping artists realize financial success may not be the most important aspect of her work, it's at least one of the more novel ones. "I tell [artists] foremost that what we do is very important to the world, so they deserve to be compensated."

A member of the arts community herself, Christiane has an impressive "resume," if you will. She's a musician, best known currently for her work in Soma Mestizo, a world funk band, but she's also writing songs for others (five appear on Phat Man Dee's debut album) and exploring different musical genres on her own. She writes poetry and is working on a play about mulatto slaves. She creates surrealistic drawings and also paints, sculpts, curates exhibits and acts.

Christiane cofounded Sun Crumbs (with last year's "40 Under 40" honoree Christina Springer) to sponsor, support and mentor artists, and to produce exhibits that promote coexistence within society. She's also program coordinator at the Brewhouse Association, which encompasses exhibition, education and performance through community outreach. And she's working on several other projects to bring artists together, the most recent being "Mini M's" -- smaller music and movement festivals funded by the Sprout Fund.

"Pittsburgh is open and hungry, hungry for this stuff," the Lawrenceville resident says. "So many of us are working so hard to be here, but we're being blocked. Our efforts aren't being recognized. If we don't get more support, we're going to have to take it somewhere else." Christiane says the local arts scene suffers from a general lack of open-mindedness from the "powers that be."

"It's all very aggravating, a daily slap in the face," she says. "It's hard to stay here, but I'm a warrior. I refuse to let them win."

Daryl Cross | Age 39
Director of sales, Wall-to-Wall
Studios Inc.

Daryl Cross knew what time it was when it really counted.

The Friendship resident was responsible for creating It's About Time, the signature fundraising event for uptown's Bethlehem Haven, a multifaceted homeless program.

"I had never considered doing volunteer work before," says Cross. "I was at a point in my life where I could give something back." And in 1998, London-born Cross joined the board of Bethlehem Haven and started organizing a fall fundraiser. At the time, the Haven conducted a fundraising event each season.

The first year, Cross realized the event fell on the weekend that the clocks changed from daylight savings to standard time, which gave him the idea of a clock auction at which artists would create one-of-a-kind timepieces. (Bernard Uy, Cross's boss and a former "40 Under 40" winner, came up with the event's title.) During the event's first couple of years, Cross recruited a large number of artists to participate and engaged Ikea to become the title sponsor of the event in the second year. (Ikea has also become more deeply involved with other Haven projects.)

"The thing I'm most proud of is [Ikea's] continued involvement," says Cross.
The first year, the event raised $5,000-$6,000. Last year, it raised nearly $40,000. October's event, the fourth It's About Time, was expected to raise $60,000 as the level of participants and associated activities continues to grow. (Final figures were not available at press time.)

The It's About Time event proved so successful for Bethlehem Haven that it is now the organization's sole fundraising event each year. The idea seems to have caught the fancy of other parts of the country, with a similar event planned in Atlanta.

Cross, no longer on the Haven's board, has also stepped down from his position with the It's About Time event. "It has assumed a life of its own," laughs Cross. Cross stays busy with his position as director of sales at Wall-to-Wall Studios, a position he took nearly six years ago when he returned to Pittsburgh from teaching English in the Middle East. (Incidentally, this isn't the first time Cross has graced the pages of Pittsburgh magazine -- his remodeled kitchen was featured as a remodeling project under $25,000 in the 2000 Superior Interiors Awards, and he was a guest cook on "‘C' Is for Chili" with host Chris Fennimore.)

For now, Cross hasn't found any other volunteer work -- "I need to get off my butt," he laughs. But for now, he cooks, entertains, makes ceramics, travels extensively with his wife, Susan Peake, and plays guitar, something he calls "my true love."

Polyxena Speros | Age 34
Director of business development,
The Fitting Group

"I loved my job at the museum," says Polly Speros. "The moment I left I renewed my membership [to the Carnegie Museums]."

Until August, Speros was the business development manager for the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. In that role since 1998, the Erie native focused on increasing museum revenue from admissions -- and doing a pretty good job, too.

During her tenure, the museum's nonschool group admissions grew 50 percent over three years. She was the driving force behind the Museums program with the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, which allowed students free admission to the Carnegie Museums. It's one of her proudest accomplishments at the museum. "Students get the advantage of an extended campus," she explains.

Speros was also instrumental in setting up the Art Club program at the Carnegie to get young professionals interested in art, and the Vintage Pittsburgh program, geared toward senior adult cultural tourists.

