The Pittsburgh Cultural Arts Meetup Group

Authors Calvin Duncan and Sophie Cull "The Jailhouse Lawyer"

Mon, Feb 9 · 7:00 PM EST

Carnegie Music Hall, 4400 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA, US

Please join Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures as they welcome Calvin Duncan and Sophie Cull to discuss their book, The Jailhouse Lawyer.

Calvin Duncan was nineteen when he was incarcerated for a 1981 New Orleans murder he didn’t commit. The victim of a wildly incompetent public defense system and a badly compromised witness, Duncan was left to rot in the waking nightmare of confinement. Armed with little education, he took matters into his own hands.

At twenty-one, he filed his first motion from prison: “Motion for a Law Book,” which launched his highly successful, self-taught legal career. Trapped within this wholly corrupted system, Duncan became a legal advocate for himself and his fellow prisoners as an inmate counsel at the infamous Louisiana State Penitentiary, Angola. Literature sustained his hope, as he learned the law in its shadow.

During his decades of incarceration, Duncan helped hundreds of other prisoners navigate their cases, advocating for those the state had long since written off. He taught a class in the midst of Angola to empower other incarcerated men to fight for their own justice under the law. But his own case remained stalled. A defense lawyer once responded to Duncan’s request for documents: “You are not a person.”

Criminal justice reform advocate Sophie Cull met Duncan after he was finally released from prison; he began to tell her his story. Together, they’ve written a bracing condemnation of the criminal legal system, and an intimate portrait of a heroic and brilliant man’s resilience in the face of injustice.

Calvin Duncan is the founder and director of the Light of Justice program focused on improving legal access for incarcerated individuals. His efforts have contributed to landmark U.S. Supreme Court decisions, including Smith v. Cain (2012) and Ramos v. Louisiana (2020). Duncan holds a JD from Lewis & Clark Law School and resides in New Orleans, where he continues his advocacy on behalf of those still behind bars.

Sophie Cull is a criminal justice reform advocate who has published on the death penalty, life sentences, and prosecutorial misconduct. As a cofounder of The Visiting Room Project, she helped create the world’s largest collection of filmed interviews with people serving life without parole. Originally from Australia, she began her career in New Orleans, assisting legal organizations defending individuals on Louisiana’s death row.

The Jailhouse Lawyer is available to pre-order through bookseller White Whale Bookstore who will be set-up in the lobby with many books available for purchase by other authors that have been part of the Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures series.

TICKETS
In person tickets start at $31 Calvin Duncan with Sophie Cull for the upper balcony (where it is easier for a group to sit together) Tickets may also be purchased by phone (412) 622-8866 or at the door starting at 6:30 PM

For Online Tickets ($31) Calvin Duncan with Sophie Cull Online The viewing link will be emailed on the day of the event. Viewers will have access to the recorded program for one week.

Parking While many visitors find street parking, the Carnegie Museum has plenty of parking which is conveniently located near the museum entrance at the corner of Forbes Ave & S. Craig Street. Here is a link with more info about parking and directions http://cmoa.org/visit/directions-maps-parking/

Author Sunil Amrith "The Burning Earth"

Mon, Mar 2 · 7:00 PM EST

Carnegie Music Hall, 4400 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA, US

Please join Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures as they welcome Sunil Amrith to discuss his latest book, The Burning Earth.

A brilliant, paradigm-shifting global history of how humanity has reshaped the planet, and the planet has shaped human history, over the last 500 years.

In this magisterial book, historian Sunil Amrith twins the stories of environment and Empire, of genocide and eco-cide, of an extraordinary expansion of human freedom and its planetary costs. Drawing on an extraordinarily rich diversity of primary sources, he reckons with the ruins of Portuguese silver mining in Peru, British gold mining in South Africa, and oil extraction in Central Asia. He explores the railroads and highways that brought humans to new terrains of battle against each other and against stubborn nature. Amrith’s account of the ways in which the First and Second World Wars involved the massive mobilization not only of men, but of other natural resources from around the globe, provides an essential new way of understanding war as an irreversible reshaping of the planet. So too does this book reveal the reality of migration as consequence of environmental harm.

The imperial, globe-spanning pursuit of profit, joined with new forms of energy and new possibilities of freedom from hunger and discomfort, freedom to move and explore, has brought change to every inch of the Earth. Amrith relates in gorgeous prose, and on the largest canvas, a mind-altering epic—vibrant with stories, characters, and vivid images—in which humanity might find the collective wisdom to save itself.

