Offroute Residency at Ketchup City Creative
September 1-December 31, 2026
Download the calendar here.
Scroll down for show and event details.
Registration is required for some workshops.
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COSMIC SUNFLOWER
Calendar + Programming:
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9/3 | 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. - Opening Reception
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9/4 | 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. - Gallery Hours + Mocktails
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9/5 | 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. - Gallery Hours + Journal / Sketchbook Workshop | Bring your own sketchbook or journal OR grab one of ours — first come, first served. Full art supply bar on hand for decorating and mixed-media play. Guided prompts and quiet working time to get you started whether you write, sketch, collage, or all three.
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9/6 | 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. - Gallery Hours
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9/8 | Paint Marking Workshop - 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. | Registration required - $10 per person; please contact artist for sliding scale consideration. Register here.
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9/11 | 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. - Gallery Hours + Mocktails
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9/12 | 5:00 - 8:00 p.m. - Gallery Hours
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9/13 | 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. - Gallery Hours + Prototype Open House | Visit Cosmic Sunflower first then head (almost) next store to Prototype who is hosting an open house for Offroute artists and friends, as well as the public. Learn about the cool work they do and how to get involved.
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9/15 | 6:00 - 8:00 p.m. Closing Reception
COSMIC SUNFLOWER
Tyler Belizaire
SEPTEMBER 3 - 15
Tyler Belizaire, a Pittsburgh-based artist, invites us to explore the relationship between art and spirituality and assess how art plays into our personal practice.
The premise is a loop, not a lesson: making is a form of reaching toward something beyond yourself, that reach becomes a message sent out to other people, and what comes back, call it inspiration, call it grace, is what keeps the reaching going.
The exhibition treats the studio itself as the site of contact, not just the place where finished contact gets framed. The sunflower appears throughout as a borrowed emblem, not a subject to be explained. Across many cultures it carries the same association: a thing that turns toward light, that seeks a source greater than itself. That's the only job it's asked to do here: stand in, quietly, for the seeking.
Three movements, one loop:
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Reaching — the private, often wordless act of making as a form of prayer. Not prayer as belief, but as posture: turning toward something unseen before you know what it is.
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Sending — the work as a message addressed to someone else. Art as the way a private reach becomes a shared one, connection to peers, strangers, and whoever comes after.
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Receiving — inspiration treated as something that genuinely arrives, not something manufactured from nothing. The circuit closes when the beyond answers back and the artist starts reaching again. These aren't sequential stages so much as three things happening at once in any real studio practice. The show's job is to make that loop visible.
Additional Cosmic Sunflower Opportunities:
Group Wellness Paint Sessions
by appointment only
Slow down, breathe, and create. Join a small, guided paint session designed to combine mindful relaxation with hands-on creativity — no experience necessary, just an open mind and a willingness to make a mess. Appropriate for groups of 8-12; 2 hour duration. Only 4 bookings are open between 9/4 - 9/15.
What's Included:
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All paint, canvas, brushes, and apron
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Guided, wellness-focused instruction — no experience needed
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Calming music and a relaxed, low-pressure studio environment
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Light refreshments
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A finished piece to take home
Private Party: $45 / person - Excellent for birthdays, girls nights, celebrations. 8-guest minimum.
Corporate Party: $85 / person - Guided team-building session with wellness framing, up to 12 guests. Invoicing available.
Live Portrait Painting Sessions
by appointment only
Watch your portrait come to life, live, during the show. Sit for a single quick session or a longer multi-sitting piece — drinks and snacks provided throughout. Book before August 25, 2026. Details here
To book Group Wellness Paint Session or Live Portrait Session:
Email: Belizaireart@gmail.com
Phone: (347) 884-5160
Want a preview? Reach out by phone or email for samples of past work and session photos.
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Offroute's Make It Mondays at KCC
SEPTEMBER
September 14 | Make It Monday: Repair Café
Repair Café Pittsburgh is a monthly event series where people bring broken items to a team of repair experts, and work to fix them together. Community-led and free to attend, the Repair Café is open to everyone. Stop either with an item for repair or to learn more about their work and how to volunteer with them if you are handy!
RSVP not required.
September 21 | Make It Monday: Group Art Critique
Join us in a safe space to share your work, connect with other artists, and grow as an artist.
Each artist will get 10 minutes: 5 minutes to present physical or digital work, followed by 5 minutes of feedback from the group. Come prepared with a question or direction you'd like input on. Each artist can set the tone and pace of feedback that feels right for them.
