Mayor visits Pittsburgh in search of ideas to help here
March 18, 2010
Meredith Macleod
The Hamilton Spectator
PITTSBURGH
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/739467
Mayor Fred Eisenberger and a small city arts delegation have arrived in Pittsburgh for a whirlwind tour.
The group includes Jacqueline Norton, manager of the city's film and television office; Glen Norton, a business development consultant in the city's economic development office; and Jeremy Freiburger, a force in Hamilton's arts community and founder of the Imperial Cotton Centre for the Arts.
Eisenberger is scheduled to have a short meeting today with Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and says he hopes to check out the city's light rail transit line, its waterfront stadium built on a former brownfield and its burgeoning arts scene.
"So many people compare Pittsburgh to Hamilton and there are lots of similarities ... I will be looking to see what can be applied here," he said.
A key stop for the Hamilton contingent will be a visit to the Manchester Craftsmen Guild, an inner-city arts and vocational training centre renowned for its impact on a very impoverished section of Pittsburgh.
An audience packed Hamilton Place in December to hear Bill Strickland, the centre's founder and CEO, deliver a message of hope and innovation.
His model has been adopted in cities across North America, including Halifax and Vancouver. Strickland's goal is to build 100 such non-profit centres in the United States and another 100 around the world.
Eisenberger, who shared a van with the rest of the visiting delegation to make the five-hour trek to Pittsburgh yesterday, also said he intends to "drop in and say hello" at the headquarters of U.S. Steel during his visit.
Freiburger said he'll be interested in the ways Hamilton is different from Pittsburgh. Once a steel giant that was crippled when the mills shut down in the 1980s, Pittsburgh is still a home to major corporate head offices and has a strong legacy of foundation funds pouring into the creative sector.
"Pittsburgh openly states that it has embraced the arts as part of its turnaround," said Freiburger.
"The Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council has developed a wealth of information on surviving through economic depression with the arts. So again I want to see it in action."
Freiburger, who is paying for the trip personally, said he hopes the group can develop a "shared reality" based on what they see.
"I want to ensure we don't just come home and say, 'That was cool, let's build one of those.' We need to find Hamilton's model and vision so I hope we have some collective sparks."