The arts don’t need more rooms. They need more hallways.
Encouraging writing In Westmoreland County, I learned a lesson that likely applies throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania and beyond: Artists and arts organizations should absolutely not stay in their lanes.
As a writer, I spent a long time imagining artists the way I suspect many of us do: in their own rooms. Writers go to writing groups. Painters go to galleries. Musicians find stages. Each creative discipline seems to have its designated place, whether that’s a museum or library.
Then I had a simple, slightly ridiculous thought: Why couldn’t I walk into a museum and ask, “Can I teach people how to write a poem here?”
Before that revelation, I had worried that building a literary community in Westmoreland County would mean searching for opportunities that weren’t there. After that epiphany, I began reaching out to libraries, museums, historic sites and community organizations, and found something different: People were interested.
The rooms existed. What we were missing were the hallways between them.
Some of that gap stems from the realities of organizations. Libraries, museums, arts groups, schools and community spaces naturally build programming around the audiences and disciplines they already serve. Staff, time and money are limited. Cross-disciplinary collaboration can easily become something everyone likes in theory but no one has been tasked with creating.
But organizations are only half of the challenge. Artists become comfortable in our rooms, too. Over time, writers learn where writers belong. Painters learn where painters belong. Musicians know which doors are meant for them. Eventually those boundaries can become so ordinary that we stop looking through the doorway at all.
When I recently talked publicly about creating more connections between artistic communities, one of the responses I kept encountering was a simple question: How? That question suggests that the desire for connection may already be there. What is missing is the habit of imagining ourselves outside the creative spaces we already occupy. Changing that requires movement from both directions.
Organizations can make the hallways visible. They can clearly invite local creators to propose programming, build relationships with artists outside their traditional disciplines, cross-promote one another’s events and create programs intentionally designed around intersection rather than category. A truly comprehensive, shared regional calendar or directory could make it easier for artists and organizations to find one another before a collaboration depends entirely on a chance encounter.
Artists have to become curious about rooms that were not built specifically for us. Writers can walk into museums. Visual artists can collaborate with historians. Musicians can enter libraries. Creators can ask not only, “Where does my work belong?” but, “Where could my work become something different because of who else is in the room?”
Money still matters. Small organizations cannot endlessly create programming without resources, and artists cannot continually donate their labor. Sustainable collaboration eventually requires programming budgets, artist honoraria and partnerships that allow organizations to share costs.
When creatives and organizations begin looking sideways instead of only forward, possibilities multiply. Someone who would never register for a poetry workshop might write something extraordinary beside a painting. A teenager who does not call themselves a writer may discover storytelling through music, folklore, photography or theater. An older neighbor may have spent a lifetime creating without believing the word “artist” belonged to them.
The rooms are already here.
Organizations need to make the hallways easier to find.
Artists need to be willing to walk through them.
M. Allshouse is a Westmoreland County author whose work explores grief, belief, identity and the darker edges of human experience. She can be reached atauthor.mallshouse@gmail.comand atwordsbymallshouse.com.
MORE STORIES
Help us continue telling stories like this one.
We’re Pittsburgh’s Public Source, an independent, nonprofit newsroom. That means we rely on donations from readers like you to help us report accurate, timely and impactful stories for the Pittsburgh region — available to everyone without paywalls.
Everyone deserves access to credible information to understand and help shape the region they call home, which is why we work hard everyday to deliver fact-checked stories on education, environment, health, local government and more.
You may republish this Pittsburgh's Public Source story in full online or in print under the conditions stated below. You may also choose to republish the first 12 paragraphs with imagery and link to PublicSource for the full story.
All you need to do is copy the HTML code we provide on this page and paste it into your CMS. We strongly encourage you to copy the code and paste it directly into a code editor. In Wordpress, press the three dots in the upper right of the Post and choose Code editor. That should give you the story text, along with photos from the body of the article.
Here are your obligations under our republishing guidelines:
Give us credit, in this format: “by [Author Name(s)], Pittsburgh's Public Source”.
Include a line at the top of the story that reads: “Pittsburgh's Public Source is an independent nonprofit newsroom serving the Pittsburgh region. Sign up for our free newsletters.”
In the html code of the page, include a line of javascript that helps us keep track of hits. It’s already in the code below.
Let us know when you use our work by sending an email to natasha@publicsource.org.
