Emma Riva
Editor in Chief & Founder
Emma Riva is an art writer, author, and curator originally from the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York. She serves as the managing editor of UP, an international online and print magazine covering street art, graffiti, fine arts, and their intersections in popular culture. She is also a staff writer at Belt and a contributor to Bunker Review, Widewalls, Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, Newcity, Whitehot Magazine, Table Magazine, and Rust Belt Girl. Emma holds a degree in fiction from The New School and published Night Shift in Tamaqua, an illustrated novel in collaboration with painter Coyote Jacobs, in 2021. As a curator, she has helmed several group and solo exhibitions across the Pittsburgh area. She currently works in the Carnegie Museum of Art.
IG: @emmawithglasses
Website: emmawithglasses.com
David Bernabo
Columnist – roaming / Bright Archives Podcast
David Bernabo is an oral historian, musician, artist, and independent filmmaker. His film work has documented western Pennsylvania food systems, climate change, the studio practices of composers and artists, and the histories of iconic arts institutions like the Mattress Factory. He is most noted for Moundsville, a documentary co-directed with former Wall Street Journal writer John W. Miller, which screened on PBS for three years.
IG: @davidbernabo
Website: davidbernabo.info
Victoria Sterling
Columnist – experiencing
Victoria Sterling (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist and writer living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Previously the manager of the Geography of Philosophy Project at the University of Pittsburgh, Victoria is curating events and projects in the city’s local art and cultural scene.
IG: @vi_ster
Bob Freyer
Columnist – Artist Block
Bob Freyer is an award-winning artist from Pittsburgh, PA who paints images from an alternate world. Since 2013, Freyer has been showcasing work in Pittsburgh and has participated in numerous shows throughout the U.S.
IG: @bobfreyer
Website: bobfreyer.com
Zara Yost
Contributor
Zara Yost is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and writer living in Pittsburgh. Her career is heavily influenced by her time in Chicago’s music and art scene. She has written for publications such as Newcity, the Chicago Reader, and Fnewsmagazine. Zara is best known for her work with organizations such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, United States Artists, Boston Society for Architecture, and The Roberto Clemente Museum.
IG: @worstwitchz
Website: zarayost.com
Savin Kann
Contributor
Savin Kann is an artist and writer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania currently based in New York. He got his B.A. from Goucher College where he was a Kratz Summer Writing Fellow for the summer of 2020. His other work includes being a dramaturg and director for a staging of Jacqueline Goldfinger’s The Terrible Girls. His work has previously appeared in Grub Street magazine from Towson University.
IG: @savinmatt
Adam Arthur
Contributor
Adam Arthur holds a graduate degree from Florida State University. He is the author of two poetry collections, Levers of Power and Sound and Substance. A transplant to Pittsburgh, he has lived in the area for three years and takes inspiration from his surroundings in his written work.
Zach Hunley
Contributor
Zach Hunley (they/he) is a modern and contemporary art historian, arts writer, photographer, collector of things, and proud father to a senior guinea pig. With a keen observational eye, they use their writing as a means to refract their deep appreciation for formal aesthetics through a socially engaged lens. They hold an M.A. in Art History from West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV.
Email: zhunley@andrew.cmu.org
Vanessa Reseland
Contributor – New Hazlett Theater Preview/Reviews
Vanessa Reseland (they/them) is an actor/singer/songwriter who has performed all over the US and in the UK. After growing up in the North Hills, Vanessa spent 12 years in New York City and three years in Los Angeles, working in musical theatre, film, and television before returning to Pittsburgh to dive into the local arts scene as well. They played the Witch in Fiasco Theater’s Into the Woods in London and on the US National Tour, winning the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Visiting Production and the LA Critic’s Circle Award for Best Ensemble Cast. Vanessa is a founding member of MOD Theatre Company in NYC/LA and co-created and co-directed the webseries, Remarkable Women, with Alexandra Lenihan. They have performed their original glam rock/artpop project, WIFEY, since 2012 https://www.thisiswifeymusic.com/.
IG: @vanessareseland_avatar
Website: vanessareseland.com
Grant Catton
Logo Design & Branding
Grant Catton is a Pittsburgh-based visual artist working in acrylics, mixed-media collage, and sculpture.
IG: @grantcatton
Website: grantcatton.com
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