Manchester Craftsmen's Guild
Encyclopedia
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
multi-discipline art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
and music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
organization established in 1968 in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, with the address of 1815 Metropolitan St. 15233. It is officially located in the Chateau neighborhood
Chateau (Pittsburgh)
Chateau is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's north city area. It has a zip code of 15233, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 6 . It is on the banks of the Ohio River and is separated from the neighborhood of Manchester by PA Route 65.As...
of the city, though close to the Manchester neighborhood
Manchester (Pittsburgh)
Manchester is a neighborhood on Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's North Side. It has a ZIP code of 15233, and has representation on Pittsburgh City Council by the council member for District 6 . The Pittsburgh Bureau of Fire houses 37 Engine and their foam unit in Manchester...
.
It offers programs in ceramics, photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
, digital art
Digital art
Digital art is a general term for a range of artistic works and practices that use digital technology as an essential part of the creative and/or presentation process...
s, and painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
to over 500 young people each year, as well as 3,400 additional students in the Pittsburgh inner-city school district
Pittsburgh Public Schools
Pittsburgh Public Schools is the public school district in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and adjacent Mount Oliver.The combined land area of these municipalities is with a population of 342,503 according to the 2000 census. In August 2005, the superintendent became Mark Roosevelt. His tenure ends...
. Ninety percent of the students receive high school diploma
High school diploma
A high school diploma is a diploma awarded for the completion of high school. In the United States and Canada, it is considered the minimum education required for government jobs and higher education. An equivalent is the GED.-Past diploma styles:...
s of which 85% go on to enroll in college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
or secondary education
Secondary education
Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
. Its programs also include MCG Jazz, MCG Youth, and the Denali Initiative. MCG Jazz's mission is to preserve, present and promote jazz music
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
. MCG Youth offers various art courses and programs to Pittsburgh Public School
Pittsburgh Public Schools
Pittsburgh Public Schools is the public school district in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and adjacent Mount Oliver.The combined land area of these municipalities is with a population of 342,503 according to the 2000 census. In August 2005, the superintendent became Mark Roosevelt. His tenure ends...
students. The Denali Initiative is a program that teaches nonprofit executive director
Executive director
Executive director is a term sometimes applied to the chief executive officer or managing director of an organization, company, or corporation. It is widely used in North American non-profit organizations, though in recent decades many U.S. nonprofits have adopted the title "President/CEO"...
s from different areas of the country how to develop business and financing plans for new social enterprise
Social enterprise
A social enterprise is an organization that applies business strategies to achieving philanthropic goals. Social enterprises can be structured as a for-profit or non-profit....
s.
The organization is the brainchild of Bill Strickland
Bill Strickland
Bill Strickland is the founder and CEO of the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, an innovative nonprofit agency in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania that uses the arts to inspire inner-city teenagers....
. In 1987, he grew MCG with a $7.5 million capital campaign to construct a 62000 square feet (5,760 m²) vocational training
Vocational education
Vocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...
and arts center
Arts centre
An art centre or arts center is distinct from an art gallery or art museum. An arts centre is a functional community centre with a specific remit to encourage arts practice and to provide facilities such as theatre space, gallery space, venues for musical performance, workshop areas, educational...
. It features a 350-seat concert hall
Music venue
A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. Typically, different types of venues host different genres of music...
, an art gallery
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
, classroom
Classroom
A classroom is a room in which teaching or learning activities can take place. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, including public and private schools, corporations, and religious and humanitarian organizations...
s and workshop
Workshop
A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods...
s. MCG Jazz hosts live musical performances
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
, has a recording studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
, and maintains its own record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
. The label has won four Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s.
External links
- Manchester Craftsmen's Guild website
- MCG Jazz website
- Manchester Bidwell Corporation website
- Tribune-Review story on the legacy of MCG Jazz
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