Squonk in the Neighborhood: Fall 2024

Through Squonk in the Neighborhood, we had a busy fall conducting workshops for kids in several Pittsburgh-area communities.

In September, our teaching artists Lindsay and Tony led a music-making workshop at Penn Hills Library, as part of RAD Days and our Squonk-In-The-Library series.

Back in October, we paid a return visit to our friends Assemble PGH in Garfield to take part in their Scary Science Learning Party. Our teaching artists Mia and Kadey helped kids transform broken crayon bits into spooky shapes.

In December, we returned to the Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall and the Penn Hills Library with a new workshop where Mia and Lindsay taught the kids about Rube Goldberg machines. They learned how to harness the flow of energy, using everyday objects, to create quirky, complex contraptions with chain reactions.

Brouhaha in Waco, TX

We finished our 2024 tour of Brouhaha at the Waco Cultural Arts Fest in Texas. We were thrilled to help them celebrate their 20th anniversary with three days of music, art, and science!

Brouhaha in El Paso, TX

From way up north to way down south! After our gigs in New York state, we traveled to El Paso, TX, to perform Brouhaha at Chalk the Block. This was our third time performing at the event, which is the largest public arts festival in the region.

Brouhaha in Clinton, NY

Our fall travels in upstate New York took us to Hamilton College in Clinton, NY. We enjoyed two days of performing Brouhaha at the KTSA Amphitheatre.

Brouhaha in Oswego, NY

We spent early October in upstate New York. Our first gig was at SUNY Oswego, where we first performed back in 2002. In addition to multiple days of Brouhaha performances for students and members of the community, Steve led a few workshops for the theater tech students.

Photo by ARTSWEGO

Photo by ARTSWEGO

Brouhaha in Calgary, Canada

Our Canadian travels also took us to Calgary, Alberta. We performed at the biggest, STEAM-iest, explosive, brain-busting science spectacle: Beakerhead. It was our third visit to Calgary, but our first performing at Beakerhead.

Brouhaha in Hamilton, Canada

We were thrilled to return to Canada for Supercrawl, an annual art and indie music festival in downtown Hamilton, Ontario. This was our second appearance at Supercrawl, where we performed Hand to Hand in 2022.

Photo by Mike Highfield.

Photo by Mike Highfield.

Brouhaha in Urbana, IL

We kicked off our fall tour in Urbana, IL, where we performed at the Opening Weekend Party for the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. We were last there back in 2015 for their Ellnora Guitar Festival. It was great to be back!

Brouhaha in Elgin, IL

Over the summer, we traveled to Elgin, IL, to help Elgin Community College celebrate its 75th anniversary. The Arts Center hosted three performances of Brouhaha. We had beautiful weather while we were there!

Brouhaha in Des Moines, IA

Our summer tour included several days of shows at the Des Moines Performing Arts Center, where we performed Brouhaha outdoors at Cowles Commons. It was our second time in Des Moines, and it was wonderful: perfect weather, awesome local crew, and warm audiences.

Co-Artistic Director Jackie Dempsey gave an interview with the local NBC station while we were there.

Brouhaha in Chautauqua, NY

On August 4-6, we were in Chautauqua, NY, to help the Chautauqua Institution celebrate its 150th anniversary. In addition to performing Brouhaha in their historic amphitheater known as “The Amp,” we also did a workshop with local kids.

Co-Artistic Director Steve O’Hearn talked about Squonk’s connection to Chautauqua in an interview on WRFA-FM’s “Arts on Fire.”

Squonk in the Neighborhood: Open Streets Part 2

On July 27, our giant purple hands made another appearance at an Open Streets PGH event.

We are always glad to partner with BikePGH on this wonderful, free community event. Open Streets opens miles of city streets for people to walk, run, bike, and explore spaces that would otherwise be used by motor vehicles.

Squonk in the Neighborhood: Carnegie Museum of Art

The Squonkers had a blast at the Carnegie Museum of Art’s Summer Exhibitions Celebration, part of their "Inside Out" series. On July 20, audiences joined us as we transformed trash into musical instruments we could wear. We then choreographed these jingling, honking costumes for everyone, with a full rhythm section backing and drum major leading.

