Mural at the Mt Lebanon T-Station by multiple artists

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When Pittsburgh celebrated it’s 250th anniversary, Mt Lebanon installed two murals as part of their commemoration of the event. This mural above the T–station on Shady Ave is one of them. Helen Worsing designed it to showcase Mt Lebanon as a walking community. This feature of the Mt Lebanon neighborhood is a huge source of pride for them. They don’t use school buses, and they encourage all forms of exercise and activity. Having a pro–walking mural alongside the public transportation stop really impresses you that this community is ahead of it’s time in promoting alternatives to driving.

The mural wraps around the sweeping corner of Shady Ave and continues on 4 walls. The style changes from silhouette to detailed and back again as you walk around the mural.

Pittsburgh Recollections by Romare Bearden

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Originally installed in the Gateway Center T station in 1984, Pittsburgh Recollections was removed tile by tile and reassembled in the new T station in 2009. It was an expensive project, but at the time the mural was valued at $15 million.

The 12 x 12 inch tiles had to be removed carefully, cleaned and reassembled in the proper place. It was a painstaking process as the tiles had to be cut from the wall with concrete still attached and then the concrete had to be chipped away by hand. When reinstalled the tiles were mounted on panels this time, to make the process much easier should they ever need to move it again.

The mural shows scenes of Pittsburgh. Some from what the artist remembered from time spent here as a child. It also shows a history of the area, with images of early settlers, scenes from when the steel industry was at it's height, and the transition of the area into high tech industry.

Summary:

Artist(s): Romare Bearden
Address: Gateway Center 'T' Station
City: Pittsburgh
Zip: 15222

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