Pittsburgh-area artists commissioned to paint the town in murals
Janel Young and Jayla Patton are making Downtown Pittsburgh a little more beautiful.
The artists were commissioned by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership to create murals.
Young used bright hues on the concrete street along Fort Duquesne Blvd.
Patton fashioned watercolor paintings which are displayed on the windows at the former CVS store at the corner of Sixth Street and Liberty Avenue.
The works were unveiled for the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival which runs through Sunday. They will remain for several months. The PDP has been collaborating with local artists as part of welcoming people back to the city.
“Jayla and Janel are very talented artists that create unique and inspiring works that encourage deeper discussion and response,” said Richard Hooper vice president of marketing & communications for the PDP. “These large street murals are impactful in both the color and life they bring to our streets, and in the way they uplift the spirits of our Downtown residents, workers, and visitors.“
In addition to sharing a passion for art, Young, who lives on Pittsburgh’s North Side and Patton, of Swissvale, are linked through living in the Belzhoover neighborhood.
“We found out that my great grandmother and Jayla’s grandmother were best friends in Beltzhoover,” said Young as she stood on her street mural. “That is pretty neat.”
“We have a bond through the Beltzhoover connection,” Patton said.
When Patton heard the CVS was the background for her mural she was even more eager to do the project.
“I was in an after-school program, and my bus would drop me off in front of that building,” said Patton who will be participating in a touring art event at 6 p.m. Thursday with fellow local artist Thad Mosley who created sculptures. “I would go inside and get snacks. So that building has meaning to me.”
Patton incorporated strawberry shapes into the artwork.
“I feel like strawberries are fun and sweet and easy to understand,” said Patton, who plans to sell stickers of the artwork, called “Dream weavers of Divine Opulence—Black women raise each other up. Caring, Giving, Hoping, Dreaming. Loving infinitely.”
Young said the Fort Duquesne Boulevard work is her largest mural.
“I want people to be able to enjoy this,” Young said as she stood in the middle of the road she just painted.”
She calls it “Pathway to Joy.” It’s created in shapes that zig- zag in bright colors in a pattern up to one of the stages for the arts festival. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust which produces the festival, collaborated with the PDP to co-commission Young’s project, located in the newly created Allegheny Overlook Pop-Up Park. The area is being used for various activities from food to entertainment, which includes the arts festival’s “Riverside Stage.”
It took Young 12 days to paint. She had four people help as well as her mom, Carla Young of Beltzhoover, who did everything from clearing the street of debris to cleaning paint brushes and reminding her daughter to take a break to eat.
The caution and wet paint signs didn’t deter skateboarders and walkers and bikers from making their way across it, even when she alerted them the paint was still wet.
She said an asphalt mural requires a lot of physical labor. It takes time to get the paint into the porous parts of the ground.
“I have always wanted to be part of the arts festival,” Young said. “So this is so cool to be part of it. I am really big on creating playful spaces and this is the perfect spot to do that Public art has a way to impact people without the artist being physically present. This art is accessible to all and it inspires me to always want to do more.”
Young is set to have an installation of two 10-by-16 feet panels showcased on Thursday on the outside of the recently opened Galley Bakery Square in the East End. That project came from an artist residency she did at Lincoln and Urban Academy in Larimer called “Heroes on the Horizon.”
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a TribLive reporter covering the region's diverse culinary scene and unique homes. She writes features about interesting people. The Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist began her career as a sports reporter. She has been with the Trib for 26 years and is the author of "A Daughter's Promise." She can be reached at jharrop@triblive.com.
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