Anti Drug Mural by John Nichols

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This is one of the oldest murals that we've come across. The condition is very poor and it was difficult to make out what the images were, but we were curious. As we stood there staring at it trying to make out the three figures and what it might have been, a local women came out of the building that it's on and started to talk to us about it. She remembered it from when she was a child. Although she didn't know who had painted it, she knew that it had been there for a very long time and she thought it had something to do with Elegba, a deity of the Yoruba religion. We thought that was fascinating and attempted to find out more.

We kept searching for some information on the mural and eventually came across an article in the Post Gazette archives from the Sunday Magazine, 6 Oct 1985. In it writer Jim Davidson said that this mural had been painted in 1971 by artist John Nichols. It was commissioned by Ile Elegba - which was a residential drug and alcohol program that occupied that building. He went on to describe the mural and said that the two realistic figures and the shadowy blue figure represented life with and without drugs, and if you look closely you can see a syringe. We couldn't make out the syringe any longer, but the description helped us visualize it.

After a lot more research, we finally managed to find an image of the mural when it was still in good condition. It's a black and white photo taken by renowned photographer Charles Teenie Harris, from the Carnegie Museum of Art’s Collection. The museum has graciously allowed us to include a copy of that photograph here.

Charles "Teenie" Harris
American, 1908–1998
Mural painted on the side of brick building of Ile Elegba (House of the Crossroads) Drug Treatment Center, another version, c. 1930-1970
black and white: Kodak Safety Film
H: 2 1/4 in. x W: 3 1/4 in. (5.71 x 8.26 cm)
Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh: Heinz Family Fund, 2001.35.4661
©2004 Carnegie Museum of Art, CharlesTeenie Harris Archive

Summary:

Artist(s): John Nichols
Address: 2012 Centre Ave at Covel Way
City: Pittsburgh (Hill District)
Zip Code: 15219

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