Progressing Pittsburgh by August Vernon

About Pgh Murals
Spreadsheet of Pittsburgh Public Art and blog archives
Map of Pittsburgh Public Art

Another local cyclist alerted us to this mural, and led us on an early Sunday morning excursion out to the southern portion of McCandles Township to see it. In spite of it's deteriorating condition we were immediately impressed and intrigued by it. Just what were elephants doing at The Point? Elephants that appeared to be able to walk on the Ohio River, no less. We had to know more.

We were able to contact August Vernon, and he was kind enough to explain:

"The mother elephant represents Pgh no longer in full view to the viewer. The baby elephant is the new generation of Pgh. They both are standing on the confluence symbolic of the way Pgh was built upon the 3 rivers. The west end bridge is arching over the city as a rainbow and the water is turquoise representing the clean-up of the city since the first renaissance in the 40's... Pittsburgh as an Elephant- both have strong memories holding fast to the past- both trudge forward slowly (trudge as in moving forward with purpose) and both stick together strongly in packs! Progressing Pittsburgh refers to the growth of our city over the past 150+ years slowly, surely, purposefully. "

The detail work on the elephants was still obvious, but it was sad to see the mural peeling. Mr Vernon told us that he found out too late that the oil paints did not hold up to exterior conditions very well. Looking on line we found a photo of this mural in it's original condition.

Obviously this mural is not located where most could walk to it. McKnight Rd did not aquire the nickname McNightmare Rd by mistake. If you go I'm going to suggest driving or public transportation to this one. It's just the safer option. The bus stops on McKnight Rd at the corner with Perrymont Rd. The mural is on the gas station wall next to the building that's on that corner.

Artist page for Andrew (August) Vernon

Artist Website

UPDATE Nov 2015

The building is being renovated and the mural is now gone.