Space is limited to 8 participants—please register first. We’ll open a waitlist if there is great interest. Free and open to all—come make peers, get feedback, and talk shop in a safe, supportive setting. We'll provide hot tea.
September 28 | Make It Monday: Domed Copper Keychain Workshop
Personalize your own copper disc using letter and design stamps, then dome it into a one-of-a-kind keychain! A fun, hands-on workshop where you’ll create something uniquely yours to take home. Classes are capped at 8. Led by artist Danielle Brannigan.
All Offroute Make It Mondays take place on Monday evenings from 6:00–8:00 PM at Ketchup City Creative, 612 Main St, Sharpsburg. Make It Mondays are open to all.
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Offroute's Trade Tuesdays at KCC
September 22 | Trade Tuesday
A monthly gathering from 6:00–8:00 PM for artists to swap supplies, share techniques, and trade ideas. Bring your gently-used art supplies to trade with fellow artists.
Artists are also welcome to join the Painting Swap: start a painting, and midway through, trade with another artist to contribute to theirs while they contribute to yours.
Acrylic paint and Posca markers are available to use, but you're welcome to bring your own supplies as well.
All are welcome. Come swap, connect, and see where a collaborative piece takes you. RSVP not required.
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Offroute's Wellness Wednesdays at KCC
SEPTEMBER
September 9 | Wellness Wednesday: Postcard Party
Take time to reconnect — write postcards to send love to the people you're thinking of. Whether it's an old friend, family member, or someone you've been meaning to reach out to, this is a quiet, low-pressure space to slow down and put pen to paper. Postcards, pens, stamps, and snacks provided. Drop in anytime between 6-8p.
RSVP not required.
September 16 | Wellness Wednesday: Soundbath & Sketching
Bring a yoga mat* and your sketchbook for a relaxing evening of art and sound. Work on your own sketches or draw inspiration from our current show, Cosmic Sunflower, while soundbath music plays to help you relax, focus, and make space for your creativity. Drop in anytime between 6-8p. RSVP not required.
*we will have a limited number of spare yoga mats and chairs as well!
September 23 | Wellness Wednesday: Natural Ink & Earth Painting
Join artist Amelia Daffodilya for a guided meditation followed by a hands-on painting session using natural, foraged materials — collected mud, crushed berries, and leaves. Explore natural ink-making techniques as you create with pigments straight from the earth. All levels are welcome. RSVP not required.
September 30 | Wellness Wednesday: Create From Within
What would change if you trusted yourself a little more? Join Claire Turvil (Embrace & Flow Collective) for a two-hour Wellness Wednesday experience designed to help you slow down, reconnect with yourself, and explore what it means to truly make your life your own. Through gentle movement, meditation, reflection, and creative art-making, we'll explore identity, self-trust, self-expression, and personal ownership — an opportunity to tune into what matters to you, listen to your inner voice, and turn those reflections into a creative piece.
Come as you are, get curious, and be willing to create without worrying about getting it "right."
The first hour focuses on movement and a brief meditation to begin letting go of perfection and learning to listen to your body. In the second hour, we'll transition into creating an abstract self-portrait representing what it means to listen to your body.
RSVP coming soon!
All Offroute Wellness Wednesdays take place on Wednesday evenings from 6:00–8:00 PM at Ketchup City Creative, 612 Main St, Sharpsburg. Offroute wants to help our friends and neighbors relax and connect with creativity in a calm, warm space. Wellness Wednesdays are open to all.
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ABOUT THE RESIDENCY:
Offroute Art, a nonprofit supporting Pittsburgh's emerging artists ages 18–25, is taking over Ketchup City Creative's Sharpsburg gallery from September 1 through December 31, 2026. The four-month residency pairs Offroute's mission of championing young local talent with KCC's history of opening its space to the community.
The residency will feature solo and group exhibitions by emerging artists, each paired with public programming and workshops. Artists will lead their own classes and meetups, keeping the space peer-driven and accessible. It will also serve as home base for Offroute's Fall 2026 Fellowship, run in partnership with The Midwife Center and focused on building communities of care.
The program responds to a common concern among young artists: losing access to studio space, equipment, and community after leaving school, and finding the professional art world costly and hard to break into. The residency is designed to meet that need with peer-led skill-sharing, inviting Sharpsburg and greater Pittsburgh to take part.
KCC is located at 612 Main Street in Sharpsburg and is operated by Artspiration.
