Stowe Fire and Water by Steevo Sadvary

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Photo by Steevo Sadvary

Artist Steevo Sadvary created this mosaic on the side of the Stowe Township Fire Department. He spent two months transforming the blank wall into a tribute to the first responders.

Anti-Smoking mural by multiple artists

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An anti–smoking mural in McKees Rocks that didn’t get blocked from view. (See the information on this mural.) Tobacco Free Allegheny County funds a program called Music and Art as Prevention (MAP) that attempts to use the arts to reach out to kids and prevent them from starting to smoke. This mural reinforces the message and was designed by those kids.

TribLIVE did an article about the mural and it’s author Genea Webb quotes lead artist Kyle Holbrook as saying: As an artist I want to make a difference through art. I wanted to show that if you stay smoke–free, you’ll be able to achieve your hopes and your dreams.

Controversial Anti-Smoking mural by multiple artists

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While this mural may technically still be there, we’re calling it a ghost mural because it’s been all but invisible since it was completed. What started out as an anti–smoking mural with the local community’s support ended up as a huge bone of contention with the business next door. The funeral home located next to the mural decided they didn't like it before it was even finished and they erected a wall and shrub screen to effectively block the mural from sight. You can read about it in this article by Brentin Mock, and in a Post Gazette article by Dan Gigler here.

We’d also like to direct you to this follow up Post Gazette article where you can see a photo of what the mural looked like before it was blocked from view.

One other piece of information that might be relevant: On the surface, the big complaint here seemed to be the bright orange color. You may have wondered why so much orange? The artist overseeing this project (Kyle Holbrook) had said in the past that he likes to use orange because red is too angry and yellow is too uncommitted. To him orange is a non-controversial color and you see it in all of his murals in the background design and swirls that he uses. His generous use of it here is not out of character.

I Myself Am That by Laurie Marshall

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Our story about I Myself Am That once again comes directly from the Sprout Fund through Curt Gettman:

Artist Laurie Marshall based this mural on the concept that The Kingdom of God is within you, interviewing more than 50 people of all ages and walks of life from McKees Rocks, and asking them what they thought of when they heard this phrase. The figures standing along the bottom edge of the mural correspond to the community members that Laurie interviewed, and the design is her rendition of how they described their vision. The windows they look through frame a view of an imagined McKees Rocks. The landscape is lush and wild, with the famous McKees Rocks Bridge as the only man–made structure in the panorama. Additionally, each window is designed to correspond to the different ethnic groups who call McKees Rocks home: from left to right they are Polish, Carpo–Russian, Ukranian, German, African, Irish, and Native American. The windows themselves are based on Italian Renaissance paintings, representing the Italian community. Shortly before the mural was commissioned, Focus on Renewal, the community applicant, bought the building on which the mural was painted and turned it into an art center. After the mural was completed, Focus on Renewal went on to adorn all the walls of the building with additional murals. The art center is now a thriving community gathering space and a source of identity and pride to the McKees Rocks community.

When we visited the mural it appeared as though some restoration work had been started. The top half of the mural is badly faded, but the bottom half looks much darker. We’ve discovered that the artists need to use a hydraulic lift to paint the higher parts of these murals. From the look of this mural’s condition, our guess is that whomever is trying to restore the mural may not have raised the funds to obtain the use of a lift for the top half yet.

We found this poem written by the artist and read at the unveiling of the mural. She also includes many pictures taken when the mural was newly painted.