Art Exhibit Opens Today at UPB

An art exhibit highlighting present-day issues will open today at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.

Shaqe Kalaj's “The Content of Becoming: Mixed Media Exhibition” will be showcased in the KOA Art Gallery in Blaisdell Hall until Feb. 26. A gallery talk will be held at noon today in the Webb/Bradford Forest Rehearsal Hall, and an opening reception will follow at 12:30 p.m. in the KOA Speer Electronics Lobby. The Spectrum Series event is free and open to the public.

“Shaqe Kalaj’s mixed media work is inspiring, especially in term of content,” said Kong Ho, associate professor of art and director of interdisciplinary arts and art programs at Pitt-Bradford. “I know she is a very responsible teaching artist and productive studio artist.”

The exhibit is more than meets the eye. The installation spans eating disorders, child abuse, racial stereotypes, religion and health, the farm and drug industries, and the general sterility of suburban American life. Six series of media will be used –– woodcut print, oil, acrylic, ink and photographic.

Ho said he has known Kalaj for almost two years, having worked together during the 2008-09 VSA arts Teaching Artist Fellows, which is a fellowship for teaching artists with disabilities. They have also worked together on other projects.

“As an artist with a disability, I have used my mood disorder as the force behind my work,” Kalaj says in her VSA arts biography. “Being bipolar means that you have within your experience many variations of emotions, and I have learned the terrain of my illness and use it through my art to explore deep and gripping issues.”

The Albanian-American-born artist earned a bachelor of fine arts degree in painting and graphic design from Wayne State University in Detroit and received a teaching certificate from Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti. She also serves as creative coach, teaching artist and visual arts coordinator for VSA arts of Detroit. She is an advocate for the disabled and coordinates tours for emerging artists, Ho said.

The art gallery is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:30 to 4:30 p.m. Friday. The gallery is closed on Saturdays and Sundays. The exhibition contains nudity.

For disability-related needs, contact the Office of Disability Resources and Services at 814-362-7609 or arj4@pitt.edu.