Pittsburgh Murals and Public Art: Robert Qualters

06 September 2015

East Liberty Bus Stop Mural by multiple artists

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This is a long mural that runs along a wall on Ellsworth Ave by Swope St. It's near the Busway stop in East Liberty across from Whole Foods. Multiple artists worked on it and the design changes somewhat. The center portion is comprised of panels done in one style. Those are flanked by musicians on the left (including percussion legend Joe Harris) and dancers on the right, painted in a completely different style and in bolder colors. Then on either end there are abstract panels in yet another style.

photo supplied by Michelle Gregio

Summary:

Artist(s): Robert Qualters, Kyle Holbrook, Kelly Blevins, Ed Rawson, Michelle Gregio
Address: Ellsworth Ave at Swope St
City: Pittsburgh (East Liberty)
Zip: 15206
Organization: MLK Community Murals Project

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Stories of Braddock by Robert Qualters

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In an article at Architectural-review.com, Mindy Thompson Fullilove describes a challenge in the design of the new senior housing building and how they solved it:

"The problem was parking. They couldn’t put the parking completely underground, so the half-buried parking would present a blank wall to the street. They decided to use a public art project to enliven that part of the building. Dan Rothschild told me about his first meeting with the citizens’ art committee. Five people who had always lived in Braddock were assembled to discuss the content for the art work, but before every meeting, they passed the time telling stories about their lives in Braddock. In the second meeting they told more stories; and in the third meeting yet more.

Dan, who had been wondering how to get the committee focused on the content of the project, realized that their stories were the project. What needed to be displayed on Braddock Avenue was a celebration of the stories of the people of Braddock. Artist Robert Qualters, who mixes storytelling with painting, created a collection of murals that depicted significant places, people and events and quoted generously from what residents had to say."

You can watch a video interview with the artist in the Post Gazette archives as he discusses the project. In the video he explains that the panels are designed to make people remember and feel good about Braddock. Each panel has a subject or theme, such as recreation. or the life of a mill worker.