Pitt-Bradford Arts announces season

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford has planned a year of arts programming for the 2026-27 season, including circus performances, puppetry, music, theater and visual art.

All events are open to the public and free unless otherwise noted. Student ticket prices apply to grades K-12 through college. For more information, or to buy tickets to events, contact the Bromeley Family Theater Box Office at 814-362-5113 or visit The Arts.

At noon Sept. 8 in the KOA Art Gallery, the season opens with the group art exhibition “Ripe for Fire.” Featuring artists Calvin Cohen, Mary DiPrete, Katlyn Brumfield and Donovan Andrews, the exhibition explores growth and decay in bodies and landscapes, and how those cycles reshape ideas of time, interdependence and empathy. The exhibition runs through Oct. 16.

At 7 p.m. Sept. 17 in the Studio Theater, “Behind the Lines: A 9/11 Story” comes to Pitt-Bradford. Marking 25 years since the Sept. 11 attacks and the nation’s 250th anniversary, the production is led by trumpeter Dominick Farinacci and features retired FDNY firefighter Bill Spade and military veteran Jaymes Poling, who share their stories alongside a live musical performance. Tickets are $20 for the general public and $5 for students in kindergarten through college.

At 7 p.m. Oct. 22 in Bromeley Family Theater, Cirque Kalabanté brings “World of Words” to Pitt-Bradford. Led by Guinean artist Yamoussa Bangoura, the high-energy production blends traditional African movement and music with Montreal circus arts, exploring how knowledge and culture are passed down. Tickets are $20. Students are admitted free.

At noon Oct. 26 in the KOA Art Gallery, a second exhibition, “Flatland” by artist Kari Varner, opens and runs through Dec. 4. The exhibition uses historical photographic processes, satellite imagery and experimental printing to examine the marks industry and agriculture leave on the land.

At 7:30 p.m. Nov. 12-14 and 2 p.m. Nov. 15 in the Studio Theater, Pitt-Bradford students perform “A Caryl Churchill Double Bill.” The production pairs two short plays by acclaimed playwright Caryl Churchill: “Glass,” about a girl made of glass who must decide for herself how the world works, and “What If If Only,” in which a grieving man's question about the past summons a chorus of possible futures. Tickets are $6 for members of the general public and $2 for students.

At noon Nov. 19 in Bromeley Family Theater, the Pitt-Bradford Vocal Arts Ensemble presents its Holiday Concert. The free concert features a mix of traditional and contemporary holiday music performed by students, with a few sing-along moments for the audience.

At noon Dec. 4 in Harriett B. Wick Chapel, organist Roland Martin performs the Advent and Christmas Organ Recital. The free recital marks the 14th year of the holiday tradition.

At noon Jan. 12 in the KOA Art Gallery, “Meeting the Earth Halfway,” an exhibition by Kirstin Dunlap, opens and runs through Feb. 19. The exhibition pairs a screenprint series with a sound installation to explore the relationship between the self and the natural world.

At 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17 in the Mukaiyama University Room of the Frame-Westerberg Commons, Pitt-Bradford celebrates its literary magazine, Baily’s Beads, with a free reading. The magazine has repeatedly been named Best University Magazine by the American Scholastic Press Association and one of the top 12 student magazines in the country by the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. The issue highlights fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and visual and musical work from students, faculty, staff, alumni and community members.

At 7 p.m. Feb. 25 in Bromeley Family Theater, “Erth’s Shark Dive” swims onto the stage. Presented by an Australian visual theater company as a live poetic documentary, the family-friendly show uses lifelike puppets to bring audiences face to face with sharks and other sea life. Tickets are $20 for members of the general public and $10 for students.

At noon March 2 in the Studio Theater, visiting writer Mita Mahato speaks for free. Mahato is a comix artist and poet who builds her panels from cut and collaged papers — old newspapers, obsolete maps, junk mail — in work that explores ecosystems, survival and renewal. Her most recent book, “Arctic Play,” is published by The 3rd Thing, and her comix have appeared in journals including Ecotone, Shenandoah and Drunken Boat. She holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Oregon and lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

At noon March 4 in the KOA Art Gallery, an exhibition of ceramic work by Peter Jones opens and runs through April 23. Jones, an Onondaga citizen of the Beaver Clan, uses ancient pottery techniques such as hand-built coiling, slab construction and traditional pit firing to create sculptural vessels honoring Haudenosaunee history and culture.

At 7 p.m. March 18 in Bromeley Family Theater, documentary filmmaker and Pitt-Bradford faculty member Ashish Kumar screens his film “IN/DIGNITY.” The free screening explores the legacy of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar through statues across India that serve as sites of memory and resistance for Dalit communities. Kumar, whose work is grounded in his experience as a Dalit filmmaker, draws on Ambedkarite thought to examine themes of dignity, identity and social justice.

At 3 p.m. March 20 in Harriett B. Wick Chapel, the Brooklyn-based group Baklava Express performs. The free concert blends ancient and modern instruments into original music inspired by Turkish, Greek, Armenian, Arab and Sephardic traditions, with touches of jazz, flamenco and rock.

At 7:30 p.m. April 1-3 and 2 p.m. April 4, at a location to be announced, Pitt-Bradford’s theater program returns with its annual original devised work, a collaborative student production. As with past projects such as “Seven Smart Spaces” and “Tales from Edgar Allan Poe,” the subject, story and location are developed by students and will be announced later. Tickets are $6 for the general public and $2 for students.

At noon April 18 in Harriett B. Wick Chapel, the season concludes with the Vocal Arts Ensemble Spring Concert. Now in its 17th year, the free concert features student vocalists performing a mix of hymns and contemporary favorites.

For more information, contact Courtney Mealy, director of arts programming, at cmealy@pitt.edu.

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