Pitt ARTS Holds Annual Art Fair on Sept. 15

The University of Pittsburgh’s Pitt ARTS program will hold its 12th Annual Art Fair in the William Pitt Union Ballroom from 11 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 15. A free lunch will be served at noon.

Attendees will have the opportunity to browse information and talk with staff from about 30 Pittsburgh arts organization, including the Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Andy Warhol Museum, Mattress Factory Art Museum, Carnegie Museums, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Manchester’s Craftsmen’s Guild, Guitar Society of Fine Art, Pittsburgh CLO Cabaret, and many others.

Pitt faculty, staff, and students can learn details about the cultural organizations’ 2010-11 seasons, sign up to win prizes and ticket-giveaways, and try their hand at making arts-related objects.

Pitt ARTS has been connecting students on the University’s Pittsburgh campus to the cultural life of the city since the organization was founded in 1997. Funded by the Office of the Provost, the program sponsors more than 110 free student outings for Pitt undergraduates each year. Pitt ARTS also provides on-campus art experiences, free museum visits for Pitt students, as well as discounted cultural opportunities for staff, faculty, and undergraduate and graduate students.

The Cheap Seats Program is available to Pitt students, faculty, and staff with a valid University identification card. Some Cheap Seats partners allow the discounted tickets to be purchased online via the Pitt ARTS site, www.pittarts.pitt.edu. Other tickets can be reserved outside of the Pitt ARTS’ temporary office location at 316 William Pitt Union—purchasers must have a valid Pitt ID. Those tickets will be available one hour prior to the performance at the appropriate venue. A valid Pitt ID must be shown to pick up the tickets.

Each Pitt person can buy as many as four tickets per show (with a few exceptions), and participants are welcome to bring non-Pitt people as guests. Each Cheap Seats partner organization has a different deadline for purchasing tickets.

Among the many Pitt ARTS Cheap Seats offerings this fall are tickets to “Honeck & Beethoven’s Fifth” with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra on Sept. 24-26. The evening show on Sept. 24 is a designated PITT NIGHT—a Pitt ARTS special evening that includes discounted seat prices, optional free transportation from Oakland, and a post-show dessert reception with artists from the show. Four other PITT NIGHTs are scheduled through January with different partner organizations in the Cultural District, Downtown.

Details about Cheap Seats and other Pitt ARTS programs are available on the Web site or by calling 412-624-4498. Each year, Pitt ARTS’s various programs attract 45,000 Pitt students, including repeat users.