Sunil Amrith is the Renu and Anand Dhawan Professor of History and Professor of the Environment at Yale University. He is the author of five books and recipient of multiple awards, including a MacArthur “genius” fellowship and the 2024 Fukuoka Prize.

The Jailhouse Lawyer is available to pre-order through bookseller White Whale Bookstore who will be set-up in the lobby with many books available for purchase by other authors that have been part of the Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures series.

TICKETS
In person tickets start at $31 Sunil Amrith | Seat Selection for the upper balcony (where it is easier for a group to sit together) Tickets may also be purchased by phone (412) 622-8866 or at the door starting at 6:30 PM

For Online Tickets ($31) Sunil Amrith Online The viewing link will be emailed on the day of the event. Viewers will have access to the recorded program for one week.

Parking While many visitors find street parking, the Carnegie Museum has plenty of parking which is conveniently located near the museum entrance at the corner of Forbes Ave & S. Craig Street. Here is a link with more info about parking and directions http://cmoa.org/visit/directions-maps-parking/

Peregrination: Xiaojing Yan 闫晓静 Exhibit and more at Contemporary Craft

Sat, Mar 21 · 10:45 AM EDT

Contemporary Craft, 5645 Butler Street ,, Pittsburgh, PA, US

Please join us to check out Peregrination: Xiaojing Yan 闫晓静 exhibit (on display from February 6, 2026 to May 2, 2026) at Contemporary Craft, 5645 Butler Street, which is open Monday-Saturday from 10 AM - 5 PM.

Please note there will be a free guided Gallery Tour on Saturday, March 21 at 11 AM. Registration required.

Peregrination, a long and meandering journey…
This exhibition features work by Toronto based artist, Xiaojing Yan. Through the lens of personal migration and cultural hybridity, Yan explores the evolving relationship between identity, tradition, and the natural world. Yan’s art reflects a journey of transformation – an intricate weaving of folklore, ritual, and nature into a symbolic and dreamlike representation of lived experience.

Drawing from ancient Chinese myths and customs, Yan reinterprets traditional narrative through a contemporary lens, reflecting on the fluidity of cultural memory. Her practice is both a tribute and a reimagining, examining how heritage can be at once rooted and reshaped – especially through her choices of materials and processes. Natural motifs, often deeply embedded in Chinese folklore, emerge in her work as metaphors for movement, adaptation, and belonging. Mountains, rivers, and celestial elements echo the rhythms of migration, symbolizing the passage between worlds – both physical and spiritual.
Through meticulous craftsmanship and layered symbolism, her work becomes a meditation space – where the past converses with the present. Laden with symbolism, her creations remain as resonant today as they were historically, also engaging with contemporary concerns. In this act of peregrination, Yan constructs a landscape uniquely her own, evoking poetic and philosophical reflections on humanity’s connection to the natural world.

This exhibition is part of Handwork 2026.

While at Contemporary Craft, check out:

1. Gift Store As part of Contemporary Craft’s mission, their goal is to support nationally recognized craft artists, as well as new and emerging talent. The CC Store represents over 150 artists nationwide, offering handmade, one-of-a-kind art pieces in ceramic, fiber, glass, jewelry, metal, mixed media, paper, wood, and furniture. Each of these pieces has spent countless hours in the hands of an artist before reaching us. When you purchase work at Contemporary Craft, you directly support the livelihood of working artists and helping to advance the economic ecosystem of the craft community.
2. Check out Contemporary Craft’s Studios that offer in-person craft classes and workshops in metals/jewelry making, wood, fiber, mixed media, book binding, and paper arts at every level from beginner-friendly to mastery. Check out the full list of workshops and register on their upcoming workshops page! Or learn more about their Open Studio Rental program. Scholarship money is also available for all Workshops and for Open Studio Rental. Click to apply! Consider supporting the Studio with a purchase from their Wish List!

Meetup Considerations Depending on the interests of the group and the weather forecast, the group will discuss other Saturday afternoon options, such as walking around Lawrenceville or grabbing lunch/drink at a nearby restaurant. For example, Hop Farm Brewing is located only 1 block away from Contemporary Craft. It is open from 12 PM – 11 PM on Saturdays, while the kitchen is open from 3 PM - 10 PM.

Stay tuned for updates!

Parking and Accessibility Contemporary Craft has its own small parking lot. Street parking is available as this part of Upper Lawrenceville is not usually very busy. Public transportation is available as PRT Buses 87 and 91 have bus stops next to Contemporary Craft.