CURRENT MEMBERS
Jo-Anne L. Bates
Tina Williams Brewer
Kathi DePasse
Alexis Dillon
Adrienne Heinrich
Paula Martino
Marina Mozhayeva
Judith Musser
Jane Ogren
Debra Platt
Susan Laansma Pollins
Aline Shader
Carol Skinger
Sheila Cuellar Shaffer
Suzanne Werder
Jill Whittaker
Kathleen Zimbicki
The Pittsburgh Group currently consists of seventeen women visual artists, who live and work in southwestern Pennsylvania. As a group and individually, they have shown locally, nationally, and internationally in museums and galleries. Their art is regularly represented in juried exhibitions of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Society of Artists, the Watercolor Society, Group A, and the Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh.
These monthly gatherings began in 1977, as a result of a class taught by the late Jerry Caplan at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. Some of the original members are still with the group and others have been invited over the years. The meetings consist of critiques of artwork brought to each meeting as well as provide an opportunity to discuss techniques and concepts. Through this sharing of constructive advice, members clarify and elaborate upon their visualizations in a way that is not possible while working in isolation.
All members are advocates of the arts in their communities, Western PA, and elsewhere. Some are or have been teachers, both public and private and they continue to educate themselves by reading, visiting exhibits, taking classes, and educational retreats. They are officers, board members, and participants in many art organizations. A few have been long-time gallery owners, as well.
Accolades awarded to members include PCA's Artist of the Year, and Master Visual Artists: Preserving the Legacy honors, and several with interviews broadcast on TV, YouTube, and other media. Individual awards have been plentiful. Their work represents a wide range of media including drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, collage, metalsmithing, photography, assemblage, fiber, digital, performance, and installation art. Although these artists possess distinct visual vocabularies, they also value personal connections that have evolved with shared experiences and developed friendships through the years. They have been a loyal group who support each other in their art endeavors. The Pittsburgh Group is diverse, not only in the art they create, but a wide range of ages, backgrounds, ethnicities, and locations.