Latest Events in Forbes(January Updated)

RSVP for the National Art School Postgrad Show Opening Night. — The Postgrad Show celebrates the evolution and maturation of works by the 2024 Master of Fine Art (MFA) graduating cohort, produced with a multi-disciplinary approach across the celebrated studio traditions of ceramics, drawing, painting, photomedia, printmaking and sculpture, exhibited throughout the NAS campus. — Located in NAS Galleries, Building 25 Project Space and artist studios Entry via Forbes Street — RSVP essential, non-transferable Information Source: National Art School | eventbrite

Putting together a strong portfolio is one of the most important parts of your application to the National Art School. In this session, NAS lecturers will offer helpful advice to guide you through your portfolio preparation, plus provide personal feedback on your portfolio. Information Source: National Art School | eventbrite

RSVP for the National Art School Grad Show Opening Night. — The National Art School is proud to present The Grad Show, our major end-of-year exhibition showcasing the work of the 2024 Bachelor of Fine Art (BFA) graduate students. The Grad Show is an outstanding opportunity to discover the work of Australia’s emerging artists working across ceramics, drawing, painting, photomedia, printmaking and sculpture, exhibited throughout the NAS campus. Join us this December to celebrate the future of contemporary art. — Located in NAS Gallery, Rayner Hoff Project Space and artist studios Note: The Drawing Show will be exhibiting concurrently in Building 25 Project Space Entry via Forbes Street — RSVP essential, non-transferable Information Source: National Art School | eventbrite

We hope you will join us to hear from local author Ed Simon about his newest book, The Seven Deadly Sins and Seven Heavenly Virtues. We will have time for Q&A with the audience after the talk followed by a time for book signing. Want to reserve your copy of the book? You can do so here. About the author: Ed Simon is Special Faculty for Public Humanities in the English Department of Carnegie Mellon University and editor of Belt Magazine. A widely published author, his most recent books include Devil's Contract: The History of the Faustian Bargain and The Soul of Pittsburgh: Essays on Life, Community and History. About the book: A captivating artistic and philosophic exploration of humankind’s complex moral codes A companion piece to Pandemonium: A Visual History of Demonology and Elysium: A Visual History of Angelology, Seven Sins and Seven Virtues will complete this moral trilogy and finally consider God’s most enigmatic of creations: None of the conundrums of metaphysics are as baroque as the motivations of the human soul. Unlike the devils condemned to perdition and the angels compelled to paradise, humans are divine creatures that house within them warring impulses. Seven Sins and Seven Virtues will examine the literary, philosophical, theological, and most of all artistic expressions of the seven deadly sins and their respective seven cardinal virtues, drawing upon millennia of history to gather a compendium of humanity at its best and its worst. As a volume, the book will explore the Manichean nature of the human animal in all of its grandeur and canker, motivated by the faith that tales of damnation and salvation are the only stories that are ultimately worth telling. Information Source: Riverstone Books | eventbrite

We hope you will join us for an evening of adventure and history as Brian Black joins us to share his latest book Ike's Road Trip. He will be joined in coversation by Ed Russell and there will be a time for Q&A with the audience. Read more about the book and the author below! Want to reserve a copy of the book? You can do so here. About the book: All roads begin somewhere and today’s U. S. highway system began with an exploratory, cross-country ride, led by 28-year-old Army lieutenant colonel, Dwight Eisenhower. This is the story of that coast-to-coast journey and how the dream of connecting America with roads began. Before he led the liberation of Europe, before he became our nation’s 34th President, Dwight D. Eisenhower’s made a road trip in 1919 from Washington D.C. to California. The expedition proved to be a crucial chapter in the history of America as it laid the groundwork to make automobile travel the fastest and easiest way to move around the country, also setting in motion the nation’s future love affair with cheap crude. The 1919 Transcontinental Motor Convoy of eighty-one trucks and other military vehicles traveled more than 3,000 precarious miles along the most famous road of the day, the Lincoln Highway, which ran between New York City and San Francisco. World War I had illustrated the importance of being able to move large amounts of troops and equipment quickly over long distances, and Eisenhower’s mission was to evaluate whether the country’s emerging network of paved roadways could handle such a task. It was an experience Eisenhower would never forget. Decades later, as president, he drew on that experience to push through the Interstate Highway Act of 1956. Ike’s Road Trip adds an important chapter to the story of the midwestern president who is often seen as “America’s grandfather.” Eisenhower will also be seen as a modern visionary during a pivotal moment: his persistent trust in cheap petroleum proved to be a blueprint for modern America as he helped facilitate the most significant energy transition of the twentieth century. Today, we are experiencing perhaps the most important energy transition since Eisenhower’s day—from petroleum to renewables—and that change will require minds as equally visionary as his. About the author: Dr. Brian C. Black is Distinguished Professor of History and Environmental Studies at Penn State Altoona, where he also served for over a decade as Head of Arts and Humanities. Recognized as a global expert on energy and petroleum history, he is the author of more than a dozen books, which include: Petrolia: The Landscape of America’s First Oil Boom; Crude Reality: Petroleum in World History; and To Have and Have Not: Energy in World History. His writing on energy has appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, USA TODAY, the Conversation, and the New York Times. He divides his time between central Pennsylvania and Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Information Source: Riverstone Books | eventbrite

