Building a Transatlantic Bridge

Transatlantic Bridge meets Erlebnismuseen

2011-06-12T15:08:00.007-04:00

Here are two links about meeting Erlebnismuseen in our museum!

Museums and the internet - a conference in Bremerhaven

2011-05-31T11:17:00.004-04:00

Last week there was a conference in Bremerhaven about "museums and the internet". It took place in the Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum.

About 100 people attended this conference, c. 30 speakers talked about different themes like
-games, videos and apps
-social media
-virtual exhibits
-education online

"Building a Transatlantic Bridge" was one of the projects, that was introduced to this audience as an example for an international exchange programme through the internet!
The presentation (PPT) can be downloaded here.

Thanks a lot to the host (LVR-Fachbereich Kultur and LVR-Archivberatungs- und Fortbildungszentrum), who gave us the chance to present our Transatlantic Bridge!

School writes about art project with Bud Gibbons

2011-03-29T05:22:00.004-04:00

Read about their experiences and see the photo stream here.

review: opening Transatlantic Bridge Gallery

2011-03-17T10:42:00.005-04:00

LVR-Industriemuseum: Dr. Zeppenfeld talks about the partnership with the Westmoreland Museum of American Art. After that Ms. Buchholz explains "Building a Transatlantic Bridge" in general.

Heinrich-Böll-Gesamtschule: A student explains the project of her French class (teachers: Mrs. Westkamp and Mrs. Grace).

Heinrich-Böll-Gesamtschule: Mr. Bugdoll explains the two projects of his students (biology project with Mrs. Redinger's students and several video projects).

Heinrich-Böll-Gesamtschule: Mrs. Reiber presents the "Transatlantic Journal project".

Gymnasium im Gustav-Heinemann-Schulzentrum: The artist Mr. Gibbons talks about his cooperation with the English class of Ms. Zini (painting project).

2011-03-17T09:15:00.002-04:00

Check out the LVR-Industriemuseum's new web page about the Transatlantic Journal exhibition, on view in Germany until 3/27: http://www.industriemuseum.lvr.de/schauplaetze/oberhausen/ausstellungen/building+a+transatlantic+bridge.htm

More letters in French

2011-02-23T13:07:00.009-05:00

from German students to American students. Thank you Madam Grace for taking some photos!

Transatlantic Bridge Gallery

2011-02-14T09:11:00.006-05:00

Have you missed the opening? Click here

At School in Germany

2011-02-03T07:56:00.005-05:00

Here we are working on two projects. Seven landscapes are being painted by groups of three students while they and other students are also working on a painting consisting of 56 10x10 inch individual pieces. We have not put it together yet and will see it for the first time at the reception tonight. It is 70 inches by 80 inches and represents the painting, 'Industria', 1895 by Antoine Bourlard.
The students are hard working, inquisitive and very capable while taking on a new project. I had known them only by their log books and was delighted to work with them. By way of introduction I asked for a student volunteer to sit for a portrait while we talked , Dilara sat and the students and I asked and answered questions and got used to the idea of painting.
The Transatlantic Bridge Project is an excellent vehicle for international communication.

Bud arrived in Germany

2011-01-27T05:53:00.002-05:00

Today the American artist Bud Gibbons arrived in Germany.
We first showed him the museum. After that he was a guest of the Gymnasium im Gustav-Heinemann-Schulzentrum in Dinslaken. He introduced himself to the students. Tomorrow he will start working with them on the paintings, that will be also presented at the exhibit "Transatlantic Bridge Gallery".
We are curious about the results and wish him and the students much fun!
Bud will be at the museum on Monday. The whole team is looking forward to his visit!

Click here to experience his artwork.

2011-01-24T11:03:00.003-05:00

Click here

to read a new report about Transatlantic Bridge

and write a comment or post it on facebook!

Trip

2011-01-19T20:27:00.003-05:00

Looking forward to painting in Germany and
working with the Transatlantic project.
This is an image I painted in Pittsburgh.
5 X 8 feet oil on canvas

2011-01-19T05:44:00.004-05:00

WAZ/NRZ, 18.01.2011

Meeting

2011-01-18T23:47:00.001-05:00

Met with Amy Baldonieri and Joan McGarry at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art today to finalize details for next week's trip to Germany.
Looking forward to the trip!
Trying out this blog,

Transatlantic Journal Exhibition opens in Oberhausen Germany on February 4, 2011

2011-01-14T09:01:00.006-05:00

In November 2009, high school students from both Greensburg, Pennsylvania and Oberhausen, Germany launched the Transatlantic Journal Project. 39 blank journals were purchased and exchanged. Working in collaboration with each other, the students began to share writing and artwork on the pages of the journals.

There were no rules for the project; students were simply instructed to express themselves to each other using words and images.

Organized by Greensburg Salem High School students, this exhibition features a selection of journal entries and the journals will be on view at the LVR-Industriemuseum beginning February 4 through March 27, 2011.

Join the opening celebration on February 3 at 5 PM at the LVR-Industriemuseum. Everybody is welcome!

2011-01-11T05:36:00.004-05:00

New letters of the American students arrived at the museum in Oberhausen! The German teacher picks them up today and will give them to her students!

"Winter Day" featured in Christmas day newspaper edition

2010-12-29T09:32:00.007-05:00

Roy Hilton was new to town when he painted "Winter Day" in the late 1920s. As with many realist artists here, he was smitten with the rolling urban landscape even as it was transformed under a blanket of snow. "Winter Day" incorporates the traditional elements of a picturesque Pittsburgh scene: hillside houses, a bridge, a flight of city steps.

Click to read the story by Patricia Lowry of Pittsburgh Post Gazette..

Auf wiedersehen Transatlantic Journal Project

2010-12-28T13:26:00.004-05:00

WMAA Preparator PJ Zimmerlink has de-installed the Transatlantic Bridge exhibition and is currently packing it up for its trip to Oberhausen. By this time tomorrow it will be on its way and should arrive at the LVR-Industriemuseum within 10 days - with plenty of time for its opening there on February 5.

We are keeping copies of 7 of the reproductions here in our interactive gallery - and our kiosks will still be active, so no reason not to stop by the Museum. PLUS - it won't be long before all the paintings from Born of Fire that traveled to Oberhausen will be back on view in the Barclay Gallery. Here are a few of them. We'll keep you posted!

Transatlantic Journal Exhibit Ends Sunday

2010-12-20T15:47:00.004-05:00

Don't miss your chance to see the exhibition put together by Greensburg Salem students about the Transatlantic Journal Project. The exhibition's last day on view here at The Westmoreland will be Sunday, December 26. The Museum is open that day from 11 am - 5 pm. Although we're closed on Christmas Day, we are open the following hours this week:

Wednesday, December 22, 11 am - 5 pm
Thursday, December 23, 11 am - 9 pm
Friday, December 24, 11 am - 3 pm
Sunday, December 26, 11 am - 5 pm

We'll be packing up the show to send to Oberhausen next week, so come and see it while you can!

Also - for all of the kids and teachers that are off school for the holiday, the Museum will also be open on Monday and Tuesday, December 27 and 28. Born of Fire, the inspiration for the Bridge project, is always on view.

Tribune Article

2010-12-20T12:28:00.002-05:00

Look what was in the paper in Greensburg today!
transatlantic journal story

GS Biotech Students' Slide Show

2010-12-09T12:12:00.002-05:00

Bridge 2010

2010-12-09T08:39:00.002-05:00

Oberhausener Wochen-Anzeiger, December 2010

Good Bye Feuerländer!

2010-12-02T03:40:00.003-05:00

On Sunday the exhibit "Feuerländer" finally closed. Since Monday the team of the museum, conservators, the transport company and many others are working on dismantling.

We thank all, who were involved in this big project and we hope, that we can continue working on such great exhibits like this in the future!

