Warhol Museum Celebrates 20th Anniversary With Weekend Party
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Warhol Museum is one place in Pittsburgh where you can take a real "walk on the wild side."
On May 13, 1994, the old Volkwein Building on Sandusky Street transformed into a destination.
"We worked together. He did a portrait of me, and I did a portrait of him," says artist Jamie Wyeth.
"I'm a big fan of Warhol," actress Debi Mazuradmits added. "I also used to cut his hair."
A black-tie gathering of the great and near-great christened the opening of the Andy Warhol Museum. The pop-opportunity drew the rich and famous, and even an Andy wannabe.
Andy Warhol spent his formative years on Dawson Street, but now has his own museum. The largest museum in the country ever devoted to a single artist.
On its 20th anniversary, it's still a huge draw.
"Some of the people that are surrounding us in this gallery actually came to visit the museum over the years - Mick Jagger, Dennis Hopper, PeeWee Herman all came to visit the museum," said Nick Chambers, the Milton Fine Curator of Arts at the Warhol.
The reimagined collection now has the "Exploding Fantastic Inevitable" where you can watch some of the more than 4,000 Warhol Factory films and videos flashing across four walls, or interactive visitors can do their own screen test. And there's Andy's office complete with stuffed Great Dane.
"And what we've tried to do is connect all the different stories about Warhol in this overarching narrative about his life," says Chambers.
The tents are going up outside the museum.
There's a really fancy, sold-out anniversary party Saturday night. At midnight, the museum opens to the community with New York DJs AndrewAndrew entertaining until 2 a.m. with hands-on art making and lots more fun until 5 p.m. Sunday.
Also opening this weekend at the museum is "Halston and Warhol: Silver and Suede," which showcases the creative and personal friendship between the fashion design icon of the '70s and the man who is celebrated for far more than his 15 minutes of fame.
"He's the figure who fundamentally reinvented what an artist should be," Chambers said.
Andy would love it.
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