Cake, Balloons, and a Unicycling Juggler: Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy Celebrates 15 Years

  Happy 15th Birthday! Schenley Plaza is my favorite Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy project. It’s so lively and energetic, and it provides an unexpected, peaceful oasis in the middle of the busy Oakland traffic. It serves many purposes to many people: a Wi-Fi spot for students and professionals, a place to enjoy lunchtime music, an outdoor [...]

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How I Fell in Love with Schenley Plaza (and parked my reservations elsewhere)

When I transferred to the University of Pittsburgh in the fall of August 2004, the grassy retreat that is now Schenley Plaza was a parking lot, and I was fine with that. I didn’t see anything wrong with it really. A parking lot seemed like a fine use of space in Oakland’s pulsing urban setting, [...]

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Environmental Center at Frick and Treehouse Meeting June 2nd an Engaging Success

Kathleen McGuire is thrilled to be the newest member of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy Team I had accomplished little more than locate the bathroom and arrange my pens in the oval plastic cup on my desk, when I was told that my second day would involve a community meeting for the Environmental Center and Treehouse [...]

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More hats

If you missed seeing yourself in the first batch of Spring Hat Luncheon photos (or just like checking out all the hats), we now have a second installment of pictures from the event.  Thanks to Mary Jane Bent for the photos!

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Our hats are off!

Last Saturday we had stunning weather for the 12th annual Spring Hat Luncheon, held in the Highland Park Entry Garden.  The sunshine, delicious luncheon by the Duquesne Club, and decor by Toadflax brought out 670 ladies and gentlemen in their finest hats.  We saw everything from a hat made of tiny hatboxes to a Pope [...]

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Art in Bloom today!

Here’s a post from our CFO, master gardener, and flower arranger extraordinaire, Debbie Beck, about this weekend’s Art in Bloom event at the Carnegie Museum of Art. If you are not planning an immediate visit to the Carnegie Museums, you are missing spring at its best. The Women’s Committee has re-defined “Flower Power” with this [...]

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Spring Hat retrospective

The invitations for this year’s Spring Hat Luncheon are winging their way to homes as we speak, so we thought we’d celebrate with a look back at the Hat Luncheons of years past. Here are some slideshows from 2007-2009. If you’d like to look at them on Flickr instead, you can check them out here. [...]

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Parks Are Free Film Series

Who doesn’t love a free movie? Or better yet, four free movies? The Parks Conservancy is partnering with Pittsburgh Filmmakers to bring you the first-ever Parks Are Free Film Series March 25-27. Since the weather will still be too cold and dreary to host any events outside, we thought we’d get our park fix indoors [...]

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Running toward spring

Picture a fountain, if you will, surrounded by benches in the spring time.  The flower beds just behind the benches bloom purple and pink, the green leaves bigger than you think leaves should be.  The big, open garden is alive with new growth, and a white tent is slowly going up amidst a hubbub of [...]

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2009: A Look Back

2010 is almost here, and the staff at the Parks Conservancy is busily putting together plans for the year’s projects, programs, and outreach activities.  We’re expecting a banner year, with lots of exciting work that will continue to elevate our parks toward world standards of excellence.  But we thought before we look into the future, [...]

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