Videos from Oberhausen and Pennsylvania

2010-11-24T16:44:00.015-05:00

Here is a video of one of the presentations at the Gymnasium at Gustav Heineman Schulzentrum on November 12 - Mrs. Zini's class talking about Thanksgiving. Later that evening, the presentations were made at the LVR-Industriemuseum for the "Thanksgiving is Coming" event. The students did a fabulous job!

So after looking at a lot of these videos on Wednesday, I thought it might be fun to show our friends in Germany what a real American Thanksgiving looks like. Using my husband's family as an example, I videotaped the food being brought to the table. All the loud talking in the background is, at least in my experience, very typical of a Thanksgiving dinner in America - family from far and wide getting together, catching up and laughing, and watching American football. I hope this gives everyone an idea of this very American holiday! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIB0dwwytHc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4GrDrGNJTU

Article in the Tribune-Review

2010-11-23T16:44:00.001-05:00

Transatlantic Journal Project Exhibition Opening

2010-11-22T14:48:00.015-05:00

The Westmoreland and Greensburg-Salem High School presented the Transatlantic Journal Project student art exhibition opening reception last Friday night. Over 170 people attended! It was a great success!

This exhibition, includes thirty-eight reproductions of journal entries, and is the conclusion of a year-long collaboration with Greensburg-Salem High School and three schools in Oberhausen, Germany, facilitated the Westmoreland Museum of American Art.

Greensburg-Salem High School National Art Honor Society student, Megan Wigle acted as chief curator for the project.

There was also a pizza party for all involved in the Transatlantic Journal Project.

The exhibition is on view through December 26th. After its conclusion at The Westmoreland, the student artwork will travel to the LVR-Industriemuseum in Oberhausen to be exhibited from February 5 – March 27, 2011.

Trips are over but the project continues

2010-11-22T10:43:00.003-05:00

Our visitors arrived safely back in Germany after a wonderful trip to the U.S. The opening of the Transatlantic Journal exhibit on Friday night was attended by over 170 people! Thanks to all the students who made it a success, including the Advanced Art Students who simultaneously had their exhibition in the Museum and provided the refreshments.

Check our Facebook page for images of the event. In the meantime, here's one last shot of our visitors from our trip to Fallingwater on Saturday.

I look forward to continuing this project through new partnerships started with Mrs. Zini and Mr. Beck and Mrs. Redinger and Mr. Bugdoll! And the journals will also continue . . .

Wilkommen in America!

2010-11-19T13:33:00.009-05:00

Uwe, Stephanie and Shila arrived on time on Wednesday evening and we spent nearly the entire day yesterday at Greensburg Salem High School. After breakfast with Mrs. Grace's French class, we had a very informative tour from Principal Zilli. After stopping in on Mrs. Lyons' Spanish class and speaking with Mrs. Bevington's creative writing class (including enlisting a junior named Holly to write the end of a film that Uwe is working on in Germany), we visited with Mrs. Redinger's Biotechnology class. There was a lot of great dialogue with our German guests about genetically modified cats and fish . . . a dialogue I am sure will continue on their wiki space.

We then had lunch with students and teachers in the school library and met with the superintendant, Dr. Yarabinetz, who spoke to our guests about the district and its philosophy.

Returning to the Museum, the group had a tour with Barbara Jones and after some shopping, we were joined by Heather Berry and Brooke Leonard from MCCA for dinner. Shila, Stephanie, Brooke and Heather then enjoyed a performance by Kenny Blake as part of the Westmoreland Jazz Society concert series here at the Museum.

Tonight - we open the Transatlantic Journal Project exhibit along with the art exhibition of Mrs. Audia's Advanced Art Class. See you at the Museum at 6:30 pm!

Installing the Transatlantic Journal student art exhibition

2010-11-18T11:30:00.003-05:00

On Wednesday, November 17, we had the following Greensburg-Salem High students at The Westmoreland to install the exhibition featuring reproductions of the Transatlantic Journal project: Kyle Hines, Marion Morton, Kylee Wombacker, Christian Blackwell, Nick Hughes, Megan Taylor and Brent Contic. Opening reception is Friday, November 19 from 6:30 - 8 PM at the Museum.

transatlantic journal project exhibition is ready!

2010-11-18T09:41:00.004-05:00

we are so excited about the transatlantic journal project exhibition and can finally breathe after 2 weeks of constant chaos. it was all well worth it! the space looks wonderful and i would like to thank everyone who helped with the installation last night at the museum:
christian blackwell, kyle hines, marion morton, megan taylor, nick hughes, brent contic, and chris hunter.

and thank you so much to pj zimmerlink for guiding the kids through the process.
what an awesome experience you have given them and we here at GSHS are truly grateful for it!

Welcome home!

2010-11-17T12:16:00.003-05:00

We arrived home around 11 pm last night after fog in Dusseldorf delayed our departure by about an hour. Despite valiant efforts (read: sprinting through the terminal) by Mrs. Grace and myself to reach our connection on time, we just missed our plane from Atlanta to Pittsburgh- it was pulling away from the gate as we arrived! So we had a little more time to reflect on our travels and we want to thank EVERYONE for their hospitality - from all the folks at the LVR (Thomas, Ingrid, Burkhardt, Stephanie, Gerhard, Walter, Nina) to our new friends at the schools (Herr Saalfeld, Herr Bugdoll, Frau Mohr, Frau Zini, and our old friend Frau Reiber) to the consulate in Dusseldorf and our dear friends the NewLanders . . .it was a very memorable trip and we look forward to returning the hospitality - beginning at 6:12 pm tonight. I will keep you posted on the days ahead. Tomorrow we spend most of the day at Greensburg Salem High School.

And don't forget - join us at the Museum on Friday at 6:30 for the opening of the Building a Transatlantic Bridge exhibition curated by Mrs. Audia's National Art Honor Society students. It will be a great opportunity to meet our German guests: Stephanine Buchholz, Uwe Bugdoll and Shila Zini.

How do you say "not raining" in French?

2010-11-15T15:35:00.009-05:00

Today, we started the day at the Heinrich Boll Gesamtschule in Oberhausen, where we sat in on two of Frau Mohr's French classes. Over the lunch break, Herr Bugdoll and his wife took us to the largest indoor ski slope in the world at Bottrop (the next town over), where we also got great views of the Tetrader (built on an old slag heap, as is the ski slope) and the last working factory, Haniel Prosper. We then went back to the school so Madam Grace could skype/vchat with her students in Greensburg. Students from Frau Mohr's class also joined us. Despite some technicial difficulties, we were able to accomplish the video chat! We really had a very enjoyable day in the school.

After some quick shopping, we went with Burkhardt and Stephanie to St. Antony Hutte, where we saw the excavation of the old iron works and also visited the Museum displays. Both are very impressive. We then went out to one more dinner at the Pfannenkuchen Haus (the pancake house) in the Centro. We really had a wonderful time and we look forward to repaying the wonderful hospitality of our German hosts the day after tomorrow, when they arrive in Greensburg!

Did I mention there was no rain today??

See you all soon!

Building a Transatlantic Bridge Project culminates with Student Art Exhibition at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art

2010-11-15T15:29:00.004-05:00

The Westmoreland Museum of American Art and Greensburg-Salem High School will present the Transatlantic Journal Project student art exhibition from November 20 - December 26, 2010. An opening reception will take place on November 19 from 6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. and is free and open to the public. This exhibition, which includes thirty-eight reproductions of journal entries, is the conclusion of a year-long collaboration with Greensburg-Salem High School and three schools in Oberhausen, Germany, facilitated the Westmoreland Museum of American Art. After its conclusion at The Westmoreland, the student artwork will travel to the LVR-Industriemuseum in Oberhausen, Germany to be exhibited from February 5 – March 27, 2011.

In November 2009, high school students from both Greensburg, Pennsylvania and Oberhausen, Germany launched the Transatlantic Journal Project as part of the Building a Transatlantic Bridge project. Thirty-nine blank journals were purchased and exchanged back and forth between Greensburg and Oberhausen. Working in collaboration with each other, the students began to share writing and artwork on the pages of the journals. There were no rules for the project, and students were simply instructed to express themselves to each other using words and images. The students in Oberhausen and Greensburg became acquainted with each other through the journals.

