Woodland Hills All-District Art Show ~ May 12-21, 2006

Spring has sprung and what did all those April showers bring? Lots of May ART! Yes, Art is blossoming all over Braddock with the Woodland Hills All-District Art Show. From the Opening Reception on May 12 from 5-8pm till its closing hours on Sunday, May 21 from 1-4pm, there will be an event-filled two weeks devoted to the visual arts created by students in the Woodland Hills School District from kindergarten through high school.

All this will be taking place in the historic former First Presbyterian Church located at 416 Library Street, directly across from the Braddock Carnegie Library, the first Carnegie Library in America. The Woodland Hills Academic Foundation is sponsoring and coordinating this year's exciting exhibit with generous support from the Braddock community, particularly Mayor John K. Fetterman who is donating the use of his building to house the show, and Vicki Vargo, Executive Director of the Braddock Carnegie Library and the Braddock's Field Historical Society, who are opening up the Library and Music Hall for supplemental arts programming,

State Representative Paul Costa was first on board for this innovative and dramatically different idea for showcasing student art by supporting WHAF"s application for a Department of Community and Economic Development grant which provided most of the underwriting.

The Woodland Hills All-District Art Show will be open and free to the general public during the following times: Friday, May 12: 5-8pm, Opening Reception with refreshments; Saturday and Sunday, May 13 and 14: 1-4pm; Monday - Thursday, May 15- 18: 10am-1pm; additional hours on May 18, 6-9pm; Friday, May 19: 5-8pm; Saturday, May 20: 1-4pm; and Sunday, May 21: 1-4pm, Closing Session. Parking is available on Library Street, in the Braddock Avenue lot next to the Library, and in the St. Peter and Paul Greek Catholic Church lot on John Street behind the Art Show church. Also, there are some steps to enter the building so it is not completely handicap accessible.

As ambitious as a district-wide visual art show is, the Academic Foundation wanted to maximize the educational impact of the exhibit, so we have scheduled a number of performances and events to entertain visitors. Student and community groups have graciously agreed to share their talents with a range of performances: Opening Night, May 13, Jr. High Jazz Band; Saturday, May 20, 2-3pm, Rankin School Chamber Group, and Sunday, May 21, 2:30-3:30pm, the "Voice of Praise" choral group. Plans are underway to schedule more individual musicians, instrumental chamber groups, and poetry readers for Friday evening, May 19 and Saturday afternoon, May, 13. Visitors are