Announcing Brouhaha's Fall Tour Dates

We’re excited to announce our fall tour dates for Brouhaha! We kick off in September with two dates at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts in Urbana, IL.

We’ll then head to Canada for performances in Hamilton and Calgary. First up is our return to Supercrawl, Hamilton’s premier multi-arts festival. Then we’ll appear at Beakerhead, “the biggest, STEAM-iest, explosive, brain-busting science spectacle in Calgary.”

We head back to the states for shows in October at ARTSwego at SUNY Oswego, followed by performances on the campus of Hamilton College in Clinton, NY.

Our fall tour ends in El Paso, TX, where we’ll perform for the third time at Chalk the Block, the largest public arts festival in the region.

We hope you can join us for one of these free shows!

• Urbana, IL: Sept. 6 and 7 at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois; Performances at 5:15 p.m. on September 6 and 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. on September 7

• Hamilton, Canada: Sept. 13-15 at Supercrawl; Performances at 6 and 8 p.m. on September 13; 1, 4 and 8 p.m. on September 14; and 1 and 4 p.m. on September 15

• Calgary, Canada: Sept. 20-22 at Beakerhead; Performances at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. on September 20, 2 p.m., 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. on September 21 and noon and 5:30 p.m. on September 22

• Oswego, NY: Oct. 3 and 4 at ARTSwego at SUNY Oswego; Performances at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. on October 3 and 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. on October 4

• Clinton, NY: Oct. 5 and 6 at Wellin Hall/Schambach Center for Music and the Performing Arts; Performances at 4 p.m. on October 5 and 2 p.m. on October 6

• El Paso, TX: Oct. 11-13 at Chalk the Block; Performances at 7 p.m.on October 11, 11 a.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on October 12 and 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. on October 13

Squonk in the Neighborhood: Wilkinsburg

On July 14, Squonk in the Neighborhood traveled to Wilkinsburg for “Rock the Block,” the summer block party held by Ethnan Temple. Teaching Artists Mia and Isabella made tambourines from repurposed materials with a group of super creative kids.

Brouhaha in Pittsburgh, PA

We love Squonking our home town! On July 4, we performed Brouhaha at Point State Park as part of the city’s Independence Day Celebration.

Brouhaha in Bridgewater, PA

On June 29, we took Brouhaha to Bridgewater, PA, for the “Boom on the Bridge” festival. After all of these years Squonkin’ in WPA, this was our first ever gig in Beaver County.

Photos by Erin Ninehouser/Rustbelt Mayberry Photography. A huge thank you to Visit Beaver County and Beaver County Boom for the photos.

Squonk in the Neighborhood: Open Streets

Our giant purple hands greeted participants at Open Streets PGH on June 29.

We are always glad to partner with BikePGH on this wonderful, free community event. Open Streets opens miles of city streets for people to walk, run, bike, and explore spaces that would otherwise be used by motor vehicles.

On June 29, the event took place from the Historic Hill District to Northside. We’ll join them again on July 27 for their event in East End and Homewood.

Brouhaha in New Kensington, PA

We kicked off our summer tour in our home state of Pennsylvania! We performed at Penn State in New Kensington on June 21 as part of a fundraiser themed “ARTificial Intelligence: Elevating Art Through AI.”

A few new Squonk techs were at this gig to learn the ropes. Join us in welcoming Isabella, Kadey, and Corey to the team!

Squonk in the Neighborhood: Blawnox, Forest Hills and Garfield

Squonk’s teaching artists had a busy few weeks in Pittsburgh! We took our giant inflatable hands from Hand to Hand over to Blawnox on June 15 for their Summer Art Fling. Attendees had a chance to grab the rigging and power the fingers on these enormous purple puppets. A big thanks to Blawnox Borough and The Best Of Blawnox for arranging the event.

On June 18, teaching artist Lindsay and newest Squonker Isabella traveled to Forest Hills. As part of the C.C. Mellor Memorial Library Summer Block Party, they made tambourines from repurposed materials.

On June 22, Lindsay and teaching artist Tony joined Assemble for their Film Crew Camp. They led a new workshop called “Music and Sound EFX in Film: An introduction to Foley Work.” You can tell by all of the smiling faces that it was a big hit and lots of fun for all involved.