Read news release.

Rainy day in Essen

2010-11-14T17:14:00.008-05:00

We had a great day today, despite the persistent rain. Herr Lozinski picked us up at the hotel and drove us to Essen to have lunch with Ingrid Trocka-Hulskin and Thomas Schleper. Thomas officially thanked us for our partnership with the LVR-Industriemuseum and told us he hopes we can continue moving forward. We will all be thinking of the possibilities . . .

We also thanked Thomas because without him and his team, Born of Fire, followed by Feuerlaender and now the Transatlantic Bridge project, would not have happened. We hope to see Thomas again soon - maybe next time in America.

After lunch, we drove to the Margarethenhoehe - a settlement of worker's housing established by Alfred Krupp's wife Margaretha (Alfred Krupp was like the Ruhr's version of Andrew Carnegie). It is a beautiful garden community and one would never know it was designed for workers. The foundation behind it wanted there to be gardens and trees and for each house/apartment to have it's own garden. The Ruhrmuseum owns an apartment there, so we were able to see inside - it was for a family with two children - it was very small, but had a lot of new technology for the time, like a washing machine, bathtub and an indoor toilet! The neighborhood also had its own stores - just like the company stores for the steelworkers and coal miners that we hear about in PA. They even had their own form of money. It's amazing the similarities between the Ruhr and our own region. The same stories I heard from my parents and grandparents, we are hearing here.

After coffee and cake in a nearby restaurant, we headed to the Ruhrmuseum. It tells the story of the region from prehistoric periods through today. It is housed in the old coal plant of Zeche Zollverein. Across the river was the coke plant. If it wasn't for the rainy weather, we may have been able to tour the entire site, but instead we just focused on the exhibits indoors. It is a relatively new museum and it was very impressive - one could spend many days there taking in all the information.

Tomorrow, we visit Heinrich Boll School and see Herr Bugdoll and Frau Reiber, in addition to observing a French class. Gute Nacht and Bonsoir!

Dusseldorf

2010-11-14T16:30:00.005-05:00

Stephanie and I spent the day in Dusseldorf yesterday with 3 teachers from Oberhausen: Uwe, a math teacher and his wife Elisabeth, Antje, an art teacher, and our host Gertrude, a French teacher,w ho met us at the train and invited us to breakfast in her apartment. There we were each presented with a bread version of Saint Martin, whose day was celebrated here on Thursday. It was a great day even though it rained through most of it. We walked along the Rhine River where we say 3 early Frank Gehry buildings, sheep grazing, barges towing goods, and rode 173 stories to the top of the TV tower, where we ate lunch in the revolving restaurant. There we had 360 degree view of the city. Amazing really, even on a cloudy day we could see for miles. Went shopping, window shopping mostly, along the 'Madison Avenue' of Dusseldorf, and bought German chocolates. We took the train back to Oberhausen and ate another good meal at the Brauhaus in the Centro. Uwe wanted to go to the disco after, but we discouraged him. A great fun day.

Düsseldorf

2010-11-14T08:08:00.006-05:00

The TV TOWER

2010-11-14T07:49:00.004-05:00

Students of the HBG visit the Thanksgiving celebrations.

Thanksgiving has come and it's all over now!

2010-11-13T04:45:00.011-05:00

We had a wonderful time yesterday here in Oberhausen. The day began with a visit to the Gymnasium at Gustav Heineman in Dinslaken, where we met with English teacher Shila Zini (who will visit the US next week) and headmaster Herr Bernd Saalfeld. We had a tour of the school campus and then we observed students making presentations in English about three holidays - Halloween, All Soul's Day and Thanksgiving. The presentations were a practice round for the evening event, where the students did a wonderful job of entertaining the audience at the LVR-Industriemuseum. (look back here for videos of the presentations in the next few days!)

After touring Feuerlaender in the Peter Behrens Bau, we met up with Greensburg Salem Assistant Principal Joe Maruchnik (I'm sorry Joe if I have spelled your name wrong!)and visited an AMAZING solar system exhibit in the Gasometer (there was a huge moon in the large former gas tank - my photos do not do it justice). We all took the elevator to the top of the Gasometer - even me with my fear of heights (and I have a photo to prove it). It was very windy up there!

Then we got ready for the main event - Thanksgiving is coming. We were honored that our American Consul General was able to join us for the event, in addition to the teachers and students from Dinslaken. We were treated to a wonderful performance by Thomas Schleper's band Sunday's Best - they did four songs - one German (written by Thomas), one American, one French and one Italian. They ended their set with a great rendition of "It's all over now, Baby Blue." After delicious pumpkin soup and turkey cranberry "cocktails," we once again enjoyed a performance by the NewLanders. Thomas and I joined once again to play the hammers on Coal Digging Blues - just as we did at the closing celebrations for Born of Fire three years ago.

It was a wonderful evening. I'm sharing just a few of the photos . . .

Arrival in Oberhausen

2010-11-11T17:20:00.008-05:00

Hi All: Barbara Jones, Mrs. Grace and I arrived in Oberhausen on schedule and, after a short break at the hotel, we went to have curry wurst with french fries at the Rathaus Grill. After a meeting at the LVR-Industriemuseum to chat about the Building a Transatlantic Bridge project with Burkhardt and Stephanie, and a tour of the heavy industry exhibit in the former zinc factory, we traveled to Dortmund, where we visited the Hansa coking plant. Despite gale force winds and sideways rain, Burkhardt gave us a quick tour and after dinner in an old mill, we went back to Hansa to see the NewLanders play. The concert was held in the former workers' locker room. Instead of lockers as we know them, though, the workers put their clothes in buckets that they could then raise to the very high ceiling. Each worker had a unique key to his own bucket. All the buckets are still on the ceiling.

Tomorrow, we visit one of the schools and have the closing celebration "Thanksgiving is Coming." I'll write more then. Aufwiedersehen!

The Transatlantic Journal Project Student Art Exhibition

2010-11-11T09:22:00.003-05:00

The students have selected 38 journal entries to be included in the art exhibition, which opens at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art on Friday, November 19 with a reception from 6:30 - 8 PM. Plan to join us and meet the students, teachers, and our German collaborators, who will also be present.

Right now artwork selected by the students is being reproduced, student-designed post cards are being mailed, and next week the installation begins.

The exhibition will be on view at The Westmoreland through December 26, 2010 and will then travel to the LVR-Industriemuseum in Oberhausen, Germany to be shown from February 5 - March 27, 2011.

2010-11-08T16:42:00.002-05:00

NewLanders in the news in Greensburg, Pennsylvania....

Museum Staff and Area Teachers Travel to Germany and Greensburg

2010-11-08T16:38:00.003-05:00

Westmoreland Museum of American Art staff Barbara L. Jones, Chief Curator, and Amy Baldonieri, Assistant Director for Advancement, along with Stephanie Grace, French teacher at Greensburg-Salem High School, will arrive in Oberhausen, Germany on November 11 to meet with LVR-Industriemuseum staff Stephanie Buchholz, Project Coordinator, and Thomas Schleper, Curator, in conjunction with Building a Transatlantic Bridge, a partnership between The Westmoreland and the LVR-Industriemuseum, located in Oberhausen. During their visit, they will tour the various former industrial sites that have been transformed into cultural destinations, as well as visit with teachers and students at three participating Oberhausen high schools.

Read complete news release.

Transatlantic Journal Exhibition

2010-11-08T12:16:00.004-05:00

We are very busy here in Greensburg to get the exhibition of the journal project ready to open on November 19th, 2010! National Art Honor Society members are working hard to curate and scan images from the books, market the event with posters and postcards, and install in time for the opening which is scheduled 2 weeks away. Special thanks to our chief curator, Megan Wigle as well as Emily Alwine, a member of the team, who scanned all of the pages chosen by our curators. Both Megan and Emily are both seniors here at GSHS.

