WQED Education Project Manager, Denice Pazuchanics, talks about the upcoming "Arts in the Parks" free event in Washington Park on September 6th.
It's time to step into a world of art, this time in Washington County!
Former Bethel Park Librarian and award winning teacher Denice Pazuchanics from WQED Education about Washington Park's Arts in the Park. With over 25 art activities, there will be lots to do! The Washington Symphony, The Andy Warhol Museum, The Frick Pittsburgh, will all be there with activities. Denice also highlights dance and music performances. The first 200 kids will receive free snacks too!
Denice discusses how to instill in your youngest family members a love for the arts, why that matters and as a University of Pittsburgh library science degree holding professional how to keep your family reading in a world of screens, smart phones and electronic devices.
Visit Washington Park on Saturday, September 6th from 11 am to 3 pm. To enter the on-site art contest, visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSerUPJF-ZxuZz12McbNny7RXx3K5YNEzAs7BxTUZXflpYbrQw/viewform?pli=1
To learn more, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/main-pavilion-washington-park/arts-in-the-park/740495621710969/.
You are listening to Voice of the Arts from WQED FM. I'm Jim Cunningham. Denice Pazuchanics is with us. How close am I to the family pronunciation of your name, Denice? That's pretty good. Let me hear you say it. How does mom say it? Well, I say Pazuchanics, but I married into the family, so I'm not sure I actually say it authentically either. Well, I'll do my best. You're talking about Arts in the Park. It's September 6th in Washington, Pennsylvania. I was there last year. I had a blast. and you got free lunch for the first 200 students and over 25 artist activities, 10 performances. Why are you doing it? And let's encourage everybody to come to join us in Washington Park. What's it all about? So Arts in the Park, we're on our third year of this event and it is a totally free event for families. It's all about immersing families, kids, adults, everybody into different art activities, art and music activities. We do have free lunch for the first 200 kids. I have been working in Washington County for a couple of years now. We really wanted to promote the arts out in Washington. We wanted to give both people from Washington who are involved in the arts, plus bring some resources that we have from Allegheny County out. And we really just wanted to give families this opportunity to see and touch and do all kinds of different art experiences. How does it fit in with the overall plan of WQED education and what your group is trying to do through WQED 13 and radio? So we now have learning neighborhoods and learning neighborhoods are divided North, South, East and West. Washington County, of course, is in the Southern neighborhood. What we really wanted to do was bring different resources together, be able to coordinate efforts and uh sort of immerse ourselves in those communities, find ways for different groups to interact with each other and provide as many resources for families uh out there in Washington, Green, Fayette counties to be able to uh sort of have some of the same experiences that we have here in Allegheny County, but make it a lot closer to home for them. Why should folks from our corner of the world drive to Washington, Pennsylvania to enjoy arts in the park? Well, first off, if you haven't ever been to Washington Park, the park itself is gorgeous. It's right on Dunn Avenue. It's called The Washington Park. If you are looking for it on Google or you're looking for it in your Google Maps, it is a gorgeous park and it's a great resource, great community resource if you haven't already been there, but also because they're, like we said, there are going to be, um, Allegheny County resources. have the Warhol coming out. The Union Project is coming out to do pottery with kids. The Frick will be there. So it's a great opportunity to engage with some of those resources that we have here in Allegheny County. But then Washington has a boatload of great resources as well. The Symphony will be there. The Washington Festival Chorus is going to be there. Little Lake Community Theater is going to be there. The Bradford House. There's just so many resources to be able to engage with. Totally free for families. It really is just a great experience for kids and families alike. Last year, GPS got me there very smoothly and you have signage so that we'll be able to find you because it's a big sprawling park. is a big sprawling park and we will be right at the main pavilion, which is right on top of the hill. And it really is just such a lovely park that yeah, if you can get yourself to Washington, you can find the park. Will there be snacks? There will be snacks. So there are free lunch for kids, but then we will have some vendors just doing some light snacks. The event itself is from 11 to three. So there will be some vendors selling some light snacks. Pretzels Plus, which is a great organization from Washington. And then there are a couple of different food trucks that have decided that they wanted to be there as well. I hope that Hugo Icatch can convince his brass quintet to come. What sort of performances will you have? So we do um have friends from Allegheny uh County coming. Rachel So is bringing her organization, um the OCA, which does a great dance performance. And again, these performances are supposed to actually also be engaging for families. So it's not only just watching. A lot of times there will be some interaction as well. We think Joe Wos is coming to