Irma Freeman Center for Imagination, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Mosaics on Waymarking.com

glass mosaic on the facade of a newly renovated building to be used as a arts community center.

from the Irma Freeman Center website:

To create The Irma Freeman Art Center, as a community center for the arts in the district of Garfield. Our plan is to renovate an existing building as an art center using green resources and recycled materials as much as possible. The Irma Freeman Art Center will be an art educational center and gallery (and performance venue) with a resident artist studio apartment. This project is best described floor by floor, with an underlining goal to make the IF center a highly efficient green space:





•We want an education center on the ground floor with lots of storage space, a supply closet, and a bathroom.


•On the first floor we want an atrium, a rotating gallery to exhibit local, national and international art, a small art reference library, a kitchen, and a boutique with local art works and crafts for sale.


•The second floor will be the IF gallery named for Irma Freeman. It will function as a small rotating museum of her work, with storage space for over 500 paintings. (Irma Freeman, German born, was a Pittsburgh artist who inspired many young artists during her lifetime, producing most of her fauvist/post-impressionist work after the age of 70, until the end of her life, at age 90. In 2003 there was a huge retrospective of her artwork to celebrate her 100th birthday at the Garfield Artworks. Included in the presentation is a press package of her work, as well as a slide show, and virtual tour of the Irma Freeman Art Center web site.


•We want the third floor as a resident artist studio apartment, and with a deck and solar panels on the roof.


•We are committed to researching and facilitating the architectural infrastructure that will make the IF art center into a green building. We recognize the critical need for more implementation of efficient green building design and renewable technologies, and want to explore in depth every possibility for efficient design and implementation of various renewable technologies.











BUILDING NEEDS





We would like good lighting, storage area and a loading dock, if possible. A minimum of 100 x 30 feet on each floor. In other words as large as possible. In terms of renewable possibilities, a south-facing roof which is in good condition would be needed for a Photovoltaic (PV) solar electric system as well as for possible solar hot water/space heating system or a space like a backyard where a pole mount could go to implement that type of system (however, that would cost a bit more but worth mentioning). Also south facing windows should be considered for potential passive solar heating/cooling design. Daylighting should be considered. It would be best if there was little to no shading (from neighboring buildings, trees, etc) as far as the PV system. Clearly, this is something to be designed in a holistic manner. Not only is this important in terms of potentially being carbon neutral and benign to the environment but we also want it to be aesthetically pleasing. We would definitely consult with various Green architects on this project via the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA), the Buckminster Fuller Institute, Earthship Biotecture in Taos, NM and/or many others. The structure itself would be a source of learning. It has also been cited many times that poorer neighborhoods tend to suffer the most from pollution, thus, making it incredibly appropriate to renovate a building in this area with green design and technology. From this building's emergence, other structures around it may be motivated to implement various renewable technologies and efficient appliances and designs.

Address: 5006 Penn Avenue Pittsburgh, PA USA 15203 Related web site: [Web Link] Specific visit requirements: Not listed

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