A series of lunchtime talks will be given in conjunction with the exhibition "Making It Better: Folk Arts in Pennsylvania Today" at the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area Bost Building museum.
The exhibition comprises traditional arts from throughout the state, including Pysanky eggs, stonewall construction, African dance, blacksmithing and Vietnamese funerary portraits.
The talks will be given from noon to 1 p.m. at the Bost Building (BB), 623 E. 8th Ave., or at the Tin Front Cafe (TFC), 216 E. 8th Ave., Homestead. They are free, and attendees may bring brown bag lunches; also, a full menu will be available for events at the Tin Front. All artists are from the Pittsburgh area and represented in the exhibition.
Thursday (BB) -- Sawdust carpets by Charles Culleiton, who is actively involved in preserving the history of Tarentum and the Alle-Kiski Valley in Western Pennsylvania. In 2003, he received a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship in the Folk and traditional Arts for his carpets.
Oct. 28 (BB) -- Polka music by Joe Grkman Sr., who followed his immigrant father into the coal mines, although his real love was music. He formed the Grkman Band in 1967 and has played everything from family parties to a concert at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The band was inducted in the Polka Hall of Fame Trustees Honor Roll sponsored by the American-Slovenian Polka Foundation.
Nov. 4 (BB) -- Blacksmithing by Jymm Homan, who has a shop in Ambridge, and travels the Northeast and Midwest demonstrating his art. He has also been an instructor at Touchstone Center for the Crafts near Farmington.
Nov. 9 (BB) -- African storytelling, bead and ritual artifact making by Temujin Ekunfeo, who is a babalosa (priest) in the Lukumi/Yoruba tradition as it has been practiced in the Cuban and U.S. Diaspora. He first learned beads and artifacts from Chris Oliana and grew further in the tradition with his mentor Gilberto Martinez. He is a well-known storyteller at area festivals and other venues.
Nov. 16 (TFC) -- Chant by Jerry Jumba, who was born into a heavily Rusyn Pittsburgh community. Through congregational participation and apprenticeship, he learned Eastern Christian Chant of Carpatho-Rus. Jumba also collects Carpatho-Rus and Eastern Slovak secular songs. Fluent in those languages and dialects, he has transcribed, performed, and translated their texts since 1969. At the request of the Warhola family, Mr. Jumba served as the cantor for Andy Warhol's funeral.
Nov. 18 (TFC) -- Iconography by Michael Kapeluck, who started his art training at the age of 9 by attending art classes at Carnegie Museum of Art. Since 1987, he has written icons for Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic churches across the country.
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