Wick Monet, the bohemian gallery collective, has released Commentary magazine, which offers a series of critiques on the Pittsburgh art scene. Available both online and in throwback print editions, the collective zine reviews theatrical productions, art galleries, and inserts their own work in between essays.
The first issue of Commentary, headed by editors Neil Martin and Heather Hershberger, delves into the uneasy feeling of creating art in a post-industrial landscape. Filled with the fire of youth, the writers reflect on being artists and viewers beneath the monoliths of established institutions such as the Mattress Factory and Warhol Museums. While they hold reverence for the cultural inheritance of the region, the real undertone is questioning how to break free from the institutional gatekeeping holding them back.
The authors, who include Renee Dubaich, Lauren M. Salopek, and Mercedes Pérez-Shillington, document their adventures bumping into the rustic pillars of Pittsburgh’s art scene, better known as “non-profits”. They’re on the outside, looking in. Allied Artists of Pittsburgh, Barebones Productions, and Unblurred Gallery Crawl all receive commentary from the authors’ fresh eyes.
Salopek comments in her article that in Pittsburgh, “Networking often feels transactional…” and she can feel the anxiety and discomfort. She offers a reframing of the arts scene itself: that we need more art hubs to collaborate and uplift each other, finally concluding that it’s on us to build them.
This is the latest in Wick Monet’s aggressive experiments in art. Within a short time, the collective has become a playground for filmmakers, live performers, and painters. The physical space is located in Shadyside, where it serves as a juxtaposition to other spaces on Walnut Street. In the greater Pittsburgh area, Wick Monet is an arts cross-pollinator, attracting students and recent alumni from CMU, Pitt, and Point Park.
For disclosure, I am active in the arts world beyond writing about it. Most notably was my tenure as co-director of Randyland. Last summer, I curated the Moments art show at Wick Monet shortly after discovering the enthusiastic collective. I was not involved in Commentary.
Commentary is a draft. The anthology is a reaction. Narratives of public art and community sew the collection of writing together. It is a window view of an arts scene finding itself after a pandemic. One can hope it’s the first issue among many.