The Shadyside resident also is active in the Rotary Club of Pittsburgh, which established the Roberto Clemente Health Clinic in La Reforma, Nicaragua, in 1999, and is working on building a second facility in the same area. She was involved in the Duck Derby in September, the Rotary's fundraising initiative for local charities.

Speros also serves on several boards, including Destination: Greater Pittsburgh and PUMP. "I really love that [PUMP]," says Speros. She's chairing the September advocacy trip to Washington to talk to legislators about transit and robotics issues being planned by PUMP, and the New Pittsburgh Collaborative.

In August this year, Speros was offered her current position as director of business development at downtown-based Fitting Group, a strategic marketing firm. She called the offer "serendipitous" and wasn't looking to leave the Museums. But she says she's excited by the challenges of her new job and a little wistful about leaving the Carnegie.

But she won't be leaving Pittsburgh anytime soon. "Pittsburgh is a place that I found is made for me."

Aradhna Malhotra Dhanda | Age 36
Executive director, Children's Festival Chorus

"I came here kicking and screaming," laughs Aradhna Dhanda. "Now, I'm a convert."

The Marshall resident moved here in 1999 when her husband, Anuj, was transferred to PNC Bank headquarters. After a year of settling in and painting a lot of walls in her new home, "I started to get antsy," says Dhanda.

She set out looking for some way to contribute to her new hometown. She had experience managing a small choir in New Jersey, so when the Children's Festival Chorus came calling, she answered.

The 19-year-old CFC is dedicated to providing choral education to Pittsburgh-area children through professional music training and performance experiences. "It's [CFC] unique because of its mission," explains Dhanda. "Our mission is education."

Last year, about 160 kids from 90 schools in nine counties were part of the Chorus, performing in 20-25 concerts.
Executive director since 2000, Dhanda says, "The thing I'm really proud of is the level of energy in and around the organization. If I've not caused it, I helped cause it."

She has also built a relationship between the Chorus and the Boys and Girls Club in an effort to bring choral music to underserved and diverse populations. She has formalized and strengthened the relationships between the CFC and the Pittsburgh Opera, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh (the CFC performs with at least one of these groups each year).

She reenergized the Friends of the CFC, a parents' group, getting the parents more engaged and involved with the CFC. She has delivered a balanced budget each year, thanks to her M.B.A. from Rutgers University as well as her Ph.D. work in organizational behavior there.

Dhanda created and has begun implementing a strategic plan for the CFC and has great hopes for putting the CFC on a path of long-term growth and success, she says. With public schools' cutting more and more deeply into the funding of arts programs, Dhanda says the CFC becomes more and more important to the region.

In her free time with her two sons, Kash, 12, and Brij, 9, Dhanda enjoys antiques shopping and painting walls, a favorite pastime. She is also on the boards of the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts and Leadership Pittsburgh, and is a member of the Mattress Factory's Factory 500, who serve as "ambassadors" in the installation-art museum.

Dhanda isn't sure where the future will take her, but, "I am happy where I am right now," she says.

Deborah A. Baron and Kyra Straussman | Age 39
CEO and president, respectively,
Cool Space Locator

Deborah Baron and Kyra Straussman plan on being in the right place at the right time. After all, that's what real estate is all about -- location, location, location.

The Squirrel Hill residents cofounded Cool Space Locator, a nonprofit real estate brokerage firm that helps companies find office space in urban neighborhoods.

"These are people who want to be in an urban environment," says Baron. But there was a gap in services available to companies wanting to find and move into a "cool" urban space. That's where Cool Space Locator steps in.

CLS was created as a joint project of East Liberty Development Inc., Oakland Planning and Development Corp. and South Side Local Development Co.

"It was a really bold move for the CDCs involved to work together," says Straussman, who grew up in Colorado. CSL offers such services as site identification, lease and sales negotiations and referrals to other resources.

Baron and Straussman also help businesses access various incentives offered by other economic development organizations such as the Urban Redevelopment Authority, Community Loan Fund, Pennsylvania Department of Economic Development and the Pennsylvania Enterprise Zone programs.

CSL is about more than real estate, say Baron and Straussman. It's about redeveloping Pittsburgh's neighborhoods. "We believe that our neighborhoods are our past and our future," says Straussman.

Although Cool Space "officially" launched in mid-September, it's been functioning since January 2001. "You have to work to find us right now," says Baron, a Squirrel native. "And people are finding us."