do a character drawing for kids to engage with. So everything is meant for kids to be able to do and touch themselves. Duquesne University is one of our favorite groups. They're returning from last year coming back and they're gonna do a drum circle with kids. And so we're super excited that kids get to um touch and do those instruments as well. So, and the Washington Symphony did tell me that they were hoping to bring a instrument petting zoo, which I've never seen before, but I'm super excited about. And I hope that that actually comes to fruition because that seems like a great way for kids to also be able to engage with those materials. Have you run down all the vendors you're going to have? So we call them demonstrators or facilitators, but we're going to have things like tie dye and spin art and chalk art. One of the other things that we have is an onsite art. And we call it a contest, it's really just a chance for you to do some on-site art. It's something that you can register for if you go to the Washington Park Facebook page. But really what it is is a chance. We provide all the materials. All you have to do is register for it. You go out into the park itself and engage with the nature and draw, sketch, paint, whatever kind of works for you. And then we display those pieces and then they do place first, second and third, I think. But it's just another way for families to kind of have an experience where they are um kind of engaging in both the beauty of the park and also art. What else do you want folks to know about this event? Or Arts in the Park, it's September 6th from 11 in the morning until three in the afternoon. That is, I mean... oh That's the important thing. All you need to do is show up. It's a great opportunity for families. We love that we have a lot of these facilitators and demonstrators willing to come back every year. That says a lot to us. We also have had a lot of local sponsors who have been willing to help us out financially, which also says a lot that they really are invested in the community. It's worth the trip wherever you are coming from. It's a great opportunity for kids to be able to engage in these different art activities, perhaps learn about different community vendors and different community partners that we have in Washington, Fayette, and Green Counties. We are hoping to increase the number of people who come. Last year we had about 500 in attendance and we are ready for more this year. So we're hoping that it's a great day weather-wise and that people come on out and enjoy. Denise, I want to know a little bit more about you. You mentioned Bethel Park. You were a librarian there. I was. I was a school librarian for a lot of years in one of the elementary schools in Bethel Park. And I'm lucky that they are still one of my neighborhood partners now. I came to QED because I believe in the resources after working with them as a school partner. And I'm really glad that I did. This is a great fit. I believe in the way that we can working communities and connect partners in communities. And I'm lucky to have that opportunity for sure. trained at the University of Pittsburgh as a librarian. I did indeed as a school librarian. Absolutely. So you don't miss being there with the books and the kids and the teachers? I do miss um being with the same families. um And my families know how I felt about them while I was teaching. And I do miss that a little bit. but I do like getting to know these new communities and working with these new partners as well. And at some point you won a Leaders in the Classroom award. So you really were good in the school system. I was lucky to work with great uh other educators and great families. And so that just was icing on the cake, as they say. Tell me about the spirit of your group at WQED, the Education Department. You are really I worked with Kathy Cook and Jess Ost in the Bach Beethoven this past summer. It's a wonderful spirit that you all have. Well, Kathy and Gina, our leaders, are definitely the brains and the heart of the operation. We have a great department. And like I mentioned about our learning neighborhoods, we have neighborhood managers like myself working in the North, South, East, and West. And the beauty of the job is really getting to know the communities. and really having the opportunity to uh work with different partners, connect different partners, learn about what's happening in the community, and then how we can support the work of the people who are the boots in the ground. We work with great community partners, libraries, schools. That's the best part of the job. And we have additional people uh who work in different programs. The Design Lives Here and the Writers Contest and we have just great support in the department and we all support each other doing the work because it's good work. We're all concerned about cuts from the federal government. It doesn't seem to have affected your spirit at all, but it's a little ominous, isn't it? It's a little bit worrisome. However, the good work at WQED continues. One of the best things about the job, I think, that the good work continues. There's definitely ways and where there's a will, there's a way, and we just are able to just keep figuring it out. We have a lot of great resources that continue to be free and available, and as long as they are free and available and we have people who are willing to support the work that we are doing, we're gonna keep doing the work. It's a scary time right now, but like I said, we believe in what we're doing, and so we're just gonna keep plugging along and doing it. Now, I love that you're focusing on