Contact: Mandy Wilson
mwilson@contemporarycraft.org
412.465.1637

For Immediate Release:
ART BUILDS COMMUNITY AND PROMOTES HEALING THROUGH SOCIALLY ENGAGED COMMUNITYDIALOGUES
PITTSBURGH, PA – JUNE, 2021 — Across the globe, women and girls make up a disproportionate percentage of the millions of people
who flee their homes from political conflict, ethnic cleansing and domestic abuse. Faces Seen Hearts Unknown, co-sponsored with The
Conflict Lab and presented at Contemporary Craft, explores these issues through two community dialogues on July 10 at 12 PM andAugust 14 at 11 AM.
Taken from a Spanish proverb, the expression Faces Seen Hearts Unknown refers to superficial judgments made about people, based
solely on appearances, and cautions that to truly know a person or a community, one needs genuine access to their emotions. The Faces
Seen Hearts Unknown series, presented on two Saturdays, July 10, 2021 at 12 PM and August 14, 2021 at 11 AM is organized in concert
with CC’s current exhibition Searching for Home. In Searching for Home, Seattle-based, Pakistan-born artist Humaira Abid, presents ahuman-scaled look at the worldwide refugee crisis. The artworks were created following months of research and interviews by the artist
with refugee women who have been resettled in both the Pacific Northwest and Pakistan from nations including Somalia, Syria andAfghanistan. Abid is well known for her unique visual language, which blends the discipline of traditional Mughal miniature painting andsculpture in wood. The beauty and mastery of Abid’s life-size carvings of everyday objects share stories of the violence, cruelty, upheaval,and instability in society, especially that to which women are subject.
For Faces Seen Hearts Unknown, four individuals from our community have been invited to share personal narratives to help visitors better
understand issues of identity, conflict and motherhood, central in Abid’s installation. On July 10, 2021, Fran Flaherty and Amy Bowman
McElhone will lead a gallery discussion addressing themes around maternal identities and care culture. Flaherty is a Deaf artist living in
Pittsburgh for over 25 years. As a first-generation immigrant from the Philippines, her work is centered in issues surrounding migrant family
relations and assimilation, and maternal feminism. McElhone currently serves as the Art Program Director, University Art Gallery Director,
and is an Assistant Professor in Art History at Carlow University in Pittsburgh, PA where she curates trans-disciplinary, justice-oriented
exhibitions and aims to cultivate the gallery as a space for experimentation and dialogue.
For the August 14, 2021 program, Jon Rubin and Selena Shultz will talk about cultural exchange and expand on the engagement thepublic has with Abid’s artworks. Rubin is an interdisciplinary artist who creates interventions into public life that re-imagine individual,group and institutional behavior. He is an Associate Professor and Graduate Director in the School of Art at Carnegie Mellon University.
The founder of The Conflict Lab, Shultz is a leader in the field of conflict navigation and dispute resolution, active both locally andnationally in supporting efforts to promote thoughtful approaches to conflict. She is skilled at bringing about people’s best thinking anddeveloping leaders who are conflict competent.
Both events are free to the public, but pre-registration is required.
To register, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/faces-seen-hearts-unknown-tickets-159854574335.
Searching for Home is supported by Dawn and Chris Fleischner. General operating support is provided by Allegheny Regional AssetDistrict, The Heinz Endowments, Henry L. Hillman Foundation, The Pittsburgh Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Opportunity Fund,the Elizabeth R. Raphael Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, JENDOCO Construction Corporation,and Giant Eagle Foundation. Media sponsors are NEXTpittsburgh, 90.5 WESA, and 91.3 WYEP.

ABOUT CONTEMPORARY CRAFT

Celebrating its 50th anniversary year, Contemporary Craft presents contemporary art in craft media by regional, national, and international
artists. Contemporary Craft offers cutting edge exhibitions focusing on multicultural diversity and contemporary art, as well as a range ofartist-led studio workshops, community outreach programs, and a store. Located at 5645 Butler Street in the Upper Lawrencevilleneighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA, Contemporary Craft’s exhibition and Drop-In Studio art activity are always free to the public. For
questions related to accessible accommodations, please contact us at info@contemporarycraft.org or visit www.contemporarycraft.org.
ABOUT CONFLICT LAB
The Conflict Lab is a comprehensive conflict consulting and organizational development firm with the strong foundation of over 20 years ofexperience in the trenches, academic teaching at the highest level, and disruptive thinking on navigating and leveraging conflict. For more
information visit www.theconflictlab.com.