Crosby and Polamalu murals by Jeremy Raymer

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Map of Pittsburgh Public Art

Our first clue about these murals came from a commercial for a morning radio show. One of the images showed up in the background footage, and we knew we hadn’t seen it before. The video all appeared to be from the Strip District, so we figured that was a good place to start looking. It just so happened that there was an Open Streets event coming up, so we took advantage of the street closure to take a leisurely ride along Penn Ave early in the morning. Eureka! We found the new mural on a roll–down security door beside two more murals.

The bad news is that the two murals on the doors will only be visible when the doors are down. If you want to see these you just have to make a point of going before or after business hours.

In 2016 we discovered that the rooster had been replaced, and the new mural extends onto the side of the building:

2017 and once again, the door on the truck has new artwork.

Pittsburgh Jazz History Mural by multiple artists

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This mural is not just a history of jazz greats, it’s a history of Pittsburgh jazz greats! Can you feel your city pride swelling when you realize the breadth of talent that came from our own neighborhoods?

Top left in the mural is Stanley William Turrentine, also known as Mr T or The Sugar Man

Stanley Turrentine and the Penn Incline

To the right of Stanley Turrentine is Ray Brown, a Grammy award winning base musician.

Ray Brown

Below and right of Ray Brown is George Benson, the man that had the first platinum jazz album.

George Benson

David Roy Eldridge or Little Jazz is considered one of the most important virtuoso trumpeters in the history of jazz.

Roy Eldrige

Composer and self–taught pianist Errol Garner was a musical genius, possibly best known for composing Misty.

Errol Garner

Art Blakey started out playing piano until Errol Garner bumped him over to the drums. He found his nitch there becoming an award winning jazz drummer.

Art Blakey

Lena Horne is the only one of this talented group that is not a native of the ’Burgh. She did, however, move here when she was 18 to live with her father for several years.

Lena Horne

The posts in front of this mural are also painted, making them less of a distraction:

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Liberty by Burton Morris

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The dinosaurs from the Carnegie Museum’s DinoMite Days were all adopted and moved to their new homes years ago. A handful remain scattered around the city in public places and those are the ones we’ve included in this website.

Liberty is actually an indoor dinosaur, but you can see it through the window of the Senator John Heinz History Center.

You may recognize the style on this dinosaur. You’ve no doubt seen Mr Morris’s work many, many times. He’s the artist that does so many national and international event logos and signs in addition to his other art. I was in New Zealand during the World Cup finals and immediately recognized his work on banners all over the city. A pop–culture artist often compared to Andy Warhol because of his way of portraying everyday items in his own, distinct way, he uses bold colors with sharp, simple images. He’s also a native Pittsburgher if you didn’t know. Just one more reason to love him!

The Senator John Heinz History Center folks were kind enough to allow us to photograph Liberty from inside (the photo above), but from out on the sidewalk you can still see it pretty well.

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Liberty is in a glassed–in corner of the building, so you can view it from two sides through the windows.

These next two dinos are also at Heinz History Center, but they aren’t what we can honestly categorize as public art because you need to purchase a ticket and go inside to see them. We could ignore them for that reason, but we decided to compromise. They don’t get their own marker on the map or separate write ups, but the photos are included here. For someone that really wants to see these dinosaurs, we’re letting them know that they can do it for a price.

On the second floor as soon as you come out of the elevators you’ll see Lost Pittsburgh. It was made by Shirley Yee and students at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh – who dubbed her Lola. She’s a collage of newspaper stories about significant events and people in the region.

   

   

Continue up to the third floor and look left as you exit the elevators and you’ see George Washasaurus in the French and Indian War by Barbara Anderson.

57 Chevy Mural by Scott Fertig

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Scott Fertig was mostly a caricature artist, but he did do other artwork. This 1957 Chevy mural done in segments is his public art legacy in Pittsburgh. A native of Bon Air (a small neighborhood just south of Belzhoover), Mr Fertig eventually moved to Washington DC. He passed away in 2008 from cancer.

Update, Dec 2013
We were contacted by Jim Lancia, a friend of Scott Fertig’s and the owner of the 57 Chevy that Scott painted in this mural. He told us that Scott was a great guy, missed by many. He shared this photograph of himself, Scott, and Scott’s parents with that car at the site of the mural.

Penn Mac Mural by multiple artists

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Covering three walls along the side of Pennsylvania Macaroni Company (Penn Mac) in the Strip District, this mural is pretty straight forward. Depictions of the fresh fruits and vegetables and other foods sold inside. Commercial? Maybe, but not blatantly so. Taken on it’s own it just represents a bounty of good food. The name of the business isn’t on it, so we perceived it to be on par with Welcome to the Strip in the way that mural depicts the foods and things offered in the Strip District as a whole.

It appears that they partially enclosed one section to provide some shelter for carts and customers at the entrance, so portions of the mural are now blocked.

World Peace mural at Salems by multiple artists

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The theme is world peace. As you walk around this huge mural you'll see flags and words from many diverse countries and cultures. The owners of the butcher shop and grill promote peace and brotherhood to all ethnic and religious groups and show their feelings in this bold, colorful mural. On the side of the market you’ll find that the mural is dedicated to the memory of Samia Abdel Atti, a victim of breast cancer in 2009.

 

 

 

 

 

History of Electricity mural by AIP Students

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This multi-paneled mural was completed by the graphic art students from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh for the Sargent Electric Company. The various scenes cover historic achievements in the development of the field of electricity – past, present and future. The panels are inset on the block wall stretching along the entire 2700 block of Liberty Ave.

There are 17 panels, and the Art Institute offers the stories behind five of them here