This afternoon I visited JoAnna Commandaros at the Spinning Plate Artist Lofts in East Liberty. Raised by Greek and Syrian parents who each maintained artistic practices of their own, JoAnna’s creativity was nurtured from a young age. She recalls first being introduced to pottery throwing as a child, when she and other children were brought to the home of Bill Strickland during the early days of the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild. JoAnna also remembers her mother lying about her age so she could enroll in college preparatory summer courses at Carnegie Mellon University, where many years later she’d attend and obtain her undergraduate degree.
Spinning Plate opened in 1998, and JoAnna was one of the first two artists to move into the building. Over the years, artists have come and gone, but JoAnna has remained a constant presence for nearly three decades. Her long tenure has positioned her as something of the building’s grande dame, often inheriting unused materials and discarded works left behind by departing artists. Many of these objects eventually find their way into JoAnna’s assemblage sculptures.
JoAnna taught sculpture at the University of Pittsburgh for 22 years before an unfortunate accident on campus led to her early retirement. In addition to teaching, she was also the primary caretaker for her elderly parents, and the weight of those combined responsibilities left her both physically and emotionally exhausted. During that period of her life, much of her work took on a minimalist quality out of necessity.
JoAnna’s practice became especially important as she navigated the trauma and grief surrounding both her accident and the loss of her parents. As she processed those experiences, her work shifted toward more maximalist compositions and aesthetics, with bold colors and dense layering remaining a throughline in her work today.
This afternoon, I visited the Lawrenceville studio of Reiko Yamamoto. Born in Japan, Reiko moved to the United States with her family at age 16 after her father’s job relocated them to Detroit. Although she did not speak English, she still had to navigate high school. Seeking classes that required limited verbal communication, Reiko enrolled in ceramics, where she was introduced to the process of manipulating and forming clay.
Over the years, Reiko has produced a wide range of functional objects to meet the demands of wholesale accounts. Keeping up with that level of production required efficiency, which meant working primarily on the wheel. Now, however, Reiko finds herself at a transitional point in her practice, leaning further into experimentation and prioritizing hand building over wheel throwing. In addition to creating hand-formed functional objects, she is also exploring ways to integrate her interests in pattern making and textiles into her ceramics practice, placing greater emphasis on pieces intended to be displayed and exhibited as fine art objects.
Reiko grew up in a culture and household where the idea of a matching dinnerware set did not exist. Instead, the table was filled with a vivid assortment of dishes in varying sizes, colors, shapes, and patterns. That experience continues to inform her approach to making objects designed to be mixed and matched, as well as her appreciation for thoughtfully designed functional wares.
Pittonkatonk once again proved why it’s one of Pittsburgh’s most special annual events. Despite rain earlier in the day, there was already a sea of people by 3 p.m., and the energy carried well into the night. What Pete Spynda and his merry team of collaborators have cultivated is truly something beautiful.
If you didn’t attend, I highly recommend catching Philly-based Mariposas Galácticas, an eight-piece cumbia klezmer punk outfit, when they return to Pittsburgh next month to perform at the Three Rivers Arts Festival.
May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, and today Carnegie Museums hosted an AANHPI Heritage Celebration at the Kamin Science Center. Visitors were immersed in culture through vibrant dance performances, hands-on activities, music, and martial arts demonstrations.
This morning, I was in Greensburg visiting the studio of Kevin O’Toole. Early in his career, Kevin would first model his sculptures in clay before recreating them at scale using laminated hardwood, kiln-dried boards glued together to create a stable mass. He developed this approach after observing one of his professors while pursuing his undergraduate degree. Wood was initially a practical choice: a permanent material that was readily available and easily worked with common tools.
As his experience expanded, Kevin’s work evolved from more organic forms toward increasingly geometric compositions. As that shift occurred, he began trusting his intuition more fully, eventually eliminating clay models altogether and instead sketching ideas on graph paper before constructing them. The influence of the grid, along with his continued use of dimensional hardwood lumber, gradually shaped the visual language of the work itself.
After nearly four decades in practice, Kevin works with an increasingly spare vocabulary of forms. His sculptures explore subtle curves, shifting planes, and the way light moves across a surface to reveal those transitions. Contrasting materials, often silver leaf or paint, introduce a secondary design element while emphasizing the sensuous quality of the wood itself. Though formal and abstract in composition, the works are intended to be experienced intimately, as objects encountered on a distinctly human scale.
