Interpretations of Oakland by Jonathan Laidacker

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The black and white background in the mural is an image of the same (century old) building that the mural is painted on. Scattered around the top are photographs of the neighborhood today and toward the bottom you see two prominent Oakland figures.

It’s doubtful that anyone wouldn’t recognize the larger of the two figures. Seeming to form out of a mass of dots, our beloved Mr Rogers dominates this mural. It might be titled Interpretations of Oakland, but to many Pittsburgher’s it’s the Mr Rogers mural. I read somewhere a while ago that the red dots pouring out from the image of Mr Rogers represented love. I haven’t been able to locate that reference again, so I can’t give proper credit or verify that my memory is correct. Still, it seems an appropriate interpretation.

There’s another smaller figure of a woman done in the same technique. That’s Mary Schenley. Maybe not as well known as Mr Rogers these days, but she also had a huge impact on Oakland and Pittsburgh. Mary Croghan Schenley inherited a lot of land in the area. In fact she was the largest property owner in the county in her time. She donated many tracts to various groups, but one of her larger donations to Pittsburgh was the 300 acres for the establishment of Schenley Park in 1889.