Hemispheric Conversations: Urban Art Project (HCUAP, pronounced, “hiccup”) is an education and art program organized by Caitlin Bruce, Oreen Cohen, and Shane Pilster in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh. This project seeks to create platforms for conversation and education about urban art production (graffiti, street art, and muralism, among other genres), and to explore aesthetic and historical connections between cities.
These topics raise larger questions about citizens’ power in shaping their environments; about the desired image of the city we would like to see; and about questions of just development and community history and identity. We use a combination of public debates, symposia, youth art workshops, short residencies, collaborative art production, and public-facing research to activate such dialogues.
Our first two years focused on the intercultural exchange between the post-industrial cities of Pittsburgh, Chicago, and León Guanajuato Mexico. We have now expanded our exchange to Spain and Argentina.
All events are free and open to the public.
Jessica Pabón’s talk, “At One Point We All Rebelled”, takes place on the 5th floor of the Cathedral of Learning. Dozens of floor plans decorate the walls of the Gothic Revival room. The setting for a talk on graffiti and female masculinity is set.…