Meet Emma Honcharski

Image Credit: Kitoko Chargois

For our Food issue of The Journal, we wanted to interview a member of the arts community who does work around food.

Naturally we thought of Emma Honcharski, who collaboratively publishes Dinner Bell, a food magazine and multimedia project. Using the theme of food loosely, Dinner Bell serves as a creative space for writers and artists to experiment with how they engage with food, acknowledging that stories about food are perhaps not about food at all. With each issue, they publish work that exists outside of the traditional food writing framework.

We recently caught up with Emma about her inspirations and what drives her food-inspired practice.

Why did you choose to focus on food? 

It’s a common denominator in so many ways, how it touches every part of our lives, and as a subject, food is so ripe with possibilities. Food offers an accessible point of entry for art and writing because there’s some level of relatability and connection that’s already there. My early interests in food were because I grew up around a punk scene where veganism was a part of the culture, so from an early age I could think about how what we eat is political and how rich with meaning food can be, to put it really broadly. Being engaged with the food system is a way to be a part of community building and collective action. Food is a way to find pleasure in building a better world. 

Where do you draw inspiration for your projects? 

I’ve been thinking a lot about a Sister Corita Kent print from 1967 where she writes, “What kind of a revolution would it be if all the people in the whole world would sit around in a circle and eat together?” The ongoing pandemic stretches the bounds of how I think about creating projects and experiences, but relationships are central to inspiration for me. My projects are possible because lots of people come together with their own creativity and desire, which builds the shape that projects take. I think about experiences I want people to have, and consider how I can be a part of making them happen. 

What is the purpose of the work you make? 

To open up space for others to make and share their art, to find ways to eat together, to support and create connections between people. To share about the food system as a network of stories, to see in experimental ways, to stay curious about how all of these things overlap into physical objects and experiences. 

What is the most meaningful work you feel you’ve created so far? 

Bringing the Pittsburgh Art Book Fair to life is meaningful in a lot of ways—connecting Pittsburgh to an international culture of art book fairs and publishing as an art practice, creating a space for belonging and connection, introducing people to things that are new to them, witnessing and participating in intergenerational relationship building. So many seeds get planted at an event like PABF. I went to Printed Matter’s NY Art Book Fair in the early 2010s; I didn’t have much context for it, and it totally blew my mind. To keep following a path of interest and excitement is really special. I never would have expected that ten years later I would be putting on a similar event with such a dream team, and so much community support and generosity from Carnegie Museum of Art. 

What do you have coming up next?

I recently joined the board of Bunker Projects! We’ve got a spaghetti dinner fundraiser coming up, and a few other big things to stay tuned for. I’m grateful to work with a great group of people. I think what Bunker brings to the arts communities here is so unique and important. This winter, I’ll dive into working on personal writing projects and throwing a couple of beautiful and bizarre dinner parties. 

How can our audience support you?

Connect me with someone you think I should meet, tell me a story, bring me in as a thinking partner on a project you’re working on, ask me to teach a class. Reach out about an event you’ve been dreaming up. Support local media outlets that aren’t on strike, remember that this is a union town. Be kind to everyone in the service industry! Support Dinner Bell Mag, the Pittsburgh Art Book Fair, and Bunker Projects with your enthusiasm and with your dollar. Come see Buttery Spread at Brew House Arts. Find me on Instagram @emma.honch and subscribe to my newsletter via my website emmahoncharski.com. 

Emma Honcharski is an artist, writer, and media strategist from Ossining, New York, who has lived in Pittsburgh since 2014. She is a co-director for the Pittsburgh Art Book Fair, was a participating curator in Brew House Arts’ 2023 Prospectus residency program, and has collaboratively published a food writing and art publication (Dinner Bell Mag) since 2019. She joined the board of Bunker Projects in 2023. Currently, Emma is the Engagement Manager at NEXTpittsburgh and Executive Assistant at Benci Productions. She is also working towards an MBA and MA in Food Studies at Chatham University, with a thesis project focused on spaces for food and togetherness.