In addition to his sculptures, Kevin also creates two-dimensional works on paper inspired by his hobby of playing sudoku. Realizing that each number could be assigned a corresponding color, he began translating the logic of the puzzle into visual compositions. Because the rules of sudoku prevent numbers from repeating within the same row, column, or adjacent grouping, the resulting arrangements naturally produce a sense of balance and harmony. Much like his sculptural practice, these works merge structure and intuition, allowing ordered systems to generate quietly dynamic forms.
Last night, I visited City Theatre to sit in on the first technical rehearsal of Shakespeare’s R&J. The play centers on four boys living under strict rules, including limitations on what they are allowed to read. In an act of defiance and curiosity, they begin to secretly act out the forbidden Romeo and Juliet among themselves.
The production features a team of approximately 40 theater professionals, all of whom are current students or alumni of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama. Shakespeare’s R&J is directed by J. Cody Spellman, the John Wells Directing Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University.
The show opens May 8 and runs through May 10. Tickets for all four performances are available on City Theatre’s website.
This morning we walked Downtown to visit Arts Landing and Market Square, both of which were unveiled while we were out of the country on vacation. The teams at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership did a wonderful job with both redevelopment projects.
Standing in Arts Landing, you get some important views of the city, including the Three Sisters Bridges, PNC Park, and portions of the skyline. I loved seeing people exploring the park, taking in the art installations, and stopping to read about the pieces and the artists behind them. Works by Thaddeus Mosley, vanessa german, Darian Johnson, Lenka Clayton and Philip Andrew Lewis, Mikael Owunna and Marques Redd, John Peña, and Shikeith were commissioned by the Cultural Trust for the park. Later, a pickleball court will be installed with artwork by Sharmistha Ray.
After visiting these new spaces, I found myself walking through Downtown with a renewed appreciation and perspective, noticing the city’s architecture and character in ways perhaps I hadn’t before.
This afternoon we attended the May Day Parade in Polish Hill, and I’m so glad we did. It was our first time attending the parade, and I highly recommend experiencing it in future years.
First organized in 2010, the annual event has become a distinctive grassroots community tradition that is part neighborhood celebration, part political gathering, and part street-performance spectacle. Rooted in the broader history of May Day and International Workers’ Day, the parade celebrates both springtime renewal and solidarity through creativity, performance, and collective participation.
The annual event also includes a Friday night variety show and post-parade potluck. Each year is centered around a different theme, with this year’s being “Stay Bright: The Storm Is Here, Prep the Soil, Light the Path,” and attendees are encouraged to create and wear costumes inspired by their own interpretation of the theme. The parade itself winds through the streets of Polish Hill with homemade costumes, music, banners, puppets, and performances that transform the neighborhood into a joyful and deeply communal experience.
This afternoon, the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council hosted its second annual curated trolley tour of arts organizations and creative businesses. Launched to further advance our advocacy efforts, the guided tour brings together elected officials and their staff, policy partners, and philanthropic funders to experience firsthand how local, state, and federal public dollars support the arts ecosystem and cultural sector. Through shared stories and direct engagement, the tour highlights the relationship between public and philanthropic investment and demonstrates the meaningful impact arts organizations and businesses have on their neighborhoods and broader communities.
This year’s tour included stops at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, City of Asylum, ZYNKA Gallery, Atithi Studios, and Kelly Strayhorn Theater. Each stop also provided opportunities to hear from artists whose work has been supported through the programs and operations of these organizations and businesses. Featured artists this year included La Víspera, Rania Mamoun, Linda Price-Sneddon, Jacki Temple, Adil Mansoor, and Staycee Pearl.
This morning, I visited Studio Forget-Me-Not! in Carnegie. It had been about two years since my last visit to the studio and store, and it was wonderful to reconnect with some of the artists I met the first time around, including Laurie. I also had the chance to see the work and creative practice of artists like Heather, who I met at last month’s Creative Hive, up close, while meeting several new artists and learning more about their work.
Studio Forget-Me-Not! helps artists grow personally and professionally, opening pathways to independence,
meaningful self-expression, and economic opportunities through their art. They offer classes in painting, drawing, ceramics, fiber, and jewelry making. All artists have work available for sale in the commercial storefront located at 329 E Main Street in Carnegie.