CentrO

2010-11-07T02:04:00.003-05:00

CentrO and the environment of Oberhausen, by HBG

Students are working for the project

2010-11-07T01:49:00.002-04:00

Thanksgiving is coming

2010-11-04T11:37:00.002-04:00

American evening with a concert of the American folk band the "NewLanders"Big closing event to sound the bell for the last days of the exhibition "Feuerländer - Regions of Vulcan".

Food and drink are provided.

The event takes place with support of the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, the American Consulate General in Düsseldorf and the Friends of the LVR-Industriemuseum.

Entry: 6 Euros

November, 12

beginning: 6 p.m.

location: Schauplatz Oberhausen, Museumsfoyer, Zinkfabrik Altenberg, Hansastraße 20 in Oberhausen

We are happy to welcome our special guests: Amy Baldonieri, Barbara Jones and Stephanie Grace

Marketing group is getting ready!

2010-11-04T11:17:00.002-04:00

Today, I went to Mrs. Audia's classroom with Judy Ross, the Museum's Director of Marketing and Information Technology, to talk with the students who have volunteered to do the marketing for our upcoming exhibition. Judy spoke with the kids about what they need to do - and quickly! - to get the word out about the exhibit on November 19th. We should have something great to post here early next week.

The curatorial group, led my Meg Wigle, was also meeting and working with their scale model of the gallery. Meg is coming to the Museum after school today to see the gallery in person and meet with Museum Preparator PJ Zimmerlink. There's a lot to do as the exhibition opens 2 weeks from tomorrow!!

On another note, Mrs. Redinger e-mailed me today that the Biotech students' journals are just about ready for their trip to Germany with us on Wednesday. We (Barbara Jones, Mrs. Grace and myself) will be blogging regularly about our activities in Oberhausen.

Visit to Mrs. Red's Class

2010-11-01T14:46:00.013-04:00

I visited Mrs. Redinger's Biotechnology class today as well and took some photos of the the students working in their journals. When Barbara Jones, Mrs. Grace and I go to Germany next week, we will deliver these journals to Mr. Bugdoll who will work on them with his students. Mrs. Red and Mr. Bugdoll will also create a wiki that their students will use to post research about German and U.S. biotechnology companies in the present day. Look for a link to the wiki on this site soon.

Curating the Exhibition

2010-11-01T14:40:00.007-04:00

Hi Everyone: this morning The Westmoreland's Chief Curator, Barbara Jones, and I visited Mrs. Audia's advanced art class and met with the students who are interested in being the curatorial team for the journal exhibition that will open at the Museum on November 19. I took some video of Barbara discussing the gallery (she brought a scale model) and the steps the students need to take to curate the exhibition. These videos will be posted shortly (hopefully by tomorrow) on the Museum's YouTube site. (see the link at right)

I hope everyone marks their calendars for November 19 (Friday) at 6:30 pm for the opening of this exhibition, in addition to an exhibition of the advance art class's artwork - both here at The Westmoreland. Come see the exhibits and meet our visitors from Germany!

Le Blog Français: Halloween

2010-11-01T14:18:00.000-04:00

Le Blog Français: Halloween: "Qu'est-ce que vous faites typiquement pour Halloween? Vous vous déguisez en quelle costume cette année?"

Biotech Class Share Glowing Protein!!!

2010-11-01T11:28:00.003-04:00

Here is a video of some of the protein we are attempting to send you in our journals...completely safe of course. Students extracted the glowing protein out of bacteria cells that had been transformed. Biotech journals are almost finished, yea!!!

Pennsylvania Art Education Association

2010-10-31T07:28:00.001-04:00

Hi Everyone! This morning I'm giving a presentation on the Building a Transatlantic Bridge project to art teachers from across Pennsylvania! Wish me luck! Or, gluck auf!

Bonjour...

2010-10-21T04:59:00.002-04:00

Letters in frech from american- to german students.

Transatlantic Journal Project

2010-10-20T09:40:00.002-04:00

I'm hoping that this year we can continue our transatlantic journal project. We have some new teachers on board with us here at GSHS, including some chemistry teachers who are borrowing the journals for this Friday's celebration of "Mole Day." And Greensburg Salem's National Art Honor Society is planning and preparing for the museum's exhibition of the project. We have scheduled the exhibit's opening for November 19th here at the Westmoreland!

Thanksgiving is coming and so are we!!

2010-10-07T15:21:00.002-04:00

Hello to all our friends in Germany. We are very busy planning - not only our travel and yours - but the projects that will happen this semester. Letters from Greensburg Salem French students are ON THEIR WAY to Frau Westkamp-Mohr and her French students in Germany - a new collaborative project is underway.

Next week I meet with Mrs. Audia, Mrs. Redinger, Mrs. Grace and Mrs. Glowa to start talking about plans for our visitors from Germany and to get our students started on planning their exhibition. Be sure to check the blog frequently for updates.

And - something extra: The NewLanders (the folk band that made the CD Born of Fire: Songs of Steel and Industry) will be performing here at The Westmoreland tomorrow night at 7:30 pm. The concert is a fundraiser for them for their upcoming trip to Germany (they are performing for the "Thanksgiving is coming" event). Come join us as we say "Auf wiedersehen, NewLanders!"

Watch out!

2010-10-06T08:28:00.005-04:00

New photos on Flickr!

Transatlantic Bridge Day in Germany (May 2010)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/transatlantic_bridge

Greensburg Teachers are gearing up as well

2010-09-30T15:43:00.002-04:00

Hi Everyone: It's Amy Baldonieri - I am the Assistant Director for Advancement here at The Westmoreland and this is my first post to the blog. I have been meeting and e-mailing with Greensburg Salem High School teachers to get the project rolling this year. Returning to the project are Mrs. Audia and Mrs. Redinger and new to the project is Mrs. Grace, our French teacher, who will be traveling with me and curator Barbara Jones to Germany in November. On Wednesday, October 6, Mrs. Audia and I will make a presentation to the Greensburg Salem High School Faculty in order to recruit more teachers to participate in the project with their students. The centerpiece of this fall's activities will be a student-planned exhibition that will open here at The Westmoreland on November 19, when Stephanie Buchholz from the LVR Industriemuseum, along with teachers Mr. Bugdoll, Ms. Wiethaup and Ms. Zini will be visiting from Germany. The exhibition will then go to Oberhausen in January. We are all very excited about the coming activities for Building a Transatlantic Bridge. Although we are sad that Katie Barnard has left the Museum to become a teacher, I am glad that her departure allows me to travel to Germany in her place and experience this project first-hand. I have been behind the scenes since the beginning and meeting and interacting with the teachers and students will be a real treat for me! I look forward to meeting everyone.

Débat d’idées

2010-09-28T07:45:00.002-04:00

Samstag, 2. Oktober 2010, 18:00 - 21:00 Uhr

Französischer Abend im LVR-Industriemuseum als Begleitveranstaltung zur Ausstellung „Feuerländer – Regions of Vulcan“.

Neben der Ausstellung ist der Umgang mit dem industriellen Erbe in Frankreich und Deutschland Thema eines Podiumsgesprächs: einer débat d’idées.

Welche Rolle spielt auf französischer Seite das Écomusée und welche das LVR-Industriemuseum in Deutschland? Schließlich gelten beide Häuser seit ihrer Gründung in den 1970er und 1980er Jahren als Pionierunternehmen in Sachen Industriekultur.

Was ist aus der damaligen Aufbruchstimmung geworden? Welche neuen Herausforderungen gilt es zu bestehen? Lässt sich voneinander lernen?

Darüber diskutieren Verantwortliche der entsprechenden Museen.

