Phat Man Dee

Please join neighbors, artists, and friends of McKinley Park for a weekend of music, creativity, movement, food, and community connection.

I LOVE McKINLEY PARK: Neighborhood Celebration Weekend September 18–20, 2026 | McKinley Park

The McKinley Park Community Artist Team has been gathering stories, memories, and ideas about the park and imagining how future public art can reflect the people, landscape, and history of Beltzhoover, Knoxville, and Allentown.

Come celebrate what makes McKinley Park special—and help shape what comes next.

While not required, attendees are encouraged to RSVP via email to: christianedolores@noboxengagements.com.

All events are rain or shine. In case of extreme weather, cancellations will be announced via social media and email. Follow @shiftworkspgh and @pittsburghparks on Instagram and Facebook.

We encourage you to share this information with your friends and neighbors!

Schedule of Activities:

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18 6:30–8:00 PM | Community Gathering at the Haberman Pavilion, 300 Michigan Street

Kick off the weekend with music from DJ Kanti Kassa, refreshments, and conversation with members of the Community Artist Team and neighbors.

Kanti Kasa also known as KK, is a talented independent artist and DJ who also dances, models, produces, Engineers, and Act. Music is a very big passion of hers, she has always loved having people hear her voice. ​ Born January 1st, 1993, KK started performing ever sense she was five years old. She has DJed at many events weddings and has been since 2013. Her skills has been utilized for many occasions and community events such as the "Let's Grow Together" project, and other events ran by Jake Wheatley, Peduto, Bruce Krause, The Hilltop Alliance, Neighborhood Allies, Gwen Girls, Healthy Start, and more

Light Refreshments Provided

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 2:00–4:00 PM | Community Engagement Day at the Haberman Pavilion, 300 Michigan Street

2:00–2:45 PM Live music with Rumbón de la Calle - an ensemble of locally based, world renowned percussionists and drummers of the African diaspora emulating the community gatherings of their respective countries: Puerto Rico, Republic of Congo, Cuba, and the United States. Christiane writes: “One of my fondest memories of growing up in Beltzhoover on the South Side of Pittsburgh was hearing the Congo drumming in McKinley Park. Those rhythms were the soundtrack to my childhood as we played hopscotch or swung on swings…

3:00–4:00 PM Drop in for hands-on activities led by Community Artist Team members, including:

I Love McKinley Park memory book making/collage with Mary Martin Create a handmade book to capture your favorite memories, reflections, and reasons for loving McKinley Park. Fill your pages with words, images, stamps, and collage as you create a personal keepsake inspired by the park and your experiences there. Each participant will take home their completed memory book.

Silkscreen printing with Jafar Turner Silkscreen Print: McKinley Park: Silkscreen mini-workshop Stop by and create your own original silkscreen print celebrating McKinley Park! Learn the basics of screen printing and make a one-of-a-kind print to take home as a keepsake. All materials—including paper, ink, and the screen-print design—will be provided.

Sharing photographs and stories of Beltzhoover style and celebrations with Sister Celeta Hickman. Residents are encouraged to bring photos of their neighborhood memories that will be included in the project - particularly prom and other celebrations! Proms, Snowballs, Homecomings and Fashion Shows! Share Your Memories!

Please accept this invitation from CAT team member and visual artist Celeta Hickman to share your photographs of your formals or that of a family member. We are particularly interested in South Hills, Carrick, Brashear, St. Canice high schools and magnet school graduates from the community. Our area has made a solid contribution to style and design and design nationally. Please share your fashion show photos too! I'll take a polaroid photo of your formal to introduce a new generation of young people to society life in and around our communities. What will be done with the photos we take? They'll be the inspiration foundation of artwork I'm creating for McKinley Park.
Share photos of your weddings, fashion shows, proms and other Beltzhoover formals, cabarets and receptions held in McKinley Park for Artist, Celita Hickman to document Beltzhoover’s contribution to style and culture in the region in a natural world setting.

Contributing stories, words, and musical ideas to a McKinley Park community song with Phat Man Dee Join Allentown based vocalist, music educator, and songwriter Phat Man Dee at McKinley Park on Saturday September 19 for our Community Artist Team Day of Engagement! Please share with her your stories, memories of the park, and melodic ideas to be included in a song about McKinley Park and the surrounding community. Legacy and culture are passed on through many means, especially through music. This song is open to all who wish to be part of it, and Phat Man Dee is truly honored to help share the story of Pittsburgh’s oldest park through melodic poetry, verse, rhythm, and tune. Your stories about the park are important and she can’t wait to help turn them into a beautiful song.

Light refreshments provided.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 2:00–3:30 PM | Art, Sound + Movement on the Basketball Court adjacent to Shelter House, 900 Delmont Avenue

Gather at The Home Court Advantage, Janel Young’s community-inspired mural at Upper McKinley Park. Activating Janel Young’s mural, The Home Court Advantage, inspired by community residents and their experiences at this staple: Upper McKinley Park, commonly referred to as “Top Park”, with sound and movement.

2:00–2:30 PM Sound and movement activation with Viii Dorsey Viii Dorsey is an interdisciplinary audio-visual collage artist and medicinal sound scientist from Pittsburgh, PA with an eclectic style and experimental approach. Getting her start in poetry, speech-language pathology, holistic wellness, & sound-healing/frequency therapy, Viii offers a unique perspective fusing together multi-layered combinations of sounds, symbols, and concepts to convey the abstract reflections and ponderings of the heart with fluidity and versatility.

Viii brings a multitude of mediums into conversation with each other through an Afro-futuristic lens on time and space. Her creative practice often centers around themes of origins, overcoming, luminescence, & liberation. Viii embodies an approach to art that is as unbounded as the freedom we seek for ourselves.

2:30–3:30 PM Embodied Raja Yoga with Felicia Savage Friedman / Yoga Roots on Location Yoga Roots on Location, Felicia Savage Friedman This Embodied Raja Yoga session will encourage and support all community members to intentionally reconnect with the natural world, especially the land, through accessible movement and contemplation practices.

All activities are free and open to the community. Please note that while chairs will be provided for those who need special accommodations, it is requested that you do bring your own yoga mat!

Come for one event or join us throughout the weekend. Bring your stories, your memories, and your love for McKinley Park.

Presented by the McKinley Park Community Artist Team, no box engagements, Shiftworks Community + Public Arts, and Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.

This project is supported in part by funding from the City of Pittsburgh through the American Rescue Plan Act, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, and Shiftworks Community + Public Arts.

Over the summer and fall, members of the Community Arts Team (CAT) and members of the community explored how the future public art can celebrate the landscape, memories and communities of Belthoover, Knoxville and Allentown.

Join the Community Arts Team, Shiftworks, and Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy in celebrating McKinley Park and exploring future public art work, as we conclude the McKinley Park Community Grove project with hands-on creative activities, music, food and joy.

The Community Arts Team (CAT) comprised of Artists from the neighborhoods of Beltzhoover, Knoxville and Allentown are: Celita Hickman, Phat Man Dee, Mary Martin, Jafar Turner, Janel Young, and Amanda Neatrour.

Share memories, histories and your love for McKinley Park with the Community Arts Team to inform our community engagement process.

or more information, please contact: christianedolores <@> noboxengagements.com

This project is supported in part by funding from the City of Pittsburgh via the American Rescue Plan Act, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, and Shiftworks Community + Public Arts.