arts in the park and as an important part of what WQED education does. Of course, we have to have science and math. Our skills are essential there, but the arts do tend to falllower on the priority scale. And we know that doing work in the arts improves everything overall. And I think that's super important in that It's just a great way to engage families. I feel that one of the strengths with the materials and the content that we have is really about call to action for families to be involved. And Arts in the Park is a great opportunity for that because it's not just for the kids, it's for the whole family. And it's really a great way for parents to kind of take a look at some of the resources and the materials that we have, but how can they expand on those at home and have conversations at home? And the arts is a great place for that. And we really are about intergenerational programming and figuring out how we can tie all of those pieces together. That home to school connection is super important for us. But it's all about families having conversations around whatever. And art is just a really good place for that to start. A librarian who's working in the field of public broadcasting seems a little... counterintuitive, doesn't it? We're trying to get kids to not be tied to their screens, their phones. Used to be TV, now it's the phones, of course. But how does it all come together for you? How does that work? And we want kids to read. We do. We want kids to read. And we actually are OK with them using screen time as well. But Kathy Cook always says that if we're doing our jobs, it's about turning off that media after you are exposed to it. and then having that call to action to do something else. And I actually agree with that. I think that our media can inspire families to get out and do things. And that's something that I believe in. Just like reading a book can inspire you to go out and do something after that, so can our content. And I think that that's what we want people to understand, that we don't want you tied to your screen. I, as a librarian, I didn't want you tied to your books either. I wanted them to sort of be a springboard for ideas and how to go out and, um, and live life and, be involved in the communities. And so that's what we're doing. We're trying to inspire families. And having worked in the classroom and having been a parent, having been in the library, at what point do you carefully introduce kids to the online world and what's available. When do you let your kids, everybody wants a cell phone younger and younger, but there are parents out there that say, don't do it. So what's the balance? What's the right age? What do you do? I think it's all about teaching responsibility. And I think that actually comes from families sort of and adults modeling that with their kids, right? That, you know, as grownups, we don't need to be tied to our devices either. And so if we're modeling that behavior and we're using it responsibly, and we know that there's a time to be using a screen, but there's also a time to be out there living and doing, then I think that's how kids learn how to do it responsibly. As an English major, I see our interns in radio and there's a wide variety of behavior. Some bring a book that they are into, which they can look at when they have a moment of... of downtime, but others I feel never open the cover of a printed piece of material. I think nowadays with different devices and even reading online, I actually was somebody who believed in audio books, even with kids though. And so I think that there's different ways to engage with media, no matter what that is, and books or listening to stories or having somebody read to you, reading aloud, families that read aloud, I mean, that is a gift. and something that I always try to encourage as a librarian, even with older kids. I feel like that's something that it's a great way to, again, model what you think is important. You can't just hand your kid a book and say, go read that if you haven't ever opened a book in front of them. Denise, good luck with Arts in the Park. I'm gonna be there. I'm looking forward to seeing you on the scene in Washington Park, Washington. County, have we forgotten anything? Is there anything else? Would you like to rinse and repeat the essential details, the elevator speech? Saturday, September 6th from 11 to 3, it's at The Washington Park, which is on Dunn Avenue in Washington County in the city of Washington. There are some great little restaurants and things like that that you can also like stop for snacks. So don't worry about that. It's going to be totally free for families. There's an on-site art contest. There are so many things to do and touch for kids. We're actually, didn't even mention the fact that we are gonna have some art supplies um for kids to take home as well. So that will be a totally free art supply table thatfamilies can do that as well. But it's gonna be a great mix of resources that are coming from all kinds of different counties, but it's a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. It's essential to have art in your lives. Thank you so much for doing what you're doing to get it out there. Denise, bless you for the great work you're doing and keep it up. Thanks, Jim. And that's all for this Voice of the Arts podcast episode. Make sure to subscribe to Voice of the Arts wherever you listen to podcasts so you're notified when new episodes become available. You can also discover arts events happening in Pittsburgh on our cultural calendar at wqedfm.org. I hope you enjoyed listening. I'm Jim Cunningham. This is the Voice of the Arts.