Of their 41 prospective clients to date, Baron and Straussman have taken on 18 as clients, and seven of those have found cool spaces. The company's goals are to gather 350 prospective clients in the next year, with 133 becoming clients and 66 finding space.

Baron and Straussman estimate that 1.4 million square feet of vacant office space is available in Pittsburgh's urban centers, so there are plenty of cool spaces out there. And with Straussman's new real estate license and Baron's years of experience in commercial real estate, they're in the right place at the right time to help companies find their space in Pittsburgh.

Straussman and Baron are excited at the thought of their efforts' revitalizing Pittsburgh's neighborhoods. "The world of possibilities that comes to my mind [when looking at Pittsburgh's neighborhoods]," says Straussman. "That's what drives my passion."

Carey A. Harris | Age 33
Executive director, South Side Local Development Co.

The South Side resident of three years is in the midst of her biggest project yet -- helping the Urban Renewal Authority develop a retail, office space and residential development on the former LTV steel mill site.

The catch for Carey Harris: make it part of the South Side by seamlessly integrating it into the community she's been working to develop since she took the executive director position five years ago. She describes it as "building a lifestyle, not another strip mall where you could be anywhere, but something distinctive to the South Side."

The Crafton native left the area for college, returning to pursue a M.S.W. (in social work) at the University of Pittsburgh, but with no real intention to stay. An internship with Mon Valley Initiative changed that.

"I fell in love with Pittsburgh all over again," she says. "By the time I graduated, I was committed. I can make changes in physical places and peoples' lives." Her internship turned into a job, and she stayed with the Mon Valley Initiative for 5 1/2 years, strategizing and implementing programs to help Mon Valley communities.

All of Harris' projects work into the South Side Local Development Corp.'s mission of economic revitalization, historic preservation and community development. Projects include assisting 20 new businesses on Carson Street, extending the historic district into the first two blocks of the LTV site, managing the PNC investment through the Comprehensive Services Program, and providing support to nearby areas like Hazelwood, Mount Oliver and Arlington Heights.

There's still a lot of work to do -- from preserving the ethnic heritage of the "old" neighborhood to incorporating the new construction into the whole neighborhood.

"This isn't just important for the South Side but for the city and the region," Harris says of the challenge. "Tourists come here, businesses come here, we're creating a regional amenity. The stronger the South Side is, the stronger the region."

Julie L. DeSeyn | Age 33
Senior project development specialist, Urban Redevelopment Authority
of Pittsburgh

Julie DeSeyn fell in love when she came to Pittsburgh -- with the city itself.
The Rochester, N.Y., native came to the University of Pittsburgh to pursue her. B.A. and M.S. in social work. "I really fell for Pittsburgh," says DeSeyn. "I think it's a great place already. I like that it's a big/little place."

DeSeyn worked in social work in Pittsburgh for several years. And although she felt she was having an influence in individual lives, she didn't feel as if she was making a difference in the community.

She turned to Carnegie Mellon University and earned an M.S. in public policy and management. It was there she met Mulugetta Birru, the man who has been her boss ever since.

At the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, DeSeyn works on large-scale redevelopment projects such as the Panther Hollow Tax Increment Financing Project (for the Collaborative Innovation Center next to CMU), redevelopment of the Highland and Liberty buildings in East Liberty, and redevelopment opportunities in all seven of the Keystone Opportunity Zones. "It is very satisfying when you can see very tangible results [of your work]," says DeSeyn.

The Greenfield resident threw herself into making her adopted hometown a better place to live. In 1998, she joined the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project. In 2000, she chaired Pennsylvania's first-ever young professionals' convention, ImPAct. She spent 18 months planning and coordinating the event.

"It was a really intense experience," says DeSeyn. And a successful one. More than 500 young professionals came to Pittsburgh for three days of educational, professional and social activities. The Harrisburg Young Professionals are organized and hosted ImPAct II last month.

DeSeyn is also a volunteer for the Allegheny Conference Task Force on Young People, the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce's Athena Awards host committee, the Pittsburgh Sports League, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, and the Leadership Development Initiative. And, of course, her dog, Gonzo. "He makes my life better," laughs DeSeyn.

So what does the future hold? DeSeyn has no definite plans. "I'll definitely be here," she says. "Things seem to come along. I have never been disappointed."

Mara Kaplan | Age 38
CEO, Center for Creative Play

It's playtime again for Mara Kaplan.
Aug. 24 marked the grand opening of the new Regent Square location of the Center for Creative Play, a nonprofit, universally accessible play space for children. After more than a year of fundraising, construction and planning, 500 people played at the Center that Saturday.