We hope you will join us to hear from local author Ed Simon about his newest book, The Seven Deadly Sins and Seven Heavenly Virtues. We will have time for Q&A with the audience after the talk followed by a time for book signing. Want to reserve your copy of the book? You can do so here. About the author: Ed Simon is Special Faculty for Public Humanities in the English Department of Carnegie Mellon University and editor of Belt Magazine. A widely published author, his most recent books include Devil's Contract: The History of the Faustian Bargain and The Soul of Pittsburgh: Essays on Life, Community and History. About the book: A captivating artistic and philosophic exploration of humankind’s complex moral codes A companion piece to Pandemonium: A Visual History of Demonology and Elysium: A Visual History of Angelology, Seven Sins and Seven Virtues will complete this moral trilogy and finally consider God’s most enigmatic of creations: None of the conundrums of metaphysics are as baroque as the motivations of the human soul. Unlike the devils condemned to perdition and the angels compelled to paradise, humans are divine creatures that house within them warring impulses. Seven Sins and Seven Virtues will examine the literary, philosophical, theological, and most of all artistic expressions of the seven deadly sins and their respective seven cardinal virtues, drawing upon millennia of history to gather a compendium of humanity at its best and its worst. As a volume, the book will explore the Manichean nature of the human animal in all of its grandeur and canker, motivated by the faith that tales of damnation and salvation are the only stories that are ultimately worth telling. Information Source: Riverstone Books | eventbrite

Queer Contemporary: Chaosophy brings together three generations of queer artists (including recent National Art School graduates) who make and break language across the intersections of art, activism, poetry and performance. Through their individual aesthetics and distinct voices, together the artists disrupt histories, conventional silences and cultural forms, using language to articulate queer perspectives and experience. Artists: Kika Kereru Baker, Daniel Browning, Sam Chan, Blake Griffiths, Frankie L.A, nikita lelu, r e a, Victoria Spence, Jake Starr, Ali Tahayori, Magic Young and Justine Youssef Information Source: National Art School | eventbrite

Riverstone Books is pleased to welcome Illah Nourbakhsh to our Squirrell Hill store to talk about their new title, Turn Left: Spinning an Intercultural Identity. He will be joined in conversation by Monica Ruiz. Following the discussion, we will have a time for Q&A with the audience and book signing. Refreshments will be provided. Want to reserve your copy of the book? You can do so here. About the book: Illah Nourbakhsh has spent fifty years navigating the space between cultures in conflict, enduring adversity, becoming resilient and successful, and yet, still failing to satisfy the question: “Where do I belong?” As it turns out, the answer lies in the space between categories. Drawing from his experience as an Iranian-born immigrant, Nourbakhsh shares his journey from the Iranian Revolution to the AI revolution, electric car races to the dot-com boom, and National Geographic to NASA. Turn Left opens up the essential conversation of identity, community engagement, and the power of robotics. About the author: Illah R. Nourbakhsh is Kavcic-Moura Professor of Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University, inaugural Executive Director of the Center for Shared Prosperity, and co-director of the Community Robotics, Education and Technology Empowerment Lab. He was the Inaugural K&L Gates Professor of Ethics and Computational Technologies. He obtained his PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University. In 2009 the National Academy of Sciences named him a Kavli Fellow. In 2013 he was inducted into the June Harless West Virginia Hall of Fame. He was previously Robotics Group Lead for NASA/Ames during the MER landings, and is a retired civil servant, NASA GS15/10. In 2019 he was named a Hastings Fellow. He has co-authored textbooks and popular literature, including Robot Futures. He is a trustee of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, Winchester Thurston School and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project. He is a Director at Open Planet, a London-based Community Interest Corporation, and also President and a director at Friends of Open Planet, a 501(c)3 based in the United States. About the conversation partner: Monica Ruiz, the Executive Director of Casa San José, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and has Latino roots from Guatemala and Puerto Rico. Her humanitarian work and passion for helping others began as a case manager for Catholic Charities, which led her to intern at Casa San Jose in 2014. She holds a Bachelors degree in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh with a concentration in Psychology, and a Master’s Degree in Social Work focusing on Community Organizing and Social action from the University of Pittsburgh.Following her academic accomplishments, Monica completed the Lead Now Pittsburgh fellowship, a transformational leadership program for the civic sector in 2019. Monica advocates for minority communities in Pittsburgh and welcomes all from the Western Pennsylvania region. Information Source: Riverstone Books | eventbrite

