Konbit Shelter by Swoon, multiple artists

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The Konbit Shelter is not so much a public art project, but it is a unique architectural structure for our area and it's being built by the local artist collective known as Transformazium (which happens to be located across the street).

This project is an example of the shelters that artists, builders, architects and engineers are developing for areas that need inexpensive, safe structures that can stand up to many natural disasters. Specifically, this type of shelter is being used to provide help to rural areas of Haiti.

The buildings are constructed of long tubes filled with dirt (or with dirt and other stabilizers) and stacked to form a domed–shaped structure. You can read more about the construction here and more about this specific shelter and the problems Transformazium is having in the construction process here.

Update
Nov 2014

The shelter is still under construction. This is one of many projects that these artists are working on, so progress sometimes seems slow. The main structure has now been painted.

North Braddock Aviary mural by Polina Soloveichik

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Part of the Points of Interest project, this incredible display of assorted birds is hidden in a corner by an underpass in North Braddock. Although we know that the artists that participated in the Points of Interest project were only here temporarily, we keep hoping to find additions to this mural. It's full title is: North Braddock Aviary Hall of Male Birds in Courtship Plumage.

Transformazium artwork along Hawkins Ave

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In better days, this was a church. The old building is slowly being saved by a group of artists who have turned it into a combination art studio and living space. Many of the windows are still boarded up, but the resident artists have used some of their talents to make the building look less abandoned.

The Transformazium came about when Braddock’s mayor encouraged the artist Swoon to settle here. He believes in art as a way to help reinvent the town, and does a lot to promote it.

We found artwork on three sides of this corner building. These are the wheatpaste figures by Swoon that fill a doorway along Hawkins Ave:

The artwork on the building is changing as renovations move forward. This page will be updated with artwork on this side of the building as we discover it.

Transformazium Murals along Jones Ave by Swoon

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The artists at the Transformazium have been slowly working their way through this old church making many long overdue repairs and renovations.  There is art on three sides of the building, so there are currently three entries here to represent them.  This page includes the art on the side of the building that faces Jones Ave.

As renovations progress, the artwork on the building is changing. When we first discovered the Transformazium, we found this image on another door on this side of the building:

This was a wheat paste image, which is now gone.  "Wheat paste" is used to describe the method of pasting a piece of artwork up (as opposed to painting it on the wall).  The term is used whether the art is adhered using a flour and water mixture, wallpaper paste, or other type of adhesive.  It has a much shorter life than murals that have been painted, yet it can last a surprisingly long time.

In November of 2014 we found a new mural and a renovated door at the north end of this wall:

How wonderful to see the progress on this landmark. Swoon and the Transformazium members are doing more than just restoring the building. They are working towards establishing a ceramic tile studio here where they will train and employ local residents creating the tiles needed to replace the roof. This is Swoon's Braddock Tiles project, and she hopes that after the roof is replaced that the tile studio will continue to employ locals with other projects.

Transformazium West Wall artwork

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Thallasa by Swoon

The Transformazium is an old church that has been converted into a living space and art studio. Swoon (AKA Caledonia Dance Curry) has been working on the renovations here along with several other artists. This wheat paste artwork once embellished this side of the old church. She’s called Thalassa.

The sea taking the shape of a woman. That’s a general description of Thalassa, a goddess of Greek mythology. The artist Swoon created this image originally for the New Orleans Museum of Art in 2011. It was designed specifically for that location and a two dimensional version was hung in a huge, two story hall.

From a video of Swoon explaining the piece, she said that she had wanted to take the idea of a Sea Deity to sort of define our relationship with nature and think about how we relate to the sea. The Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Miranda Lash, said in that same video that it was supposed to be a celebratory piece about the sea; ecological systems surrounding it; New Orleans’ relationship with the sea and then went on to say how much the city relied on the sea for food, commerce, oil, etc.

Although not as elaborately displayed and embellished as the installation in the museum, Braddock’s copy of Thalassa was still quite impressive. She may or may not have been a commentary on Braddock’s (and Pittsburgh’s) relationship with our rivers. She was, however, definitely majestic and commanded your attention.

By the time we rode by in May of 2014 Thallasa had deteriorated and was vandalized to the point that we considered it gone.  Building renovations are still going on and we're holding out hope that once they've finished with this side of the structure that perhaps a new copy will be installed.


On 3 Apr 2013, the Carnegie Museum of Art announced that the Transformazium was one of the 35 individuals or groups included in the The 2013 Carnegie International art show. The list of participants was included in the Post–Gazette article, where Mary Thomas provided this information on the Transformazium:

A collective of five people (Ruthie Stringer, Dana Bishop–Root, Erin Harrell, Leslie Stem and Caledonia Curry) with backgrounds in the arts and arts management. Most moved from Brooklyn to Braddock and North Braddock. Individually we are artists, designers, farmers, interactivists, communication theorists, neighbors. Together we are an arts-based community organization. Current projects include deconstructing an abandoned church with the dual purpose of recycling materials and perhaps supplementing income.