Eingeladen sind Prof. Dominique Ferriot (1988-2000 Direktorin des Musée des Art et Métiers, Paris), Dr. Walter Hauser (Direktor des LVR-Industriemuseums), Bernard Clément (Direktor des Écomusée Creusot-Montceau) und Dr. Jochem Putsch (Leiter Schauplatz Solingen des LVR-Industriemuseums).

Führung durch die Ausstellung und Moderation: PD Dr. Thomas Schleper (Kurator der Ausstellung „Feuerländer“). In Zusammenarbeit mit dem deutsch-fanzösischen Kulturzentrum Essen und mit Unterstützung von Immeo-Wohnen sowie der Kulturabteilung der Französischen Botschaft.

4 €

Besucheranschrift:

LVR-Industriemuseum Schauplatz Oberhausen

Kesselhaus der Zinkfabrik Altenberg

Hansastraße 20

46049 Oberhausen

Meeting our teachers

2010-09-23T08:23:00.006-04:00

Yesterday we met our teachers. We talked about the current school projects and about the projects in the near future. Our big closing ceremony "Thanksgiving is coming" in November, 12 was also part of our conversation. The schools will think about ways to participate.

One more topic was planning the travel to Greensburg and the visit of our American friends to "Thanksgiving is coming". We also talked about the exhibit "Transatlantic Bridge", that will come next year to Germany.

The photo shows the hall of the LVR-Industriemuseum, that will present the exhibit "Transatlantic Bridge".

2010-09-20T05:13:00.000-04:00

NRZ, 24.08.2010

New project about paintings

2010-09-17T09:06:00.004-04:00

Students from the Gymnasium im Gustav-Heinemann-Schulzentrum soon start a conversation with American students about:

- paid work (after school and during term break) and after schoolwork
- holidays - keeping traditions alive
- sport
- take your child to work day (do you still do this?)
- migration and immigration (minortities and ethnic groups)
- eating habits

The German students use the catalouges "Born of fire" and "Feuerländer" to find examples of paintings, that show seasons. The class will search for similar motifs in the Ruhr Valley and
photograph them. Later the students will analyze them in the school lessons and create a video.

New project with French classes starting soon

2010-09-10T03:37:00.004-04:00

A new project is going to start in this new year of school.
The idea is, that American and German students use a "second" language as a way to communicate. The students from Oberhausen and Greensburg will start a communication
via email. They'll talk about their hobbies, about school and family.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

MCCA has a Facebook page!

2010-08-31T16:39:00.004-04:00

Now featuring our Transatlantic Journal project.

2010-08-18T07:29:00.001-04:00

NRZ, 18.08.2010

Read about Feuerlander

2010-08-06T11:50:00.003-04:00

Days 4-7 in one

2010-08-01T18:15:00.006-04:00

I'm back. Sorry for the lack of posting, but it's been crazy busy and we got here so late on Thursday that I didn't have the energy. We spent the day Thursday in Dusseldorf at two museums, K20, 20th century art, and K21, you guessed it, 21st century art. Both were amazing museums. K20 just reopened 2 weeks ago after a 2 year renovation. What a great space! Picture 1 is an installation of tire inner tubes floating above your head. The smell hits you the minute you walk in the door, so it is both a visual and sensory experience. The second pix is of the gallery with a Sol Lewitt wall drawing with the scrim that floats over all the galleries. Lets in daylight and uses flourescent lighting above it. Great overall light for the galleries.

K21 is a renovated villa that has been converted inside into a contemporary installation galleries. 4 floors of one different experience after the other.

We spent the day on Friday visiting commercial galleries in 2 different sections of Berlin. Saw some very interesting things; a very active art center it seems.
Spent Friday night out with Antje, one of the teachers involved in the Transatlantic Bridge. She invited us with some friends of hers to dinner at Bar 25, a bar restaurant on the river in west Berlin. It was, as she said, a place for young people, so we felt a bit old, but it was fun. Many buildings along the river were abandoned and taken over by people and made into these hip bars; a place for kids to go and a reuse of the buildings that were just sitting empty. No way that could happen in the US. Too many codes. Late night that night; then a full day on Saturday in Chemnitz with Rita Muller. She was great to spend a Saturday at the museum with us. She took us to a new collection that has just opened there; a private collector donated his entire collection to Chemnitz; it's housed in renovated bank building and is an amazing collection of German expressionists and Kandinsky and the Blaue Reiter group. Even Gabriele Munter, who I never see anywhere. Very exciting to see.

Today we went to the Bauhaus Archive and the Neue Nationalgalerie, with art from 1900 - 1945. Again a fabulous collection of german expressionists and so many others. It's hard to describe; a must visit if you come to Berlin. Tonight we squeezed in the Jewish Museum, designed by Daniel Liebskind. A building that is both difficult to look at and difficult to be inside. Too much to do with so little time.

I am sorry to report no shoes from this trip. My budget is happy but my feet are not. I was very close to a pair, but alas, no. I found 2 shoe stores today very near the hotel that I had not seen before, so I was lucky they were not open today.

So now I should try to sleep; we have a 7:15 am flight; will be picked up to go to the airport at 5:15 (ughhhhh). All my running around will definitely catch up to me tomorrow.
See you back in the states.
Auf Wiedersehen.
BJ

Day 4 Duisburg and Dusseldorf

2010-07-28T16:49:00.008-04:00

A great day looking at art at a new Museum Kuppersmuhle of Modern Art on the inner harbor. The new modern part of the city. A private institution; shows contemporary art from around 1950 to the present. Some wonderful Anselm Kiefer and Gerhard Richter paintings; from the 1960s forward. Pictures attached. It's an old grain elevator building that has been recycled and converted to an art museum. They are under construction now, going to add a glass rectangle on the very top designed by architects Herzoz de Meuron. It will really be a distinctive building when that happens.

From Duisburg, took the train 15 minutes to Dusseldorf and will go to the old city tomorrow to the museum of modern art that has just re-opened after renovation and expansion; was closed for 2 years. Will report back. Ate in a Lebanese restaurant tonight; it is the neighborhood where our hotel (NH) is located. It was very good and I am looking forward to the pastries I brought back to the room with me (after my work here).

Some pictures of the past few days, so you can re-experience my experience.

2010-07-27T17:30:00.003-04:00

The small village of Westerholt in Herten.

Day 3 Oberhausen

2010-07-27T16:03:00.003-04:00

Back again. Another busy day. Will try not to ramble as much tonight. Had a lazy morning here; wandered the streets looking for shoes; no success. Will keep trying however. But we are learning our way around more and more.

Thomas picked us up at 2 and we went to the Folkwang Museum in Essen. Saw a Rock n' Roll Photography show entitled "A Star is Born: Photography and Rock since Elvis" so began with Elvis, Little Richard, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Queen, to Kiss, you get the picture (ha); lots of memories in those pictures. We missed the 1930s exhibition that showed many of the paintings and sculpture that were in the collection before the war and were forced to be sold; amazing they were able to bring them back. Some are now back in the permanent collection, so we were able to see them. They are reinstalling their permanent collection in a fabulous new building by English architect David Chipperfield. It is such an amazing transformation from when I saw the museum in its reduced state in 2007. Some exceptional details. And while much of the collection was not up, we saw some of the best.

From Essen we drove to Herten, a small village north of Oberhausen. There we met Mr. Buchtal and his wife Elizabeth; he is a math teacher and is involved in the Transatlantic Bridge project from the same school as Antje. They organized this visit to show us what the Ruhr was like before industry came, late 18th early 19th century. It is the site of a former castle that is now a golf resort that is surrounded by a charming village. Dates on some of the houses were from 1804; the church 1806. We ate in a Biergarten under a great tree. Good german food tonight; will need to go to the gym when I get home for sure.

