Tripoli Street BakeYard was a project commissioned by Neu Kirche Contemporary Art Center in 2016, as part of the Fallow Grounds Project in the Spring Garden neighborhood of Pittsburgh. In a rather contested public space, I proposed and built a public cob-oven and a 70-foot arrow-shaped picnic table to encourage people to get out, make a fire, and bake bread together. During my residency, I created the Tripoli Street Bakeclub and taught workshops on how to use wild yeast and bake bread. I hosted the Wild Yeast Give-away in the beginning of June and ended the month with the Tripoli Street BakeOff, an event that challenged people to submit their own wild-yeast bread to be judged by the public. I created a bake-kit
for the public to use along with instructions on how to safely use the cob oven. During from May until September multiple events were hosted at the Tripoli Street Bakeyard. It was featured on the podcast Five Minutes in Food History by Celeste
Roberts for Pittsburgh City Podcasts.
TSBY continues into its second year in Pittsburgh with an independent core group of bake club members serving pizzas, hosting baking events, and making a place for community to happen.
