I was chosen by the Sharpsburg Neighborhood Organization in February 2020 to create a series of public artworks to be installed throughout the Borough of Sharpsburg. Highlighting local wildlife as chosen by residents, and utilizing can donated and dropped off by community members, the implementation of the project has certainly shifted as a result of the pandemic. I worked at Ketchup City Creative, and with the help of a dedicated team of volunteer families, and artist assistants, the works (five stand-alone murals, and one sculpture comprised of seventeen panels) were installed in spring 2021. The pieces debuted at the Sharpsburg Art Adventure on 5/22, 2021 and they’ve been changing ever since. Aluminum cans were never meant to be art materials, so the art has has a fascinating temporal element to it as the sunlight has been our constant collaborator in making the ink fade and transform.
Read more about the project in the Post Gazette and at NEXTPittsburgh!
I was also interviewed live on KDKA by Megan Schiller on 5/13/21: Artist creates 22 wildlife murals out of aluminum cans
fox, in process
fox, finished
the end in sight on the heron panel
finished heron panel!
sculpture panels sketched out for the 62nd street bridge parquet installation
sketch projected onto wood panels
garden cardinal in progress
finished cardinal
cardinal in a tomato garden sitting on a magnolia branch
hawk swooping over the Highland Park Bridge and dam, Allegheny river
62nd Street Bridge detail
sunset panel created by a local family take-home kit style!
peregrine falcons over the 62nd Street Bridge
detail of blue jay panel, so handsome!
two garden panels for the 62nd Street sculpture
deer duo detail
garden panel detail
62nd Street parklet sculpture! This photograph and all that come after it were taken by the amazing Arvid Tomayko
One of the local residents who completed our initial design survey in spring 2020 was VERY enthusiastic about inclusion of turkey vultures as part of the local wildlife represented in the artworks. There is a nest of them on the cliff above this site and they curiously soared above us during installation day! The left bridge is the 62nd Street Bridge behind the sculpture, and the right bridge is the Highland Park Bridge located at the other end of Sharpsburg.
The positive and negative space created by the sculpture were meant to mimic the unique experience of having all of these highway ramps intersecting overhead.
The four sunset panels were adopted by local families as take-home kits. I added the tree and animal silhouettes later after the panels were returned.
Red tailed hawk, deer, cardinal, and turkeys
This site was the most unique challenge for this project as it's observed both by local motorists, commuters coming across the 62nd Street Bridge to Route 8, and by folks walking to and from Etna/Sharpsburg to the bus stops.
Sun flowers, asters, bats and bees, and a special bunny named Thora.
Cardinal flowers, golden ragwort, and mayapples amongst other woodland wonders
Allegheny river fish and a turkey vulture soaring over the river.
Secret pathways on the interior of the sculpture. I wanted to add another reason for pedestrians to come closer and to explore the sculpture, and since I knew there was going to be visible connecting hardware, I wanted to more silver-colored elements to go with them.
Can you guess what the dots are made of?
If you look behind the deer, you can see radiating lines and swirls in yellow and orange creating a setting sun.
Sculpture interior looking out towards Main Street Sharpsburg.
Virginia bluebells, bee balm, marsh blazing stars, and more rudbeckia
Market garden mural at 13th & Middle Streets
Monarch butterflies, squash blossoms, and ripe and ripening cherry tomatoes
Cardinal, monarch butterflies, milkweed, and cherry tomatoes.
The cardinal is sitting on a magnolia branch, another resident suggestion from the initial design surveys in the spring.
Look at that incredibly prolific garden!
Great blue heron mural at Marion Gerardi Memorial Park (16th & Main).
The best use ever of textured white Monster energy drink cans
Fox mural at Marion Gerardi Memorial Park (16th & Main).
The fox is the mascot for Fox Chapel Area School District, of which includes Sharpsburg. This project was especially near and dear to my heart as a FCHS alumna (2002) who grew up adjacent to Sharpsburg in O'Hara Township.
Blue jay mural at Gateway Park (N Main/62nd St Bridge). Special thanks to my artist assistant Kate Pirilla for taking the lead on this one!
Weirdly, blue is still one of the toughest colors for me to source. Lots of Pepsi and plain LaCroix for this one.
Thanks to Arvid for these photos and this portrait. Looking forward to sharing the updated photos as these works have been interacting with the sun since their installation.