A Community Pool mural by Krystal Waldschmidt

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This mural is at the community pool. Some nice anthropomorphized animals enjoying their own dip in a community watering hole.

Old Frick Environmental Center Mural

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Two fellow cyclists alerted us to this mural. It’s unlikely we would have stumbled onto it ourselves anytime soon as it’s on the back of the burned out Frick Environmental Center. The trail that runs behind the building seems more of a hiking (and perhaps mountain biking) trail, but not one we would normally ride on for our city mural searches.

Photo supplied by Paul Heckbert

With the information from our friends, we arrived at the park entrance and walked the trail that led to the back of the building. We don’t know how much longer this building might be here. The fire that destroyed it was in 2002, so we were surprised that what was left was still standing almost 12 years later. The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy now manages the Frick Environmental Center. We found nothing indicating if or when they might demolish the old structure, but they are in the process of designing and funding a new one. Their goal is for the new center to meet the standard for both Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and for Living Building Challenge (LBC) certifications.

Obviously the artwork isn’t in the best condition. We could find no information for this old mural. The designs are cut out of plywood, painted and attached to the wall. No signatures or dates were evident anywhere on the artwork.

We did find that the turtle’s name is Bob, and that the deer has good taste.

Animal Mosaics by Stevo Sadvary and students

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Citiparks is the City of Pittsburgh’s department of Parks and Recreation. They run a lot of programs and manage a lot of facilities. Included in their jurisdiction are community art programs. They work to promote the arts in several ways, and these mosaics were one of their programs.

   

This was a one week program where artist Stevo Sadvary worked with the neighborhood kids to create all sorts of animal murals. Stevo pre-cut the tile and outlined the designs and then helped the kids put the murals together. Stevo did the grouting himself, and several of the panels were then installed on the front of the Phillips Elementary School.

   

Stevo told us that the idea was to combine nature, art and community. He kept the designs simple for the kids, and they had a great time making the mosaics. There are currently 12 of the panels that they made that week on display on the front the school.

   

We don't yet know if the rest of the panels are hung inside the school or displayed at another location.

Animal Adventure Mural by Laura Jean McLaughlin and Bob Ziller

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This mural is done on a jersey barrier along One Wild Place – the roadway that enters Highland Park from the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. Designed by Laura Jean McLaughlin and Bob Ziller, the various animals travel past local landmarks on the concrete wall. Their original design had to be modified when zoo officials requested that none of the endangered or extinct animals be anthropomorphized. They were OK with the attributes on non–threatened species though, so you'll still see some whimsical touches.

Another of Citipark’s programs, the Roving Art Cart, brought kids together with the artists to glue the tiles in place on pre–cut shapes. Artist Bob Ziller told us that they worked with over 1,000 kids on this mosaic! He said it truly is a public art project!

Some close ups working from left to right along the wall:

Summary:

Artist(s): Laura Jean McLaughlin, Bob Ziller
Address: One Wild Place
City: Pittsburgh (Highland Park)
Zip Code: 15206
Organization:

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Twitter: @PghMurals

Braddock Bestiary by New Guild Studios

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This panel wraps around the corner of the building where the New Guild Studios are located. According to their website, they primarily do religious themed, original artwork and it appears they are mostly indoors. This one departure from the usual for them, is a very nice addition to the Braddock art scene.

Summary:

Artist(s): D.S. Miriello, A.R. Miriello, and D. Korns
Address: 7th St at Braddock Ave
City:Braddock
Zip Code:15104

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Twitter: @PghMurals