Each June, the Three Rivers Arts Festival plants itself Downtown, filling the streets with modern art, live music and the unmistakable smell of deep-fried food. In years past, the art has often proven a little esoteric for my tastes -- a trend that started in the early 1980s when I spotted a painting of a blue man and a pink man walking together. Not surprisingly, it was titled something like "Pinkie and Bluie Go To The Beach," and I could never quite determine whether the concept was way over my head, or merely a painting of two oddly colored dudes. But even as I struggled to understand much of what the arts festival displayed each year, I continued to attend. Whether it was a mound of discarded consumer products stacked several stories high or a charred human figure locked in a cage, I always made a point of checking out the displays. My favorite -- and judging by the crowds, I wasn't alone -- had to be the juried paintings exhibit, where dozens of more traditional works of art were presented under yellow canvas awnings at Four Gateway Plaza. Here was the place where you could check out Western Pennsylvania landscapes, figure studies and works incorporating local architecture and history. Besides the food court, this was one of the few places at the festival where you didn't feel unhip for not quite understanding why anyone would title a pile of bricks and broken pop bottles: "The Admonitions of Grape Snapple And Man's Inhumanity To Man." Unfortunately, the collection was moved from its time-honored location to a building at 937 Liberty Ave. in the Cultural District back in 2003. Despite devoting a hour of walking and asking directions last year, I still couldn't find it. This year's event promises less of a journey if you're the type of art enthusiast who prefers paintings and sculptures to avant garde pieces. The former juried exhibit is now on display at the PPG Wintergarden on Stanwix Street and Fourth Avenue, says festival spokeswoman Lindsay Clark. While the show is no longer limited to paintings, the works of 45 artists will be represented through video installations and other works, she said. And that fried food that everyone loves• Clark says that'll be at a new location, too, at a new food court located at the Liberty Avenue Extension. Just in case all of that weird art leaves you in need of a funnel cake.

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