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  What is the Charm Bracelet Project?

The Charms         Projects and Events

Press          Links        History
 

What is the Charm Bracelet Project?
 

The Charm Bracelet Project is a network of cultural, educational, and recreational organizations transforming traditional understandings of how institutions make community impact. We work collectively to foster a vibrant, attractive and accessible Northside that is unified by visible, lasting connections between organizations and amenities.

Major Focus Areas of the Charm Bracelet Project:

• Public projects and programs
• Education and youth programming
• Mobility
• Environmental sustainability and green practices

The Charm Bracelet Project is supported in part by the The Forbes Fund, The Gailliot Family Foundation, The Heinz Endowments, The National Endowments for the Arts, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and The Pittsburgh Partnership for Neighborhood Development with ongoing support by the Grable Foundation and Buhl Foundation.

Charm Bracelet Update October 2009

Charm Bracelet Newlsetter, May 2009

Charm Bracelet Newlsetter, October 2008

Charm Bracelet Newlsetter, October 2007

Charm Bracelet Newlsetter, March 2007

If you have any questions about the Charm Bracelet Project or any of its programs, please email charmbraceletproject@gmail.com


The Charms  

                                               The Northside Charms
The Pittsburgh Project Manchester Craftsmen's Guild/MCG Jazz Carnegie Science Center and SportsWorks The Mattress Factory City of Asylum National Aviary Allegheny Commons Initiative Allegheny Regional Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh The Saturday Light Brigade Radio Program New Hazlett Theater Kayak Pittsburgh - Venture Outdoors Andy Warhol Museum Artists Image Resource Photo Antiquities Museum Northside Leadership Conference Sarah Heinz House

Click the stars on the map to link to the websites of the various "charms."

Click here for a larger map of the "charms".

For more information on events around the Northside, visit Northside Now.


Projects and Events  

The Northside Microgrant Program
The Northside Microgrant Program is an initiative of the Charm Bracelet Project Fund, established in 2007 to support creative, imaginative and collaborative projects that positively impact the Northside and advance the goals of the Charm Bracelet Project. The Program plans to hold two rounds of microgrants per year. Email charmbraceletproject@gmail.com to be added to the submission information list.

The Charm Bracelet Project is pleased to announce a Call for Ideas for Round Five of the Northside Microgrant Program.

Please see the budget, application and program guidelines for more information.

Proposals are due on Friday, March 5, 2010 by 5:00 pm.

Microgrant Guidelines

Microgrant Application

Microgrant Budget

Round 1 Grantees
Awarded May 2008
• Allegheny Voices
• Community Art Lab
• Girls Empowering Girls
• Kayaking Lake Elizabeth
• Mobile Imaging Unit Project
• Northside Charms Bike Tour
• Path to the Park Performance
• Amphitheater and Peace Garden

Round 2 Grantees
Awarded September 2008
• Kayak Pittsburgh/Allegheny Commons
• Mosaic Mural
• Explore the Charms
• Amazing Memoirs
• Comic Book Guide to the Northside

Round 3 Grantees
Awarded March 2009
• Allegheny Commons Children's Sampler Packages
• The Charms of Photography
• Dancing in the Park
• Girls Empowering Girls Year 2
• Mobile Imaging Projects
• RUST (Radical Underground Silkscreening Team)
• Serve and Project
• Youth Gallery

Round 4 Grantees
Awarded October 2009
• Allegheny Voices 2
• AIR Open Studio
• Community Kayaking on Lake Elizabeth
• Famous for 15 Minutes
• Local History, Local Pride
• Music of Northside Spaces
• Power Up

Other Ongoing Charm Projects:

Federal Street Underpass
Installations and public art will clean up one of the Northside’s dingy underpasses and brighten one of the Northside’s major pedestrian and traffic entryways. The Federal Street Underpass will function as a gallery supporting a rotation of installations curated by the various stakeholders. The initial clean up and site preparation is on track with hopes of installing the first artistic enhancements in the spring of 2010.

