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Andy Warhol Museum Celebrates 25 Years

Abby Warhola
The Andy Warhol Museum
Andy Warhol's early pop art displayed on the sixth floor of the The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh's North Side.

Silver walls adorning the Andy Warhol Museum's event space are taking on new meaning this week as the organization celebrates 25 years in Pittsburgh’s North Side. Executive director Patrick Moore says they haven’t stopped growing since.

Credit Courtesy of The Andy Warhol Museum
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Courtesy of The Andy Warhol Museum
Patrick Moore is the Executive Director of the Andy Warhol Museum

The nearly year-long series of events begins with the screening of Warhol's silent film "Kiss," which includes for the first time a score composed by Sonic Youth's Kim Gordon. Gordon is also contributing  original painting, drawing and sculpture work. In October, the museum plans to recreate its 1994 opening party with a gala and 24 hours of free admission. 

Also that month is an opening of "Andy Warhol: Revelation," a new exhibition that examines Warhol’s deeply rooted Catholic faith and its influence on his art. Patrons can view pieces from the museum’s regular collection, as well as some rarely exhibited films, paintings and prints, plus work by Warhol's mother, Julia. 

Moore says he hopes events like those commemorating the anniversary, its Sound Series and other attractions bring new and younger faces into the museum family, and ultimately, its financial support base. He says he’s taking cues from Warhol himself with a number of free and low-cost events. 

Later in the program:

Plastic bags, candy bar wrappers and other flexible plastics usually can’t be recycled. Existing recycling equipment isn’t set up to sort it, and the thin plastic gets tangled in the machinery. But WHYY’s Dana Bate reports that one recycling company is trying to change that by launching a pilot program to recycle plastics that are usually thrown away.

Two candidates are running to represent Pennsylvania's 12th District after Republican Congressman Tom Marino resigned just three weeks into his new term. Voters will choose between Democrat Marc Friedenberg and Republican Fred Keller in a special election next Tuesday, the same day as the primaries. WITF’s Rachel McDevitt reports that conditions seem to favor the GOP in the heavily Republican district, but frustration with national politics could impact the race. 

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro filed a lawsuit this week against Purdue Pharma, the maker of the painkiller Oxycontin. He's the 39th state Attorney General in the nation to do so. The move marks two years since Pennsylvania organized a coalition of 41 states to investigate manufacturers and distributors of opioids. Purdue is just one of the six manufacturers and three distributors the coalition examined; it's not year clear if other companies will face similar legal action. Shapiro says Purdue isn't committed to changing their behavior or mitigating the damage caused by the opioid crisis.

And an app developed at Carnegie Mellon University will soon be used to teach reading, writing and arithmetic skills to thousands of children in Zambia. RoboTutor uses a blended approach to gauge a student's aptitude and customize lesson plans, according to Amy Ogan, a professor at CMU’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute. She says an estimated 20 million teachers are needed across Africa, and the app could help expand access to education on the continent. The team was a recent finalist for the $10 million Global Learning XPRIZE. Ogan says that RoboTutor will continue to work to expand access to education.

90.5 WESA's Julia Zenkevich and Julia Maruca contributed to this program.

The Confluence, where the news comes together, is 90.5 WESA’s daily news program. Tune in weekdays at 9 a.m. to hear newsmakers and innovators take an in-depth look at stories important to the Pittsburgh region. Find more episodes of The Confluence here or wherever you get your podcasts. 

Kiley Koscinski covers city government, policy and how Pittsburghers engage with city services. She also works as a fill-in host for All Things Considered. Kiley has previously served as a producer on The Confluence and Morning Edition.
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