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Shuttered factories, abandoned warehouses and boarded up store fronts are being re-purposed as galleries and performance spaces by people with passion and vision. Art From the Ground Up was created to provide a showcase for some of the most innovative members of Pittsburgh’s emerging arts community.00000176-e6f7-dce8-adff-f6f7706f0000Art From the Ground Up is hosted by Bob Studebaker and is a monthly series highlighting small grass roots arts organizations and individual artists that take non-traditional approaches to the creation, presentation, and even the definition of art.Know an organization Bob should check out? Email him with your suggestions.

Costume Department An Often Overlooked Piece Of The Ballet

Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre

Ballet is often praised for its precision, strong dancers and hypnotic music. But one thing that’s often overlooked is the costume department.

“Well, when you’re dancing, you have a certain structure about your dancing,” said Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre principal dancer Amanda Cochrane. “But when you put on those costumes, it really helps to bring out the artistry in your dancing. It makes you – puts your into character.”

Those costumes help bring the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s productions to life.

Costumier Janet Groom Campbell is in charge of creating the costumes. She said it takes a new perspective to design for ballets that have been performed for generations.

“A lot of times you have to erase the slate from the ballet that we’ve seen or worked with before and start fresh,” she said.

Campbell said the costume team works hard to create garments that are beautiful, but can also move with ease. That’s done with the help of the costume department’s expertise, but also unique materials like fiberglass and thermoplastic mesh for masks and other pieces.

The Pittsburgh Ballet Theater’s new season kicks off Oct. 28 with “Giselle.” 

Bob is a host for JazzWorks. Bob has been working in different areas of the radio industry for 33 years. He thinks “public radio is a forum for ideas and entertainment unavailable on commercial radio and that makes it indispensable.” Bob is a lifelong Pittsburgher who married and raised both of his children in his home city.