I'll try to post some pictures soon. Off to Duisburg and/or Dusseldorf tomorrow. More to report then.
Good night.
BJ

Day 2 Oberhausen

2010-07-26T18:10:00.002-04:00

Here I am again. Finally got through, though not exactly sure how. I'm most definitely not a expert at this. Had a great day today. To Dortmund to visit the LWL-Industriemuseum. All closed on Monday but the Director took us on a personal tour. It is a former coal mine that employed 1000 workers at one point. 1000 feet deep; and operated for about 100 years. I am still amazed about the permanence of these industrial sites and that they turn them in to landmarks, and save them. The buildings are architectural significant; the owners of the mine wanted to impress the workers so the architect used art nouveau decoration, so it's really beautiful, yet heavy industry. This museum is located in Westphalia, the eastern part of the Ruhr, about 60 km from Oberhausen. Definitely worth the visit. They are under construction now and will have the building and a new exhibition prepared in 2 years. A reason to come back to the Ruhr.

Back in Oberhausen we had 1 hour before we met with the Mayor of Oberhausen. Had coffee and a delicious tart, fresh fruits of the season with fresh whipped cream. Yum! Photo opportunities in the council chamber with the Mayor. An abstract mural from 1958 is painted on 3 walls near the ceiling, depicting the major sites of the city. The details of the building, from the 1920s, are all green glazed ceramic; you can imagine why I liked it. The elevator/lift was an original one; in continuous operation with no doors so you had to hop on and off while it was still moving; very strange; gave you an uneasy feeling getting on and off; fun experience though, like a carnival ride.

Back tracking a bit to yesterday; didn't mention the dignitaries who spoke, all of whom warmly welcomed The Westmoreland, one of which was the Mayor. Another was the United States Consulate representative, Bernd Herbert, who made a point to greet me in English (appreciated) and spoke about the importance of the partnership and benefits of this collaboration for both of our institutions. There was a moment of silence for those who were killed at the Love Parade in Duisburg on Saturday. A real tragedy; over 1 1/2 million kids went to this techno music concert; they expected only 300,000. And things got way out of hand, and a panic stampede occurred. We were on the train with many of the young people who were headed to the concert, but shortly after our train arrived in Oberhausen, they stopped the trains entirely to keep more people from trying to go. Really sad.

Last night had dinner at a Polish restaurant here, where we ate classic German food. Funny. With our Spanish visitors from the Basque region, French visitors from Le Creusot museum, and Thomas, Dr. Hauser, and Milena Karabaic. Interesting as only one of the Spanish group spoke English, one spoke German, so there was a lot of translating going on. I definitely need to learn another language. You feel very deficient in a group like that. But we had a good evening, and communicated the best we could. Tonight David and I ate in a Thai restaurant that was very good. So we're having a real variety of food.

Thomas is taking us to Essen tomorrow to see the competed Zollverein which I am anxious to see completed. We hope to see the Folkwang museum as well; time permitting. Never seems to be enough time. So my adventure continues. Will report back.
Goodnight for now.
BJ

Regions of Vulcan 1 - 25 July 2010

2010-07-26T05:56:00.003-04:00

Regions of Vulcan 2 - 25 July 2010

2010-07-26T05:39:00.002-04:00

Feuerlander: Regions of Vulcan opening

2010-07-25T11:48:00.006-04:00

Despite fits and starts, I think I am finally going to be able to do this. Some operator error, but more problems with finding the hotel's hotspot than anything. Perhaps because of lack of sleep; who knows. So I don't think my earlier post today ever posted. It is out in cyber space somewhere. The opening ceremony was nice; musical interlude; full of remarks, in German, French, and English, me. And FIRE! Pots of it outside the museum with a worker in his flame retardant gear stoking it. So we could not only see it but smell it too. Made it very real inside. Large and receptive crowd; exceptional exhibition. Have good film of the exhibition spaces to share (once I figure out how to do that). Saw old friends from previous visits (Milena Karabaic, Bernd and Margie Hubert, Rita Muller) and met many new ones. Thomas said he needed more walls; and I understood completely. There are never enough wall when you want to show great art. 203 pictures; 11 countries are partnering in the exhibition, and some of those partners are here, from France, Spain, and Poland. The exhibitions are in 2 different locations. A number of the artists whose work is in the contemporary section at the LVR-Industriemuseum were here today, and very proud. The historical section is in the Peter Behrens building, an impressive Bauhaus style building from 1926 that also holds their storage depot, where 1000s of objects live before going on display. The majority of the Westmoreland's 29 paintings are in this section, divided into 13 areas. They are hung well, making wonderful relationships to (within each section. An especially moving juxtaposition was our Mildred Olmes hanging with a painting from Belgium that was like a Madonna and Christ. Cynthia Cooley and Ron Donoughe's paintings are in the contemporary section. Thomas and his team seriously outdid themselves with such an ambitious undertaking. I hope many will have the opportunity to see all of these works together, a reality that will not happen again.

Being picked up for dinner in 1/2 hour, so need to put my feet up. So all for now. Signing off from Oberhausen.
BJ

Arrival

2010-07-25T02:13:00.004-04:00

My first blogging effort; not easy to get into the hotel system, but after some perseverance, I made it. Travel had its moment, with weather delays in US and a 'Love Parade' in Duisburg, we finally arrived in Oberhausen. Met with Thomas and our colleagues from Le Creusot last night; we are both here at the Best Western because we could not reserve a room at the NH Hotel because 'Paul' the world cup predicting octopus lives there, and I understand has many Spanish visitors this weekend. We move there tonight, so will have a chance to see him firsthand. Maybe a picture is forthcoming. So I'm off to the opening ceremony for Feuerlander; being picked up at 10. Be back later and fill you in on the day.

Feuerländer OPENS on SUNDAY

2010-07-23T05:03:00.002-04:00

Only a few days left...see the first photos of our exhibition
http://www.derwesten.de/staedte/oberhausen/Ausstellung-Feuerlaender-id3272260.html

Feuerländer: Regions of Vulcan - opens 25 July 2010

2010-07-19T15:39:00.004-04:00

Westmoreland Chief Curator Barbara L. Jones to take part in opening ceremony for Feuerländer: Regions of Vulcan. Check back as Barbara will blog about her experience in Ruhr Valley - 2010 European Culture Capital.

The Westmoreland's "Born of Fire" Industrial Scenes featured in International Exhibition

2010-07-16T11:10:00.003-04:00

The Westmoreland Museum of American Art’s Born of Fire: The Valley of Work exhibition will be part of Feuerländer: Regions of Vulcan, a large-scale international exhibition, to be presented at the LVR-Industriemuseum in Oberhausen, Germany from July 25 through Nov. 28, 2010, as part of the Ruhr Region's designation as the 2010 European Capital of Culture. Feuerländer: Regions of Vulcan comprises nearly 200 works of art illustrating the development of the mining, iron and steel industries in Europe and the United States from around 1780 to the present. Barbara L. Jones, Chief Curator at The Westmoreland, will travel to Germany to participate in the opening festivities of the exhibition and will write about her experiences on this blog.

Read the new release.

In the quest of historical similarities and differences of the industrial areas Pittsburgh and Ruhrarea

2010-07-05T03:03:00.002-04:00

Summary of project results of 11th grade students of the Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gymnasium

What does the cultural capital have to do with industrialization? Which historical similarities and differences can be found in the comparison of the Ruhrarea and Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh)? This is the questions an eleventh grade basic course in history dealt with the last couple of weeks. Implemented to a sequence of lessons on the history of the USA, students of the Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gymnasium researched, copied, excerped and evaluated their results in small projects.