Where Is Allegheny City? Treasure Hunt
Kicked off on July 26, 2008
This unique project engages visitors and residents alike in an active exploration of the area’s myriad of cultural, recreational, and historic assets. Use your cell phone to explore the Northside's hidden, everyday treasures – from 150 year-old trees to colorful murals to historic buildings.
Click here to learn more

Charm Schools Initiative
The Charm Bracelet Project works closely with neighborhood schools to transform the Northside into Pittsburgh’s education destination. The Initiative promotes expanded outreach, sustained school-museum collaborations and integrated teaching that makes full use of the charms’ many educational resources.

For more information on other events and programs around the Northside, visit www.northsidenow.com.

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Press

  July 24, 2008
Treasure Hunters Can Uncover North Side History
by: Kellie B. Gormly, Pittsburgh Tribune Review

June 8, 2007
Museums seek common link in Charm Bracelet.
by: Ben Semmes, Pittsburgh Business Times

April 20,2007
Charles Landry - Pittsburgh Charm Bracelet Project Lecture. Pittsburgh Homes Daily

April 8, 2007
The Next Page: Reviving the North Side's 'Lost City'.
by: Doug Suisman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

April 5, 2007
Filling the hole in the doughnut.
by: Ellis Woodman, Building Design, The Architect's Website

April 4, 2007
Children's Museum presents Charm Bracelet talk, receives project grant.
by: Jennifer Baron, Pop City Media.

March 23, 2007
Alluring Plans for Pittsburgh.
by: Charles L. Rosenblum, Metropolis Magazine.

March 21, 2007
Works Like a Charm..
by: Charles L. Rosenblum, The Architects Newspaper.

Spring 2007
DO NORTH.
by: Charles L. Rosenblum, h: The Magazine of the Heinz Endowments:Annual Report Issue.

February 22, 2007
A Children's Museum design competition proposes remaking the North Side as a "Charm Bracelet."
by Charles L. Rosenblum, Pittsburgh City Paper.

February 20, 2007
Charming: There's promise in linking North Side attractions. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

February 14, 2007
Children's Museum displays Charm Bracelet revitalization proposals.
by: Jennifer Baron, Pop City Media.

February 14, 2007
Four design teams offer proposals to revitalize North Side.
by:Timothy McNulty, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

February 09, 2007
Linking venues in North Side seen as charm.
by: Timothy McNulty, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

December 30, 2006
Group braces for new 'charm' on North Side.
by: Craig Smith, TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Fall 2006
The Charm Bracelet Project.
by: Carnegie Mellon University's School of Architecture: The Urban Laboratory Community & Urban Design Studio

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Links
 

Institute of Museum and Library Services 2009 National Medal Press Release

Cultivating "Natural" Cultural Districts by Mark J. Stern and Susan C. Seifert

Carnegie Mellon University School of Architecture, The Urban Laboratory (News), Fall 2006

Connective Corridor:Office of Engagement Initiatives, Syracuse University

Long Island City:Connecting the Arts

PLACENOTES:PITTSBURGH

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History


The Charm Bracelet Project began in 2006 when four multidisciplinary teams of experts were challenged to envision creative solutions to the problem of community fracture on Pittsburgh's Northside. The teams gave particular thought to addressing divisions between the district’s many cultural and recreational institutions, including the Children’s Museum, the Andy Warhol Museum, the Carnegie Science Center, the Mattress Factory, the National Aviary and others. Their proposals – ranging from light-based pathways to family-friendly games to public art on abandoned buildings – were unveiled at a community salon in February 2007.

Inspired by the teams’ innovative ideas, a group of stakeholders from the various Northside cultural institutions then committed to work collaboratively to enhance and strengthen the district.

Since then, the group has grown to include 17 cultural, recreational and educational organizations from diverse sectors who meet regularly to discuss ideas, implement projects, share information about their individual initiatives and explore possible collaborations.