Asa Ana
Asa Ana is an interdisciplinary artist who creates artistic interventions that reimagines community behavior. He has exhibited and curated artspace 101, 103, and 202 – a series of popup galleries in Homestead, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Ana curated social practice artworks in Pittsburgh and Johnstown, Pennsylvania, USA and completed a cross-cultural public art project at Villa Flores, working in Porto Alegre, Brazil, to build artistic and creative experiences to make the Fourth District of the city neighborhood safer. Ana exhibited at Gallery 13, Wicker Park, Chicago, Il., U.S.A. and in various group shows – with his first solo exhibition at PRISM, a former gallery in the Garfield neighborhood in Pittsburgh, PA, USA. His earlier artistic programming work launched art events called “FLUX” throughout Pittsburgh neighborhoods with the art collective GroundZero Action Network. The work is archived in the Heinz History Center of Pittsburgh. Ana is an advocate and researcher identifying public spaces for artists to perform or present their work. He manages an all-volunteer collective of street performers, supported by the Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh, Honorable Bill Peduto. He wrote legislation to make street performance legal in Millvale, Pennsylvania, USA. He has a permanent public art sculpture on the grounds of the Homestead Library in Homestead, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. He has been recognized with the New Person Award by the Thomas Merton Center, which honors activist artists who use art to address political and social change. He was selected as one of Pittsburgh’s “40 under 40” for the arts by Pittsburgh Magazine and Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project. Ana has been recognized by the United States Congress and the House of Representatives, including the Pennsylvania State Senate, for his artistic programming work in the Monongahela Valley in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Ana is a PhD student at Point Park University, located in downtown Pittsburgh, studying how art and creativity activates deindustrialized communities.
work
2012/13 - PhoCutSho - new media
2012 – Finding Dean – new media
2004 / 05 –Manufacturing Historicism, Munhall, PA – commission (public)
2003 / 04 -Who’s Your Dealer? , Pittsburgh, PA – solo (public art)
2003-Skinnybuilding, Pittsburgh, PA - commission
2002-Skinnybuilding, Pittsburgh, PA- juried
2002-Exhibition SVAC, Homestead, PA - group
2001-Art at Home in Stead II, Homestead, PA - group
2001-Flux 5, Pittsburgh, PA – group
2001-Gallery 13, Wicker Park Chicago, Il. - group
2000-Exhibition Sweat-Shop, Pittsburgh, PA– solo
1999-Art for Earths Sake, Pittsburgh, PA – group , fundraiser
1998-Art at Home in Stead I, Homestead, PA - group
union making
2002 - present-Busker Street Union, Pittsburgh, PA, Seattle, WA
2013-Freckled Freedom Fighters, U.S.A.
curation
Art at Home in Stead (series) - group
Art for Earth’s Sake 2- guest curator
Oxblood Hall
Turtle Creek Gas Station
Homestead Sidewalk Art Project
Sounds You Never Hear
speaking engagements
Medical Humanities Conference
University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
11th Asian Conference on Arts & Humanities
Flight school- Pittsburgh Filmmakers
Society for Contemporary Craft
Carnegie Mellon’s H.J. Heinz School of Public Policy and Management
Braddock PA – Panel Discussion –presented by Carnegie Mellon University
Entrepreneurial Thursdays, Pittsburgh, PA
education
Carnegie Mellon University
University of Pittsburgh
awards
Thomas Merton Center - New Person Award
Selected to activist artists - artists that use art to addresses political and social change
Selected as one of Pittsburgh’s “40 under 40” for the arts
Pittsburgh Magazine / Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project
Recipient of a Community Certificate of Appreciation
Wilkinsburg Intra-Community Network, Wilkinsburg City Council
Recipient of the 2001 Jo Debolt Volunteer of the Year Award for bringing arts to the community
Homestead-area Economic Revitalization Corporation
Recognized in the United States House of Representatives and the Pennsylvania State Senate for attracting artists and visitors to Homestead, PA through art