Following is a blue sheet of „small" project topics student dealt with in groups:

- Historical preconditions of industrialization and a comparison of the chronology of both industrial areas (Ruhrarea & Pennsylvania) - created by Leon Braun, Lars Binder, Felix Frühauf, René Gängler, Christian Happe, Sebastian Ratsch, Tristan Wagner and Ben Weiß

- Harkort and A. Krupp versus Carnegie and Rockefeller: What do these industrialists have in common? - created by Steffen Bertram, Manuel Gomez Garcia, Phillip Kemkes, Anton Müller, Simon Steinborn, Björn Teßmer and Erik Zemlock

- How did Germany and the USA deal with the social questions and their solutions related to industrialization? - created by Dana Hülsemann, Kathrin Kempkes, Marit Matten and Anselm-Leander Wancke

- An especially incisive cesura was the structural change in both industrial areas. How did the Ruhrarea and Pennsylvania come to terms with the new situation? - created by André Eitzer, Jörg Glowka, Michael Hußmann, Maurice Kontorowitz and Arian Kühsel

The Project results do not only show similarities, but significant differences as well. Subsequent is a very short and pointed summary of the results:

The historical conditions for the development of industrialization in Germany and the USA differed very much regarding political circumstances and mentalities of citizens. At the beginning of industrialization, Germany was coined by sectionalism and could only develop positively after abandoning it. The emancipation of the colonies from its mother country and the ending of the civil war set totally different prerequisited in the history of thought of the American people than in Germany. Rockefeller acted aggresively against strikes, Carnegie on the contrary was a prime example of a philanthrope. A. Krupp and Harkort were far more in favor of their workers than Rockefeller. The solution of the social questions during industrialization turned Germany into a welfare state, the American system only now shows approaches of social security (general health care) for all American citizens. Why were such different solutions to the social question found on both sides of the ocean? Culture, infrastructure and education are the criteria of the comparison of the industrial areas Pittsburgh and Ruhrarea. Are there more universities and bridges in the Ruhrarea or in Pittsburg? Answers to these questions can be locked up in our folder at the Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gymnasium or at the LVR-Industriemuseum in Oberhausen.

A special thank to Dana Hülsemann, Kathrin Kempkes, Marit Matten and Simon Steinborn which presented the project results at the transatlantic bridge day.

Steffi Melcher (subjects: History, Psychology and German)

A tour of Greensburg

2010-06-18T12:11:00.004-04:00

Here's a VIDEO made by Greensburg Salem High School student Emily Gabriel completed for the our Transatlantic Bridge project. It is a quick tour of Greensburg with special thanks to the NewLanders for the great background music. Enjoy!

President Obama Reports on National Economy from Pittsburgh, Leverages the Region’s Transformation Story as Inspiration for the Future

2010-06-07T21:49:00.001-04:00

President Barack Obama visited Pittsburgh on June 2, 2010, speaking about national economic issues from Carnegie Mellon University. He pointed to the Pittsburgh region’s economic, environmental and quality of life transformation – strongly propelled by excellence in technology, innovation and community collaboration – as an example of the bright future that’s possible through deliberate investment in innovative, sustainable solutions to our nation’s most pressing problems:

“The possibilities of where this research might lead us are endless. Imagine a new treatment that kills cancer cells but leaves healthy ones untouched, or regenerative medicine that ends the agonizing wait for an organ transplant. Imagine a lightweight vest for soldiers and police officers that can stop armor-piercing bullets, or educational software that's as effective and engaging as a personal tutor, or intelligent prosthetics that can enable a wounded veteran to play piano again. And now imagine all the workers and small business owners and consumers who would benefit from these discoveries.

“We can't know for certain what the future will bring … I'm sure there were times when [Pittsburgh] couldn't imagine life without steel mills and the heavy smog that filled these streets. And when that industry shrank and so many jobs were lost, who could've guessed that Pittsburgh would fare better than many other Rust Belt cities, and reemerge as a center for technology, green jobs, health care, and education? Who would've thought that the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's logo would one day adorn the U.S. Steel Tower, or that this institute of higher education would be the region's largest employer?

All of this came to be because, as a community, you prepared and adapted and invested in a better future -- even if you weren't sure of what that future would look like.”

Read the full transcript.

Copyright (C) 2010 Allegheny Conference on Community Development All rights reserved.

May 27, 2010 is Transatlantic Bridge Day

2010-05-28T15:22:00.003-04:00

Proclamation by Karl Eisaman, City of Greensburg Mayor.

Transatlantic Bridge Day - Greensburg

2010-05-28T15:13:00.003-04:00

Building a Transatlantic Bridge is a dynamic, international partnership connecting students from two regions that share a common industrial past. City of Greensburg Mayor Karl Eisaman proclaimed May 27, 2010 as “Transatlantic Bridge Day.”
Program attendees learned about the creative ways The Westmoreland and the LVR-Industriemuseum in Oberhausen, Germany are bringing together students from both regions using technology with a focus on the art and industrial heritage of Pittsburgh and the Ruhr Valley.

The program featured: Anita Rometo, Community Liaison, Greensburg Salem School District, Katie Barnard, Director of Education and Visitor Services, City of Greensburg Mayor Karl Eisaman, and Kelley Audia, Greensburg Salem High School art teacher.

2010-05-28T15:11:00.002-04:00

Mrs. Rometo and a GS student explore the many aspects of the project using the new touch screen kiosk.

Transatlantic Bridge Day - Greensburg

2010-05-28T15:09:00.001-04:00

Greensburg Salem High School students and a friend review the journals.

Today! Day of Transatlantic Bridge

2010-05-27T17:21:00.012-04:00

Rock 'n' Feller

student´s art work: FIRE

students talking about steel industry

students showing their videos

KIOSK

The mayor of Oberhausen proclaims Transatlantic Bridge Day

2010-05-27T05:34:00.002-04:00

The city of Oberhausen and its mayor proclaims today the "Transatlantic Bridge Day"

Read more: http://www.oberhausen.de/301AB5D798484F53B755AB3F7CBB8ED4.php

Art creates a bridge between Greensburg and Germany

2010-05-26T08:26:00.005-04:00

Read a great article about our innovative transatlantic bridge to Germany! The drawing by Oberhausen student Sabrina Gemsa combines the Statue of Liberty, the spans of a Pittsburgh bridge, and the Oberhausen Gasometer.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10146/1060676-437.stm

This project is funded by American Association of Museums and the US Dept. of State.

Under construction...

2010-05-18T15:28:00.000-04:00

Transatlantic Bridge Day Invite

2010-05-13T17:05:00.000-04:00

Transatlantic Bridge Day at The Westmoreland

2010-05-06T15:13:00.000-04:00

Join us at The Westmoreland on May 27 at 7 PM for a program on the progress of "Building a Transatlantic Bridge."

The Westmoreland's Director of Education/Visitor Services, Katie Barnard, along with Anita Rometo, Community Liaison and Kelley Audia, art teacher of Greensburg Salem School District, will discuss a dynamic partnership connecting students from two regions that share a common past - The Building a Transatlantic Bridge project. The Westmoreland and the LVR-Industriemuseum in Oberhausen, Germany are bringing together students from both areas using technology with a focus on the art and industrial heritage of the regions. Much like Pittsburgh and it's surrounding regions, Oberhausen, Germany was an industrial steel-making area. Both regions' culture and history were shaped by the people that worked in the mills, and the remnants of the workers past are still visible in the landscape today. The artists that depicted smoky cityscapes in Pittsburgh and in Oberhausen have been featured in our Born of Fire exhibitions. High school students in both areas are using current technology to create lasting bonds and cultural understanding. Join us in celebrating this unique partnership! See the students artwork, creative videos and collaborations.

Building a Transatlantic Bridge is funded through a grant from Museums and Community Collaborations Abroad (MCCA), a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State in partnership with the American Association of Museums.

the school website

2010-04-29T19:27:00.000-04:00

Check out the Greensburg Salem School District Website! We made the front page!
http://greensburg.pa.schoolwebpages.com

Visit to Bergisch Gladbach

2010-04-29T09:17:00.000-04:00

The LVR-Industriemuseum consists of 6 venues. One of them is an old paper mill. In March our colleagues from this venue (located in Bergisch Gladbach) invited our American guests to visit them. Katie, Anita, Nina and me got a great guided tour through the museum.

Katie and Anita produced their own paper! At lunch time we ate a typical meal at the museum cafe: potatoes and fried eggs. After that our American guests spent a lot of time at the museum shop.

