The Pittsburgh Center for the Arts is a gathering place for modern artists. There’s also a program to give underfunded independent filmmakers access to equipment and production facilities. But first, visit with your children to see the remarkable work of the Center’s participants and alumni. It could be the beginning of a beautiful — and challenging — relationship.
Contact number: (412) 361-0873
Location: 6300 5th Avenue, Mellon Park, Pittsburgh, PA 15232
Learn more here.
The Museum is one of the country’s largest repositories of dinosaur fossils, and you and your children can be the beneficiaries of this prehistoric abundance. Visit the family-friendly installation that includes exhibits, special events, and educational workshops. It’s all about natural history and cultural anthropology reaching back millions of years. And stop by the Natural History Store and the museum cafe with the best name in town: Fossil Fuels!
Contact number: (412) 622-3131
Location: 4400 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
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The aspiring scientists among your children will have a truly wonderful day at the Carnegie Science Center. The planetarium, aquarium, and OMNIMAX theater are the core of this five-floor educational, interactive center that accommodates the very young and the fully grown — a great destination for all generations.
Contact number: (412) 237-3400
Location: 1 Allegheny Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15212
Learn more here.
The Soldiers and Scholars Military Museum and Memorial is one of the country’s largest museums dedicated exclusively to U.S. veterans. The exhibits, from the Civil War to current conflicts, tell stories of ordinary citizens who have done extraordinary things to preserve our way of life.
Contact number: (412) 621-4253
Location: 4141 5th Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213,
Learn more here.
Ready to take your children on an adventure in fine art? Start at the Wood Street Galleries, operated by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. This is way more than just painting on the walls. These galleries include performance art, interactive installations, contemporary music events, and even regular appearances and demonstrations by artists as they work.
Contact number: (412) 471-5605
Location: 601 Wood Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Learn more here.
Sports is at the center of the Pittsburgh Experience, whether you’re talking baseball, football, hockey, or even golf. The WPSM, housed in the Smithsonian wing of the Heinz History Center, is a “museum within a museum” that is all about sports.
Contact number: (412) 454-6000
Location: 1212 Smallman Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Learn more here.
The exhibit includes interactive technologies and touch-screens that take you through the torpedo room, control room, mess deck, and engine rooms. And at each station, the interactive technologies will give you and your family a sense of what it was like in that extraordinary environment. You’ll get to hear the cross-talk and instrument sounds of the sub in operation, all in surround-sound. It is amazing — and worth a trip by itself.
Contact number: (412) 237-3400
Location: 1 Allegheny Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15212
Learn more here.
Artists in residence create room-size environments that emphasize the connection between art and the everyday. And every exhibit is linked with educational programs that encourage creativity in viewers.
Contact number: (412) 231-3169
Location: 500 Sampsonia Way, Pittsburgh, PA 15212
Learn more here.
For more than 35 years, the Society for Contemporary Craft (SCC) has nurtured artists and shown their works in clay, fiber, glass, metal, wood, and found materials. Today, it’s a showcase for multicultural and non-mainstream art.
Contact number: (412) 261-7003
Location: 2100 Smallman Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Learn more here.
Fort Pitt had an all-important role in the American Revolution and the French and Indian Wars that preceded it. This involving and innovative re-creation uses modern technology and pure creativity to explore that history through exhibits, images, artifacts, and videos. Be sure to visit the Bushy Run Battlefield exhibit as well, and ask about the parallel programs for children so that every generation can enjoy and be entertained.
Contact number: (412) 281-9284
Location: 101 Commonwealth Place, Pittsburgh, PA 15222
Learn more here.
