all eyes on braddock

In case you missed it, there was a huge article in last Sunday's New York Times about Braddock and the efforts of Mayor John and his comrades.

Article here. Seven minute plus video here.

Required reading and watching for those individual citizens and ex-pats still hesitant to pitch in and assist Youngstown with their activism.

Time is of the essence.

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But as we build our own community, it is important to support our friends in neighboring cities as well. To not watch from afar, but to meet face to face.


This saturday, February 7 from 6-8pm there will be an event/exhibition opening in downtown Braddock.

The central focus will be the display of ceramic water filters and ornate receptacles.

art with form and function:

In many countries where water filters are produced, local potters make artisan ceramic vessels. The filter is made by pressing a mixture of clay and sawdust into a flower pot shape. When it is fired, the sawdust is burned away, leaving numerous holes to allow water to pass through the permeable walls. The filter is then impregnated with nano-particles of silver that act as an antimicrobial agent. The receptacles on display are the crafted vessels in which the filter sits.

but then taking the art and launching it into an economic opportunity:

The Braddock exhibition will serve as a launch point for the pottery shop in the original Carnegie Library in Braddock. Currently, Jeff Swartz, an AmeriCorps volunteer, is the director of the first filter production facility in North America. The objective is to make the Braddock Pot Shop and the facility at Slippery Rock University a training center for water filter technicians.

see more at:

Unsmoke Systems
1137 Braddock Ave.
Braddock, PA 15104