As CEO, Kaplan makes it her mission to provide a place where all kids feel welcome. "Being welcomed is huge [for kids]," says Kaplan. "We treat everyone the same."

The Illinois native has been at the Center from nearly the beginning. She and her husband, Richard, chose to relocate to Pittsburgh from Boston for many reasons -- an active Jewish community, cost of living, a National League baseball team.

In 1993, she became the mother of her first child, Samuel, who was born with severe cognitive and physical disabilities. She and four other mothers with disabled children banded together to make a place where their children, and all children, could feel welcome and play. There were no places in Pittsburgh where kids with serious disabilities can fully participate, says the Highland Park resident.

In 1997, Kaplan had a daughter, Shoshana, who is developing typically, which only underscored her dedication to creating a place where an entire family, composed of all types of children, could play together.

The Center's original location in Station Square opened in 1995 with 1,000 kids visiting the first year. When the Center lost its sublease in 2001, Kaplan started a $5 million capital campaign, of which $3.2 million has been raised. The Center secured its new Swissvale location in August 2001 and started construction.

The new space is beautiful, says Kaplan. "It's designed so there are no barriers." Kids can pick their own activities, play at their own pace and, most important, participate fully. The Center is three times the original location's size and has a two-story playhouse (with an elevator), a tree house, a fake lake (no water, of course), a building block room, a music room and a sensory room, among other activities. The Center for Creative play is expecting 35,000 visitors this year.

Kaplan has also worked to create relationships between the Center and local organizations like the Dance Alloy, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Family Communications Inc., Boundless Playgrounds and Head Start. Other people are starting to take notice of the Center's mission and success. The William K. Kellogg Foundation recently awarded the Center a grant to create fully accessible play spaces in Michigan.

After years of doing every job at the Center, from taking out the trash to creating a capital campaign, Kaplan finally hired some additional help, bringing the Center's staff to 14 (from its original one full-timer employee and one part-timer). And she looks forward to sticking with the Center and making sure it reaches the goal of becoming a nationally recognized resource for the Pittsburgh region.

"I did it [the Center] for the community and everybody," says Kaplan. "I did it for my son."

Kelly Bleakley | Age 25
Art teacher, North Allegheny School District, Marshall and McKnight
elementary schools

"Art education doesn't consist of just mixing colors on a palette," says Kelly Bleakley. In her classes, it also consists of art history, art shows, field trips, community projects and family involvement.

The Aspinwall resident has always wanted to be a teacher. "I knew in sixth grade," laughs Bleakley. The McCandless native told her sixth-grade teacher that she would be back one day to take the teacher's job. (And she almost did -- Bleakley teaches in the school she attended as a child.)

She loves teaching art to young children. "Their energy is so high," she says. "They love learning about art."

Bleakley graduated from Penn State with a B.S. in art education and a minor in art history in 1999. Her first job was as a seventh-grade art teacher at Butler Junior High School, where she rewrote and implemented a new art curriculum, introduced a new program focusing on "What is art?", designed the school's website and taught mini-classes on website design. She and her students created two murals, developed the Butler Junior High School's first art exhibit, and submitted artwork to local and state competitions.

In her current classes, she often sends personal postcards to the children's homes along with a newsletter for parents. "It's important to collaborate with family," says Bleakley, noting that often parents don't always know what a child is doing in class. In hers, they could be studying African art or a miniature version of Monet's favorite bridge, or lying on the floor under a table drawing on a piece of paper taped to the underside to get an idea of what painting the Sistine Chapel was like.

She started an art club in which the students focus on three-dimensional art. Her classes also created public art pieces that were displayed at the school and at Northway Mall in Ross. And every child's work is hung and displayed in the classroom -- more than 800 kids.

When she isn't teaching, Bleakley is working on on a master's degree in education administration at the University of Pittsburgh. She also coaches a girls' soccer team and is hoping to get involved with Ground Zero's community mural projects. She volunteers at the Mattress Factory, where she ran the children's art activities at the opening of the exhibition "James Turrell: Into the Light" in June.

"I enjoy being with children outside of teaching," says Bleakley. She plans to continue to involve herself with volunteer and community projects in the area.

"The greatest thing about Pittsburgh is that you can truly make an impact," says Bleakley. "One person can do so much."

<< BACK | NEXT >>