The year 2025 marks August Wilson’s 80th Birthday and the 20th anniversary of his death. As one of the nation’s foremost literary figures, his body of work has and continues to influence literary figures and artists while simultaneously expanding audiences as a result of his lasting critical and commercial success. In honor of Wilson’s secured legacy and his continuous renewal of one of America’s greatest documentarians of the African American experience, the August Wilson Society, in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh Library System, will host the 2025 Biennial Colloquium, Celebrating 20 Years: August Wilson’s Legacy and The Confluence of Voices in Literary and Cultural Expression. Colloquium Highlights: Keynote Speaker, Omiyẹmi (Artisia) Green, Professor of Theatre and Africana Studies, University Professor of Teaching Excellence, Provost Faculty Fellow, William and Mary Special Performance Presentation by the Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company,Directed by Mark Clayton Southers Tour of theAugust Wilson: Writer’s Landscape Exhibit at the August Wilson African American Cultural Center Visit the August Wilson Archive located in the Hillman Library Research Opportunity: The following form is for attendees of the 2025 August Wilson Society Colloquium who are interested in doing research using the August Wilson Archive on Saturday, April 5, 2025. The archive is located in Hillman Library on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. By completing this form, you are confirming that you will be in Pittsburgh on this day and available for your research session. Please note there is limited capacity, and sessions will only be held if a minimum of 5 researchers sign up for that session. There will be a morning session and an afternoon session, so please select the one session that best aligns with your anticipated schedule for the day. https://tinyurl.com/augustwilsonarchiveresearch Hotel Information: Hilton Garden Inn University, 3454 Forbes Ave. Pittsburgh, PA Place Hotel Rates: $169 single/night and $179 double/night (Hotel accommodations include daily complimentary breakfast and one complimentary drink ticket in the hotel bar each evening.) Reserve your discounted hotel room using the following link: HiltonGardenInn_2025AWSColloquium The Deadline to book colloquium hotel is Wednesday, March 12. Information Source: August Wilson Society | eventbrite

Riverstone Books is pleased to host a book launch for The Doors You Can Open by local author, Rosalind Chow. Following the discussion with Evan Frazier, we will have a time for Q&A with the audience and book signing. Refreshments will be provided. Want to pre-order your copy of the book? You can do so here. About the book: “Chow revolutionizes our understanding of how careers advance” (Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Drive), taking readers on a transformative journey beyond the standard model of mentorship to embracing sponsorship. The way we currently network and engage in mentorship isn’t working. Given the ever-evolving nature of the workplace, transactional networking and company-enforced mentorship programs simply don’t help make our professional relationships more authentic or our workplaces more equitable. What we need instead is sponsorship. What’s the difference between mentorship and sponsorship? Mentorship involves helping a mentee change their behavior, while sponsorship involves changing how other people see a protégé. Sponsorship is as important, if not more so, than mentorship in determining who gets ahead, making it a more effective way to promote social equality and inclusion in the workplace. In The Doors You Can Open, organizational expert Rosalind Chow shows readers that they likely already engage in sponsorship in their personal and professional networks—and how they can channel those skills to build more authentic professional relationships. We all have more agency and deeper networks to act as sponsors than we might think, and sponsoring others can lead to mutually beneficial lifelong connections rather than merely transactional interactions. Given the ever-evolving nature of the workplace, intentional and equitable sponsorship is more important now than ever for overturning traditional social hierarchies. Based on decades of original research, The Doors You Can Open makes a bold case for completely changing the way we network. Reading it will change how we see and use our relationships in the service of creating stronger workplaces for all. About the author: Dr. Rosalind Chow is an associate professor of organizational behavior and theory at Carnegie Mellon University, where she directs executive education programs that advance the careers of Black and Latino professionals and advises corporations on their sponsorship programs. She lives in Pittsburgh with her husband and their two children. About the conversation partner: Evan Frazier is a corporate executive, nonprofit leader, entrepreneur, author and family man. He has extensive experience in both the public and private sectors. He is currently the president and CEO of The Advanced Leadership Institute and sits on the Dollar Bank Board of Directors. Frazier has served as a trustee or board member for more than 30 community agencies and civic organizations over the years. Current nonprofit board affiliations include Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh (Life Trustee), Bender Leadership Academy, the Pennsylvania Society, and board advisor to the Alliance for Hospitality Equity & Diversity (AHED). In addition to receiving formal degrees from Cornell University and Carnegie Mellon University, in March 2017 Frazier completed the Wharton Executive Development Program at the University of Pennsylvania. Over the years he also earned executive education certificates from Harvard Business School's Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management and the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School. In 2008, Frazier launched his first book entitled Most Likely to Succeed: The Frazier Formula for Success®, which introduced his personal success framework to inspire youth and young adults to achieve. He is a graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh, a BMe Community leader, member of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, Co-founder of the National Society of Minorities in Hospitality (NSMH) and he currently serves as Chair of the NSMH Legacy Fund Group. Evan lives in the Greater Pittsburgh area with his wife Dr. Holly Hatcher-Frazier (educator and national television personality) and their children Evan Jr, Nia and William. Information Source: Riverstone Books | eventbrite