Congratulations to the artists of the Transformazium!

Brick Woman by Lady Pink

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She's a Brick (bah,bah,bah)House...

We first found a reference to this mural online. A little detective work and some time spent looking at street views on Google maps and we thought we had a good idea of where it was located. Eureka! We found this lady reclining along an underpass wall at the boundary of Braddock and North Braddock. Under the train bridge near 445 Library Street in Braddock, she rests a short distance uphill from the nation's first Carnegie Library.

We were somewhat fascinated by this mural. There must be some deep, social message in this. We see elements that hint to references of industry, ecology, nurturing, devouring... We're not quite sure what to make of it.

An email to Lady Pink (born Sandra Fabara, Ambato, Ecuador, 1964) with some of those theories brought this response:

"You sound like you're overly analyzing my mural.... WOW! I meant nothing of the sort, Industry Mom, comfort.... none of that. It's insane what other see in my work! It's just a sexy nude lady that happened to fit the space I had to.

I like doing brick ladies and even one man. I had just come from doing an instillation at the Denver Botanical Gardens in Co. where I did a brick lady and a brick man reclining, it was for their Japanese garden. Then I was invited to go to Braddock, little did I know what a sorry little town that was, I cried when I first saw it. I painted the same brick lady as fast as I could, in collaboration with Cycle that I brought along to help. Then I jetted out of there, it took us a day and a half to do that wall. I rarely paint such decrepit walls, I've been seriously spoiled by working on much nicer walls, walls that don't crumble before my eyes..... so sad. That had to have been the most depressing site I've ever done!

I really appreciate the hospitality show to us by Swoon and the Mayor and I admire their conviction to raise Braddock from the ashes. I wish them the best.

My brick people are based on the song She's a Brick House, an old Disco tune. She's sexy and voluptuous, sometimes also fat and decaying yet still lovable. It's really simple, I've always liked doing nude ladies and making them outta brick gives me an excuse to put some graffiti on them :)

It's unfair to expect an artist to explain their work when they can't always verbalize the visual images they see and create. It's funny to me how people always overanalyze the artwork, way too intellectual, Art school will mess with ya that way. I don't really care how folks understand my work either."

"I just need to create these images, it's what artists do, and I don't have to explain anything beyond a title for a piece.... maybe. An artist statement is crazy painful for me. Since you reached out and asked then I'll explain it some. The flower is a MAN eating Columbine flower and I grow them in my garden. I'm into gardening hence all the organic stuff around the brick lady. I've painted that flower a few times before. The vintage subway is a tribute to my graffiti roots, I love painting subway trains. Anyway that's all I have for now. Thanks for taking an interest in my work."

More information for Lady Pink and her art:website, bio, wiki, article1, article2, Facebook, Lady Pink and the Brick Lady, Brick Woman Reclining, Brick Man and Brick Woman (Denver, CO, 2008)

Summary:

Artist(s): Lady Pink
Address: Library St & Jones Ave
City: Braddock
Zip: 15104

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Twitter: @PghMurals

Neighborhood Portraits by Swoon

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These portraits of local residents were done by Swoon as a part of her own Points of Interest program, where she invited several artists to town and gave them each a location to work with. In this underpass there are only the two portraits done right now, but there are several other panels that have been painted with the blue background. We suspect that there may be additions here in the future.

UPDATE
October 2014
We’ve been riding back to all the artwork we discovered over the past two years to check on it. When we made it out to see this underpass, we discovered that a new panel had been added:

We found information on this portrait of a man named Henderson (a crane operator in the steel mill) on the artist’s Facebook page:

This portrait tracing the history of the steel industry in Braddock was inspired by a subject in the excellent documentary, "Struggles in Steel" created by two beloved Braddock artists, Ray Henderson and Tony Bubba. It's an incredibly moving film, and anyone interested in the struggles of black Americans for equality in the mills should check it out. Here's a clip: http://vimeo.com/52101300

The above section of this mural is from NeeNee in Braddock. Again, from the artist’s Facebook page, she describes it as

This is a drawing of a young lady named Neenee who lives in Braddock and helped out with the creation of the original scale model of the church building that we're using to model out examples for the tiles and other creative renovations. The rest of the imagery within the drawing is various angles of the church, inside and out, and street views of the block at Jones and Hawkins St. This print is up on our Braddock Tiles kickstarter now.

...the first in a series of portraits created out of my work in Braddock, PA. This town, like so many devastated by the collapse of it's industry and the toxic effects left behind by the factories, is working to recover a way of life that is sustainable, and to discover new ways to value the pieces that have been left behind. All proceeds from this print will go towards rehabilitating a formerly abandoned church to become an arts based learning center, as well as a beautiful public landmark.