Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy winter events and photography exhibit celebrate nature

Cold, wintry weather does not mean outdoor activities need to stop. The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and its community partners have free and ticketed programming at Allegheny Commons Park on the North Side, the Frick Environmental Center in the East End, Schenley Park and Schenley Plaza in Oakland, and several other neighborhood parks to lure you out of your home and to explore nature.

And a bonus: Later this month the Parks Conservancy will unveil “Refugium,” a free photography exhibit by Brian Cohen at the Frick Environmental Center that “will showcase the beauty and biodiversity found in Pittsburgh’s parks and celebrate the growing role of green spaces as safe havens for reflection and respite amid a busy and tumultuous world,” according to a news release.

The Parks Conservancy has a winter guide online that details all the programming.  Included in the listing: flower-arranging classes, birding walks, Discovery Time, tree identification walks, and guided hikes with naturalists and experts at various parks. Self-guided hikes are also an option, and the conservancy is seeking volunteers to help at Pittsburgh’s newest park, Hays Woods, including invasive species removal, litter picking and trail maintenance.

Programming is available to all residents, not just city dwellers.

Ross Chapman, chief of operations and park equity at the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, said in the release that the nonprofit, which works closely with the city of Pittsburgh under an official public-private partnership agreement to restore and improve the city’s park system to its full potential, wanted to find ways to ensure Pittsburghers had access to nature-based activities throughout the colder months. 

“Many people typically associate park programs and activities with warmer months, but that’s not the case,” Chapman explained. “Pittsburgh’s parks are bustling year-round with activities to keep people of all ages engaged and excited about nature. We hope the activities in the Winter Program Guide will help individuals explore the beauty and wonders found within our green spaces during the traditionally cooler months.”

Some of the programming is familiar to residents, and others are new, including flower-arranging classes with expert horticulturalist Angela Yuele and a winter tree identification hike with the Parks Conservancy’s naturalist educators, according to the news release. The Lichen Exploration series, led by naturalist educator Stephen Bucklin, takes place at several local parks, including Pittsburgh’s oldest public park, Allegheny Commons.

The Parks Conservancy has offered year-round activities for years but has pushed the winter programing for the past two years to encourage outside exploration even as temperatures dip.

Alana Wenk, Parks Conservancy director of advancement, said staff members comprising the education, horticulture and forestry, and visitor engagement teams evaluate the attendance of each program at the season’s conclusion. “From there, we collectively determine the most popular programs and also brainstorm ways to introduce new programs and events to park visitors based on the feedback we receive,” she said.

Several favorite programs have returned for the winter, including the Parks Conservancy’s popular Birding Pittsburgh’s Parks series. Discovery Time is also a recurring series; however, the theme changes monthly, “so although it’s a familiar program, it still comprises of fresh activities for the participants,” Wenk said.

The activities seek to reach people of all ages. “We include various gentle walking routes in each of our seasonal guides. We recently introduced a new independent program called ‘Agents of Discovery,’ which encourages exploration at several regional parks, including Frick, Schenley and Riverview,” she said.

The health benefits can extend beyond the physical, Wenk said. “In recent years, we’ve partnered with the 10.27 Healing Partnership to offer free Forest Therapy sessions in our local parks,” she explained. “This series has gained a ton of traction and is certainly among our most popular programs.”

The Parks Conservancy is active in dozens of parks across the city, and it seeks volunteers to keep those spaces accessible to all. The Hays Woods, which is just a bit smaller than Frick Park, the city’s largest regional park, though, needs ecological restoration work now, Wenk said. “This is such a unique, interesting and wild park space that needs a lot of TLC,” she said. “The more people who want to pitch in and assist during our monthly Hays Woods stewardship days, the better!”

Additional sponsors help the Parks Conservancy keep programming running all year round, and Wenk said it is “very fortunate to have several funders who share our belief in the importance of connecting Pittsburghers to their local parks.”

“Refugium” will begin with an opening night celebration on Thursday, Jan. 25 from 6-8 p.m. at the Frick Environmental Center. It will remain there for three months.

Cohen, a Pittsburgh-based photographer and teacher specializing in documentary and editorial photography, took the exhibit’s 26 photographs between 2020 and 2023. This project represents Cohen’s experience in Frick Park and serves as a tribute to the people who use it and to the people who work so hard to enable it to thrive, according to the news release. 

“In the spring of 2020, at the leading edge of the global pandemic, we mostly stayed home,” Cohen explained in the news release. “Yet that spring, the parks were busier than ever. People were eager to get out. We walked and ran the trails in greater numbers, dodging and weaving between masked strangers. Yoga classes and religious services were held in the meadows. The off-leash area became crowded with COVID puppies and their humans. Frick Park had become a kind of refugium: At a time of significantly unfavorable conditions, it offered Pittsburghers a mechanism for survival.”

James Brown, Parks Conservancy director of education and the Frick Environmental Center, said the center’s main hallway serves as a gallery space and has hosted exhibitions since it opened in 2016. “My vision for the gallery is to bring exhibitions, residencies and creative projects that are in alignment with the work we do by educating and connecting people to nature. ‘Refugium’ fulfills that objective.

“For me, Brian’s ‘Refugium’ tells several stories; one is about the beauty and biodiversity of Frick Park, and another is about the role parks and green spaces play in supporting well-being, especially during challenging times like the pandemic. That one is a human story, and yet the work also tells a story in which humans are minor characters and the woodlands, the trees, the animals, and even the fungi, are the stars.”

Brown discovered Cohen’s work when a Parks Conservancy colleague invited him to a closing exhibition at Unsmoked in Braddock, which displayed a different version of the collection. “At the time I was looking for new exhibitions to bring to the FEC, but admittedly I was not familiar with Brian or his work. But in seeing his work and learning about the themes it explores — nature, refuge, discovery, solitude and connection — I was quickly drawn to it and became excited about the prospect of having his work at the FEC. I had the pleasure of meeting Brian that same day. That became the first of a series of conversations to led to this exhibition.”

His only wish is that the area had room to accommodate more of Cohen’s photographs.

Cohen studied at the Royal College of Art in London, where he earned his master’s degree in photography. Outside of his commercial work, Cohen is the founder and director of The Documentary Works, an ad hoc collaborative project bringing together photographers, designers and other creative people who wish to produce justice-oriented photographic content. According to the news release, Cohen “spends most of his time in Frick Park, returning occasionally to his home in Squirrel Hill.” 

The exhibit is free and and runs through late April. It has been made possible by local park supporters and Frick Park enthusiasts Ray and Harriet Baum, according to the news release. To learn more or register in advance for the opening night celebration, visit pittsburghparks.org/events.

Brown hopes visitors “reflect on the work and that it invites them to think about their own nature stories. I hope it leads a few new people to explore Frick Park or to venture out and discover a new park in the city.”

He also reminds residents that the Frick Education Center is a hub for environmental education and community gatherings. It is free and open for park visitors to stop to rest, read or borrow a backpack filled with materials to enhance their experience in the park.