By republishing our story, you agree to the following conditions:
You can’t edit, cut or alter the story, except to suit your in-house style (e.g. % vs. “percent,” honorifics, etc).
You must not resell the story or sell ads against the story. It’s fine to publish the story on a page that’s surrounded by previously sold ads, however.
Please exclude our work from being published or syndicated to third-party platforms or apps like Newsbreak under your publication name, when possible
If you share the story or a link to the story on social media, please tag us on Twitter (@publicsourcepa), Instagram (@publicsource), Facebook (@publicsource) or TikTok (@publicsource).
We reserve the right to deny, revoke or limit the rights conveyed herein for any reason, including (but not limited to) instances in which these conditions are not met or the reproduced material is not presented in a responsible manner.
The arts don’t need more rooms. They need more hallways.
by Guest commentary by M. Allshouse, Pittsburgh's Public Source October 5, 2026
The arts don’t need more rooms. They need more hallways.
Share this:
Views and to-dos from your Pittsburgh neighbors.
As a writer, I spent a long time imagining artists the way I suspect many of us do: in their own rooms. Writers go to writing groups. Painters go to galleries. Musicians find stages. Each creative discipline seems to have its designated place, whether that’s a museum or library.
Then I had a simple, slightly ridiculous thought: Why couldn’t I walk into a museum and ask, “Can I teach people how to write a poem here?”
Before that revelation, I had worried that building a literary community in Westmoreland County would mean searching for opportunities that weren’t there. After that epiphany, I began reaching out to libraries, museums, historic sites and community organizations, and found something different: People were interested.
The rooms existed. What we were missing were the hallways between them.
Some of that gap stems from the realities of organizations. Libraries, museums, arts groups, schools and community spaces naturally build programming around the audiences and disciplines they already serve. Staff, time and money are limited. Cross-disciplinary collaboration can easily become something everyone likes in theory but no one has been tasked with creating.
But organizations are only half of the challenge. Artists become comfortable in our rooms, too. Over time, writers learn where writers belong. Painters learn where painters belong. Musicians know which doors are meant for them. Eventually those boundaries can become so ordinary that we stop looking through the doorway at all.
When I recently talked publicly about creating more connections between artistic communities, one of the responses I kept encountering was a simple question: How? That question suggests that the desire for connection may already be there. What is missing is the habit of imagining ourselves outside the creative spaces we already occupy. Changing that requires movement from both directions.
Organizations can make the hallways visible. They can clearly invite local creators to propose programming, build relationships with artists outside their traditional disciplines, cross-promote one another’s events and create programs intentionally designed around intersection rather than category. A truly comprehensive, shared regional calendar or directory could make it easier for artists and organizations to find one another before a collaboration depends entirely on a chance encounter.
Artists have to become curious about rooms that were not built specifically for us. Writers can walk into museums. Visual artists can collaborate with historians. Musicians can enter libraries. Creators can ask not only, “Where does my work belong?” but, “Where could my work become something different because of who else is in the room?”
Money still matters. Small organizations cannot endlessly create programming without resources, and artists cannot continually donate their labor. Sustainable collaboration eventually requires programming budgets, artist honoraria and partnerships that allow organizations to share costs.
When creatives and organizations begin looking sideways instead of only forward, possibilities multiply. Someone who would never register for a poetry workshop might write something extraordinary beside a painting. A teenager who does not call themselves a writer may discover storytelling through music, folklore, photography or theater. An older neighbor may have spent a lifetime creating without believing the word “artist” belonged to them.
The rooms are already here.
Organizations need to make the hallways easier to find.
Artists need to be willing to walk through them.
M. Allshouse is a Westmoreland County author whose work explores grief, belief, identity and the darker edges of human experience. She can be reached at author.mallshouse@gmail.com and at wordsbymallshouse.com.
MORE STORIES
Help us continue telling stories like this one.
We’re Pittsburgh’s Public Source, an independent, nonprofit newsroom. That means we rely on donations from readers like you to help us report accurate, timely and impactful stories for the Pittsburgh region — available to everyone without paywalls.
Everyone deserves access to credible information to understand and help shape the region they call home, which is why we work hard everyday to deliver fact-checked stories on education, environment, health, local government and more.
We've seen our journalism prompt widespread change in the Pittsburgh region — but none of it would be possible without the support of our community. If you found this story valuable, consider "paying it forward" by making a gift today.
MOST READ STORIES