Carnegie Science Center Wants Pictures

If you think you have an eye for photography and a grasp of science, the Carnegie Science Center wants to give you $500 dollars. The Science Center has launched “The Art of Science” photo contest. Spokesperson Susan Zimecki says they are looking for photos that show the beautiful side of anything science related. “We are looking for images that could capture weather or stars or it could be something manmade. It could be a piece of machinery or it could be something illustrating robotics, it could be something from biology,“ says Zimecki. “We are looking for something scientific that is also aesthetically pleasing.”

Amateur photographers can submit up to two photos through Thursday, March 31. The contest is open to all ages and the submissions will be divided into age groups before they are judged. First-place for the 12 and under group will be $100. For the 13 through 17 group the top photographer will take home $250. The 18 and up group offers a $500. A panel of judges will select the winners. A “People’s Choice” will also be picked through online voting at the Trib Total Media’s Contest webpage. Those winners will be awarded a one-year, family membership to Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. Online voting begins on Friday, April 1, and ends on Friday, April 15.

Zimecki says the winning pictures will eventually be displayed at the Science Center. We are looking for something “scientific that is also aesthetically pleasing.”

SportsWorks Suffers Construction Delays

The completion of Carnegie Science Center’s new SportsWorks facility is delayed until late December, says the Center. Spokesman Mike Marcus says “normal construction delays” such as bad weather and slow permitting processes have put the building behind schedule, but he doesn’t expect it to be slowed any further. “What we’re working on now is getting the frame and skin up on the building. Once those are on later this summer/early fall, the weather isn’t really an issue because then we’ll be working on the exhibit and doing all the work inside the building,” says Marcus. The old building was bought late last year by the Port Authority to complete its North Shore Connector Project. Marcus says the new facility will feature many of the exhibits from the old SportsWorks, but will also feature a health aspect that correlates sports and exercise to good health. Though the exhibit will be managed by the Science Center, Highmark Inc. will be partnering with them specifically for the SportsWorks complex.

Bill to Cut Science Center State Grant Removed

House Bill 2327, a proposal that would have cut an annual $254,000 state grant for the Carnegie Science Center, has been tabled. The legislation was first proposed as leverage to encourage House Democrats to push through House Bill 2299, a measure that would require county officials to approve any exhibit that would show human corpses. According to 2299, organizers would be forced to provide paperwork detailing where the body came from and prior consent from the person that their body may be put on display. State Representative Mike Fleck, a Democrat from Huntingdon County and leading proponent of both bills, says the threat to the Science Center's state grant has diminished now that 2299 is set to come up for vote June 24th. All of this is in response to Premiere Exhibit's controversial "Bodies" display, which ran at Carnegie this spring.

Director Haas To Leave Science Center

Joanna Haas, 5-year director of the Carnegie Science Center announced today that she will be leaving the position in mid-July to become Executive Director of the Louisville Science Center. Haas says the move brings her closer to her hometown and much of her extended family. She also says that she will miss Pittsburgh and is honored to have been apart of the community. Her greatest accomplishment, she says, is bringing the Roboworld exhibit to the Carnegie Science Center which was announced April 9th.

Kites at the Science Center represent abused children

Kites will take center stage at the Carnegie Science Center this weekend and so will the plight of 5,000 Allegheny County children who are victims of abuse and neglect. Kidsvoice represents those children by pairing lawyers and social workers with the children to get them the services they need. Kidsvoice executive director Scott Hollander says they are using the kite theme because kites represent joy and hope. People coming into the science center this weekend will be able to decorate a kite and hang it in the building. The goal is to make 5-thousand of the kites to represent each child in the system. There will be other kite related activities from crafts to the science behind kite flying. Anyone printing a kite from the science center web site and decorating it will get two dollars off their admission. Hollander says this is not a fund raising event, just an event to build awareness and show support for the kids.. The kites will be taken down Monday and then displayed throughout the county at different times throughout the year to once again build awareness to the issue.