My colleague Beatrix currently tries to prepare a lecture for a big conference for education curators in October. If that works, we’ll have the chance to present our Transatlantic Bridge to a wide audience of professionals.

Transatlantic Bridge on web site of school ministry

2010-04-15T03:40:00.000-04:00

Click here to read more

As time goes by...Modern times in teeming II

2010-04-15T00:52:00.000-04:00

Lieber Thomas Schleper,

"This day and time we´re living in

gives cause of apprehension

with speed and new invention

and things like fourth dimension...*

Not the fourth dimension is evoked in your article, but "teeming as a gate to modernity" You are reporting of Bonhommés picture "Teeming" from 1865, which shows the "soldiers of work" out of the perspective of the owner -- showing the factory interior view - who tries "to get a quick overall view of his capital investment and its useful exploitation".

Out of the perspective of a student of the art class 12 of our school -- whose drawings were made during a visit in the R.I.M --the structural change in industry has also changed the view on "teeming" . His collage - a new combination of two objects out of the R.I.M. exibition -- wants to show this fact symbolically.

Bonhomme´s "soldier of work" has become a stripped marionette, his body a fossil dinosaur and the teeming laddle a so-called "Auslaufmodell" (phased-out model?), his head illustrating the idiom "There´s no use crying over spilled milk". or " ... the simple facts of life are such, they cannot be removed..." furthermore as it sounds in the song from "Casablanca".
The song also is telling that only "on love you can rely".

However we can rely on both, the Industrial Museum in Oberhausen (R.I.M) and the Westmorelandmuseum of American Art in Pittsburgh - whose collection of industrial machines and paintings enable the students of our schools to have a look at a teeming laddle in original or the watercolour paintings "Teeming" out of "The Valley of Work" Collection.

These "everlasting" cultural goods - conserved at the museum - offer the possibility for the students to deal with the subject of the industrial past and to interpret in a creative "modern "

way from their individual perspective to past times.

Mining Dump Heaps

2010-04-13T14:35:00.000-04:00

School at museum

2010-04-12T03:04:00.000-04:00

all videos are made by U. Bugdoll and students, HBG, 2010

Modern Times in "Teeming"

2010-04-06T11:31:00.000-04:00

Francois Bonhommé, Coulée de fonte, 1865,

Écomusée Creusot-Montceau, Collection: Académie Bourdon, photographer: T. Schleper

World Trade 1867, Paris
L'Illustration, Nr. 1272, 13.7.1867, S. 21f

The Frenchman Françoise Bonhommé is regarded as the first European painter who tried to depict both the new dimensions of iron works and the collective of the new working class in order to grasp the modern reality of industrial production in iron works. The monumental painting "Teeming", has been one of the attractions of the World Trade 1867 in Paris and Adolf Menzel, the famous German painter of the later "Eisenwalzwerk", took the opportunity to see that work of art. No surprise, the team of the museum counts itself lucky as - after repeated attempts - the Academy Bourdon just has accepted the loan to the exhibition "Feuerländer" in Oberhausen.

Bonhommé called the workmen "soldiers of industry" and wanted to grant to them a special dignity - in spite of the hierarchy within the production process. Therefore, this work is painted as a tribute to the new labour class. On the other hand, however, the painter applies a wide-angle perspective to the scene. It’s the perspective of the owner, who likes to get a quick overall view of his capital investment and its useful exploitation. The modern argument between labour and capital is present at this painting. Because of it, Bonhommés "Teeming" became a key work in the history of industrial painting: for the following artists and their interpreters as well.

The museum wasn’t able to do without Bonhommé and now it needs not renounce his work of art. "Teeming" represents a crucial point of the "Feuerländer" as a gate to modernity.

15 minutes of fame

2010-04-03T02:33:00.000-04:00

Facebook, flickr, youtube - yet the vast majority of school districts have stringent rules against nearly all forms of social networking during the school day. Students and teachers working on the Transatlanticbridgeproject in Oberhausen and Greensburg are breaking all these rules now and are taking the liberty to blog, communicate on facebook and watch videos on youtube officiary during their school lessons to interact.

That we would be able to do so, Andy Warhol had already anticipated in 1968, when he coined the expression: "In the future, everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes." Why not our students as well - doing artwork and using the internet to publish and have an interesting exchange of thoughts.

During our stay in Pittsburgh we visited the Andy Warhol Museum and while I was looking at his works it became clear to me, that Andy Warhol´s way of creating had highly influenced the American students creating their different pages of the Transatlantic Journals.

"Is that art?" my students in Germany asked, feeling the candy paper, which was glued in a journal and I had to explain a lot about American POP Art , about advertising and "commercial education" about Andy's message - we all can be stars - about POP as a kind of life style

- Andy´s life style.

About his infamous hot PINK, which made even good old Goethe glisten in his renewed splendor

and now makes a student look like he (she) "is in the pink"

( means he/she´s looking "hot"), about his technique of multiples, showing the mass fabrication and unlimited quantities of the object - now showing the many sidedness, the "multiple" personality of young people, about his using pictures of celebrities and photos from Time and Life magazines, now used for showing the glamourous dreams of the students, outing themselves as "fashion fans".

The journals - as "life capsules" - interesting to be opened.

Since Warhol´s death, changes in media market, as well technological advancement as oneline social networking and blogging allowed otherwise former individuals or concepts to gain widespread audience in a short period of time. John Langer suggests that 15 minutes of fame is an enduring concept because it permits everyday activities to become 'great efforts'.*

Our eyeryday activities - POPular Art - our life style.

" On the web, everyone will be famous for 15 people". This quote was said to have originated with the Scottish artist Momus - a recent adaption of Warhols quip.*And the sociologist Ervin

Goffman wrote about the necessity of grooming oneself for presentation in 'everyday life'.

And we guess that the grooming we really need today is for purposes of representation in the virtual domain.

- "Is that art?" Andy would answer that art and life are the same and social networking is only real life to be translated online - that social networking sites have become POPular sites for youth culture to explore themselves, relationships and share cultural artyfacts -and that there are not many limitations as to what individuals can post when online.

Today teachers have to take care of computer viruses and security regulations concerning the communikation via internet.

- Andy wouldn´t wast a thought on it.

*( after : wikipedia "15 minutes of fame")

+ Two pages designed by the American students of Kelley Audia´s Art class

Westmoreland Museum Visit

2010-03-31T12:06:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, the Drawing II class traveled to the Westmoreland Museum for a tour of The Valley of Work. There the students began sketching and planning for their animated drawings.

This was a quick collaborative stop-animation practice film...which we recognized the flaws in and began much more sophisticated drawings since... we can't wait to see and share the outcome of this new project!

The cooperation keeps on growing

2010-03-31T03:03:00.005-04:00

On Thursday 25th in the morning Katie and Anita left Germany. Only a few hours later the Bridge Project went on. Once more we could welcome our teachers. This time a training about ”social networks“ took place.
Our partner school, the Heinrich-Böll-Gesamtschule, opened its doors so that we and the teachers from the other schools could use their computer room. Thanks for this!

And one more institution became a friend of our project: the LVR-Medienzentrum in Düsseldorf. Specialized on new media the media center turned out to be a perfect partner. The concept of our project was convincing and the professionals supported us with a trainer who talked about ”social networks“: about the status quo, about chances, but also about risks. It was very helpful.

By the way, the trainer of the media center joined our Facebook-Group and became a fan of us!

A day in the museum

2010-03-30T03:46:00.004-04:00

On March 9th the museum invited teachers of our partner schools in order to provide them with more information about our exhibition "Feuerländer". We showed them paintings that are going to be presented in our halls. Many ideas came up about how the works could be integrated into the school projects. The meeting was very successful. But that wasn´t all.

Antje talked about the trip to Greensburg so that the others could get an impression about the Greensburg Salem High School and the region. Furthermore we showed the teachers our permanent exhibition about heavy industry including presentations of running machines. We also informed them about our education programs. Many teachers took part in this meeting.

Thanks for coming!