The Westmoreland Expands Art Happens Project to Jeannette
GREENSBURG, Pennsylvania (August 16, 2018) – Art Happens, The Westmoreland Museum of American Art’s interactive public art project, has expanded beyond Greensburg to include locations in the city of Jeannette in partnership with the Jeannette Arts Council.
The Art Happens Project places details from artworks in the Museum’s collection directly into the city streets where people live, work and play. Project coordinators work with businesses and organizations to find a complementary artwork to feature on the exterior of their building or property using durable vinyl signage material printed by Blue Sky Sign Company.
The works featured in the Art Happens Project are all on view at the Museum, and participants can see these works for free if they post a selfie from an Art Happens location on social media using #arthappensproject. Normally, admission to the Museum is a suggested donation amount of $15 for adults and $10 for seniors with free admission always for Museum members, children under 18, students with ID as well as veterans and active duty military and their families.
“It was always our intention to expand Art Happens to other communities in Westmoreland County,” said Catena Bergevin, Deputy Director/Director of Advancement at The Westmoreland. “We were thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with the Jeannette Arts Council and other community leaders. We’ve received very positive feedback on this project and have been contacted by others who want to bring it to their neighborhoods. It has become a connector as well as a celebration of art.”
“The Jeannette Arts Council was so honored to be approached by the Museum to participate in the Art Happens Project and we couldn’t wait to get started,” said Jill Sorrels, president of the Jeannette Arts Council. “We tried to encompass our industrialized history and promising future visually through the vast collection of artwork that we could choose from at the Museum. What a fun experience it has been and we are grateful!”
The Jeannette Public Library was selected as the first Art Happens location in Jeannette, and currently features a detail from Everett Shinn’s 1943 oil painting The Green Ballet. Plans are in the works to add Art Happens sites on the fencing on the South Second Street bridge and a fence on the 500 block of Clay Avenue.
“The reaction to the dancers [from The Green Ballet] has been overwhelming and absolutely positive from both staff and patrons, some of whom have already taken their selfies and visited the Museum,” said Angela Betz, Director of Jeannette Public Library. “It has brought a much needed awareness of the library and the Jeannette Arts Council to the community. We hope this is the start of a new relationship between the arts communities of both Jeannette and Greensburg.”
For more information on Art Happens, visit arthappensproject.org.
About The Westmoreland Museum of American Art
Committed to stimulating imagination and innovation through great experiences with art, The Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, is the only museum dedicated to American art in western Pennsylvania. The Westmoreland’s extraordinary permanent collection, with its strong focus on the art and artists of southwestern Pennsylvania, is complemented by an impressive schedule of temporary exhibitions— both nationally traveling and those organized in house—as well as community-oriented programming and special events. More information is available at thewestmoreland.org and on the Museum’s Facebook, Twitter
The Westmoreland receives funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; the Marketing to Attract Tourism Grant through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development; and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.