East End Factory 500 Tour!

This past weekend, Factory 500 members and their guests got an exclusive East End tour, going to three very cool and different locations. Thanks to Tom Stepleton, we have some great images from the evening!

The first stop was the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, where members were able to learn about an exhibition of Maxo Vanka's work called Paintings and Works on Paper. William Lafe gave the guests a tour and information during the hour spent at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. The Factory 500 tour previously visited Maxo Vanka's Millvale Murals, and since these new images in this exhibition have not been previously shown, it was an excellent chance to revisit his work. The exhibition will be on view through November 7th, 2010.

(Members of the Factory 500 listen to a talk about Maxo Vanka's Paintings and Works on Paper)

The second stop was Tee Rex Syndicate / The Cotton Factory in Friendship. They specialize in screen printing tee shirts and other goodies. We received a wonderful tour of the facilities, including a display of finished products and a look at the shop, where the magic happens. Christian Shaknaitis led a demonstration of the screen printing process for the group, and the guests were even given a customized tote bag from the evening!

(Christian Shaknaitis shows the crowd how they screen print onto tees, tote bags, and other materials.)

The final stop on the tour was the Mansions on Fifth. This was a great chance to see a beautiful old building that is in the process of being restored. Bob Sendall, of All In Good Taste Productions, provided the guests with delicious treats, and the owners gave a history of the building and described the restoration process. Many thanks to both Bob Sendall, as well as Richard Pearson and Jennifer Pendleton for making us feel right at home.

(The crowd gathers in the Mansions on Fifth, currently undergoing extensive renovations.)

Many thanks to those who made the evening so wonderful! And as always, thank you to our Factory 500 members and their guests for coming to spent a fabulous evening with us. If you want to see more of the photos from the evening taken by Tom, you can check out our Flickr set.

Hope to see you all for the next Factory 500 tour!