Girls Write Pittsburgh

This program will also include a presentation by “We Are All Related” artist Andrea London, who will discuss her multimedia gallery exhibition. Her book documenting the exhibition will also be available for sale.  Additionally, young writers who attended Girls Write Pittsburgh’s special workshop at the “We Are All Related” gallery, as well as adult writers from the community, will also take the stage.

Featured Presenters:

At age 40, Andrea London launched her second career, hanging up her marketing shoes to pursue her dream of becoming a studio portrait photographer. Without formal training or a college degree, Andrea has become a highly sought-after artist of national and international commercial projects (both assignment and stock library licensed) and for privately- commissioned portraiture. Her commitment to shooting traditional black and white film and silver gelatin prints has remained steadfast and separates Andrea as a true artist with dedication to her craft. Her personal work has been presented at Silver Eye Center for Photography, the American Jewish Museum, and PPG Wintergarden. Her commercial work has been commissioned by Magee-Womens Hospital, The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force, and has been licensed by MDNY Healthcare, the Alzheimer’s Association, and Planned Parenthood.

Now, at age 70, having photographed thousands of individuals and families over the last 30 years, Andrea has produced a large multi-media exhibition entitled We Are All Related, a retrospective highlighting the connectedness in all of us–a beautiful, universal desire to be seen, heard, understood, and recognized as good people and loving families, related through our humanity.

Vivian Lee Croft happens to luck into some pretty cool collaborations with fantastic artists and activists. Often, Vivian is writing strategic plans and grants for small organizations and nonprofits, includ- ing her own project, Write Pittsburgh – Girls Write Pittsburgh and Rainbow Writers. Before launching this creative writing program for teens, Vivian spent time writing with a focus on immigration at a local law firm. Last fall, she adapted the Creative Nonfiction Foundation’s Writing Away the Stigma program for teens.

Vivian has obtained degrees in Journalism, English (Creative Writing) and Communications and Rhetorical Studies. She is a member of the Maenads Fellowship Program at Chatham Universi- ty and was recently named Chatham’s Margaret L. Whitford Fellow and she will begin working toward her MFA in creative nonfiction writing starting this fall. Nonfiction (and creative nonfiction) has been her favorite genre since she got her 12-year-old hands on her first memoir, John Gunther, Jr.’s Death Be Not Proud. Vivian enjoys spending as much time as possible in the great outdoors with her husband and dog, and dreams of a life in Alaska.