ARTISTS 2024
We are so grateful for the continued support of the generous artists who have made Art for Change 2023 possible by donating their creative works. For 36 years these artists, and many many more, have supported the Persad Center’s commitment to the Behavioral Health of the LGBTQ+ community and we thank them.
Below you’ll find details about their work and where to find them online.
Artist
Artist Miles Saal, aka Yung Mulatto (1996-2017) was a Pittsburgh based visual artist and musician who became a significant figure in the underground Pittsburgh hip-hop movement until his death in 2017 by suicide. His work was prominently used locally to support the marketing of local businesses and hip-hop artists. Gone but not forgotten his spirit and legacy stays alive via the #StillSaaling: Miles Saal Memorial Fund at The Pittsburgh Foundation to support non-profit organizations focused on mental health and artists of the Afro diaspora
Ann Heckel
Artist
The Artist , Ann Heckel has been painting and exhibiting since 1957 when she won her first prize. She studied sculpture with Josepha Filkovski.at SetonHill, worked at a stained glass studio in Berlin, PA one summer, Taught Art in Chartiers Valley, gave herself a birthday present ,weekend at Touchstone at a Kathy Zimbicki water color class.
Jon Krise
Artist
Mr. Jon is a watercolorist who has shown his creations around the globe, including Venice, Rome, London, Zurich, New York, LA, Miami, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. He's been featured in magazines and at Tom of Finland Foundation where Aj Sloan said, " Mr. Jon punches out from the rest." He has been painting for over 3 decades with a background in business and architecture.
Tara McPherson
Artist
Tara McPherson is an American contemporary artist exploring concepts surrounding the human condition. With a focus on powerful female archetypes, her otherworldly characters hold a compelling tension in their gaze. Inspired by astrophysics, nature, mythology, comics, music, love, loss, and good old life experience. Her portraits delve into the realms of our psychological states, giving us a peek into the complexities of the human psyche.
Sam Thorp
Artist
Sam Thorp(They/them) is a genderqueer artist creating drawings with a sweeping gestural lines and expressive use of color. Each drawing is then printed out making it a “print” similar to a photograph “print” printed from a digital file. Sam's work tends to focus on exploring ideas in the fringe areas of gender, sexuality and culture.
Chaz Letzkus
Artist
Chaz is often asked how he got into this style of art. While searching for a job after graduating college, he did a lot of drawing to pass the time. Chaz was working on a gazelle drawing and the ears reminded him of a bird's wings so he drew a bird swooping down and he made the eye a fish. He added a lot of other animals and some people in the body of the gazelle. And thus Chazmania was born in 1973.
There were a lot of early influences that contributed to this hidden image style. Chaz is a puzzl....
Sandra Moore
Artist
Art has been a process of living for me. In the 70s, I was a stringer photographer for UPI and Associated Press. I worked in the late 70’s as a lab tech to subsidize my work with the wire serves. In the 80s and 90s I worked as a Scenic Artist for a variety of theaters and schools, while raising a family.
David Watts
David Watts is a Pittsburgh native artist (mixed media), costume designer and performance artist. He is well known for his artwork created with recycled and up-cycled materials as well as his “invention” of Pierogi Art.
David Watts is a Pittsburgh native artist (mixed media), costume designer and performance artist. He is well known for his artwork created with recycled and up-cycled materials as well as his “invention” of Pierogi Art. David is a graduate of Ivy School of Professional Art, and has spent many years as a costume designer and entertainer throughout the Philadelphia, Atlantic City and Pittsburg areas. Over the past 15 years, David’s visual art has appeared in many exhibits throughout Western PA. His work has received accolades from the press, featured in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and the Tribune Review, for his creativity, use of materials and quality.
Dawn Hartman
Photographer
The Intimacy Project is a collection of images created by and for the LGBTQ community with the primary goal of combating homophobia. The exhibit uses photography and its subjects to showcase the diversity of LGBTQ people, the nature of our relationships, and the manifestations of intimacy experienced within those relationships. Pittsburgh Photographer Dawn Hartman created this ever-changing exhibit to promote visibility and positive representation for the LGBTQ community specifically.
Tim Krikston
Artist
Freelance photographer for the last 30 years after self-employed as an owner of a studio in Hialeah Florida for 5 years in 1974, which centered on portfolios and civic events. Presently contributing to public radio stations and other organizations such as the PSO for their publications.
Brenda J. Nachreiner
Artist
My art delves into the realm of abstract expressionism, serving as a visual diary of my subliminal self and reflecting my deepest passions, loves, and struggles. It is, undoubtedly, my best therapist. I prefer not to explain my work or its personal meaning; instead, I invite you to draw your own interpretations and connections.
CONTACT
Persad Center
412-606-9877
For LGBTQ+ mental health, community, and substance abuse services