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Community Spotlight

The Community Spotlight series features the efforts Rivers of Steel’s partner organizations, along with collaborative partnerships, that reflect the diversity and vibrancy of the communities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.

By Gita Michulka, Contributing Writer

Connecting a New Generation to the Negro Leagues and Baseball Great Josh Gibson

In 1972, Josh Gibson became only the second Negro League player ever to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. And even though it took the MLB another 42 years to recognize Negro League stats as “Major League,” Gibson’s records stand up as some of the greatest of all time. Gibson, who played for the Homestead Grays and the Pittsburgh Crawfords, is credited with some of the greatest career numbers of any hitter in the game’s history, with a .365 batting average (second only to Ty Cobb), a .449 on-base percentage, and 1.139 on-base plus slugging percentage. And his .441 batting average in 80 games in 1943 is now the best in baseball history without needing a qualifier.

Josh Gibson’s family gathers with representatives of the Baseball Hall of Fame when the baseball legend was inducted into the institution in 1972.

To honor that legacy and to highlight the accomplishments, triumphs, and barriers Gibson experienced in his life, members of the Josh Gibson Foundation set out to create a virtual platform that would educate users about the Pittsburgh legend and the Negro Leagues.

“The whole concept began during the COVID pandemic, when everything became this whole new virtual thing—everything was on Zoom, a lot of kids weren’t in school,” says Sean Gibson, great-grandson of Josh Gibson and executive director of the Josh Gibson Foundation. “So we had made a decision to do something educational but also fun—virtually—so it doesn’t have to be something that has to be played in person or in school, and it can reach not only the people in Pittsburgh but also through other cities and the surrounding areas.”

With funding from Rivers of Steel’s Mini-Grant Program, the Gibson team linked up with Tea, a creative agency based in Los Angeles, to begin the process of creating a virtual tour, with the final product evolving along the way. The end result is the Josh Gibson Virtual Baseball Game, an app that features trivia questions about the famed player and the Negro Leagues, that is played like a game of ball.

Students who beta tested the app gave feedback and were able to have their questions answered as they interacted with the developers and creators of the virtual game.

The Josh Gibson Foundation

Rooted in the experiences Josh Gibson lived while in Pittsburgh, the foundation in his namesake is dedicated to the improvement of the lives of young people in the city, ensuring that the youth of our communities remember the legacy of Gibson while providing life-skills coaching and educational support.

The organization offers several programs for kids aged 6 – 14, including after-school programs, mentoring partnerships, summer camps, a Business of Sports Academy, and a S.T.E.A.M. program for 8th grade boys in partnership with Pittsburgh Classical Academy.

The current S.T.E.A.M. class was a key focus group as the Virtual Baseball Game was being developed. The kids had an opportunity to test the app while having their questions answered as they interacted with the developers and creators of the game. This direct interaction provided them the insight to understand the software and programming they were using as well as the issues the team faced while creating the app.

“The main goal that we wanted, for middle-school and high school-aged groups, was something to be of course educational, to learn about Josh Gibson, the Negro Leagues, Homestead Grays . . . but we also wanted it to be entertaining,” says Gibson. “Our 8th grade S.T.E.A.M. boys were our testers, and they had some great feedback.”

Gibson noted with laughter some of the things the boys pointed out that the development team hadn’t thought of. “You know how when you go to a Pirates game, or you go to a baseball game, and when somebody’s batting up they have music when they come to the plate. One of the boys was like, how come they don’t have music as they’re coming to the plate? And I had to explain to them, well you know, I know you guys are thinking of today’s times, but you’ve got to think about this history is back in the 1930s and 40s!”

It was important to the team to layer in those teachable moments. “Even though we are going to add some components of today’s era, we still wanted to have that rich tradition of the Negro Leagues era of the 1920s, 30s, and 40s,” continues Gibson.

A student interacts with the game on a laptop.

A Sense of Place

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Josh Gibson’s Hall of Fame induction, which Sean Gibson finds fitting for the rolling out of this new game. While the development team is putting the finishing touches on the app, Gibson is brainstorming ways it can be utilized as part of his outreach programs with regional schools.

On the heels of the Centennial Celebration of the founding of the Negro Leagues, Gibson is thrilled to also see other initiatives popping up to honor the legend, including a mural of Josh Gibson on the Voodoo Brewery building in Homestead by Pittsburgh artist Jeremy Raymer that was completed last spring.

“It’s important to us that we work on connecting the community to see and understand the rich history of southwestern Pennsylvania,” he says. “The creation period brought forth a larger learning platform that has reached people that never knew about the Negro Leagues and Josh Gibson. We’re able to teach people not only about the player, but also the landmarks where he played and lived.”

To learn more about the Josh Gibson Foundation, its educational programs, and upcoming events, visit joshgibson.org.

Rivers of Steel staff check out the newly painted mural of Josh Gibson in Homestead, July 2021.

About the Mini-Grant Program

Rivers of Steel’s Mini-Grant Program assists heritage-related sites and organizations as well as municipalities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area to develop new and innovative programs, partnerships, exhibits, tours, and other initiatives. Funded projects support heritage tourism, enhance preservation efforts, involve the stewardship of natural resources, encourage outdoor recreation, and include collaborative partnerships. Through these efforts, Rivers of Steel seeks to identify, conserve, promote, and interpret the industrial and cultural heritage that defines southwestern Pennsylvania.

The Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is one of twelve supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Funding is provided via DCNR’s Community Conservation Partnerships Program and the Environmental Stewardship Fund to Rivers of Steel, which administers the Mini-Grant Program. The Josh Gibson Foundation is one of six organizations who received Mini-Grant funding through this program in 2021.

Gita Michulka is a Pittsburgh-based marketing and communications consultant with over 15 years of experience promoting our region’s arts, recreation, and nonprofit assets.  

If you’d like to know more about community projects supported by the Mini-Grant Program, read Gita’s recent article about the digitization of the Donora Historical Society’s collection of glass plate negatives.

Image: An image from the Bruce Dreisbach Collection of what is now the Cement City Historic District in Donora, PA. Built 1916-1917 as housing for employees at American Steel & Wire’s Donora plant, this community of Prairie-style buildings is noted for the innovative use of poured-in-place concrete construction.

Community Spotlight

The Community Spotlight series features Rivers of Steel’s partner organizations whose work contributes to the vibrancy of the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.

By Gita Michulka, Contributing Writer

Donora Historical Society’s Bruce Dreisbach Collection Opens a Window to Everyday Life in the Early 1900s

It’s safe to say photographer Bruce Dreisbach took his job as quality control technician at the American Steel & Wire Company very seriously. Tasked with recording the daily goings-on at the mill, his love of photography also bled out into his daily life. On and off the job, Dreisbach spent most of his time photographing his surroundings, and a collection of his glass plate negatives now offers one of the most comprehensive glimpses back in time in the region.

“The thing that’s exciting for us is we’re able to tell stories,” says Mark Pawelec, a long-standing volunteer at the Donora Historical Society and Smog Museum. “A story sometimes isn’t as good as when you do not have pictures that accompany it, and these do that for us. We can show people exactly how life was like in Donora a hundred years ago . . . whether it was related to the steel mill or some of the different other subjects that we promote.”

American Steel & Wire Workers

When Dreisbach passed away in 1959, his collection of thousands of negatives was passed along to his widow, and a portion of that collection was found in her apartment when she died in 1986. With the help of funding from Rivers of Steel’s Mini-Grant Program, Pawelec and the other volunteers who run the Donora Historical Society have steadily been working to have the glass plates digitized and preserved.

Though the process can be painstaking, Pawelec is quick to point out the value in the project.  “It’s really incredible,” notes Pawelec. “We’re so fortunate that somehow somebody had the wherewithal to preserve those glass plate negatives and not sell them. We have different documents, we had different photographs in our collection that kind of show the way life was like in Donora in the early 20th century, but we didn’t have a full collection of photographs, and that’s what these provide us.”

Captioned “The Wide Mill, Donora, PA.

Years ago, previous museum volunteers who were familiar with a working steel mill did a cursory identification of the negatives to begin sorting them by theme. Over the years, as the museum acquired funding, volunteers have continued to sort the images before taking batches of them to be processed at Bernie’s Photo Center in the Northside. Pawelec calls Bruce Klein, who owns and operates the shop, critical to the success of the project.

“Bruce takes the negatives and handles each one individually. It’s impressive the amount of expertise that he has with the old photographic technology. But more than that, our ability to hand deliver boxes of these plates ensures their safety and allows us to stretch the funding more than if we had to package them and ship them somewhere to be processed. We trust that Bruce will complete our projects with a high degree of quality, and he’s also extremely flexible as we work through the batches.”

The most recent round of funding from the 2021 Mini-Grant, along with Klein’s partnership, has allowed the Historical Society to process 70+ glass plates, nearly the end of the collection, with one exciting addition: digitizing five-foot-long panoramic photos of American Steel & Wire Company.

These images of American Steel & Wire’s Steel Mill and Zine Works, along with the neighboring scenery were digitized from five-foot long prints.

Dyno Nobel, an industrial and mining explosives manufacturer, currently occupies the site of the former Donora Zinc Works, with buildings that date to 1915. “After having multiple discussions with Dyno Nobel’s Donora Plant over the past few years, they have graciously loaned us these prints to have scanned,” says Pawelec. “To get any artifacts from the steel mill or Zinc Works is a rarity, so the fact that Dyno Nobel loaned us these photos is a huge get for the Donora Historical Society.”

The Bruce Dreisbach Collection includes images of the community, not just of the mill sites. This image is of children at chrismas visiting the mill for a treat.

This new addition to the museum comes on the heels of the organization’s 75th anniversary, which has been working to preserve Donora’s past since 1946. Though they are most famous for their Smog Museum, the Dreisbach Collection has opened doors for programming and partnerships with the Carnegie Science Center, the Heinz History Center, and the University of Pittsburgh, among others, and has prompted tourism from the tri-state area.

“Rivers of Steel is thrilled to play a part in the long-term conservation of this wonderful collection of glass plate negatives within the Donora Historical Society’s holdings,” said Ron Baraff, the director of historical resources and facilities for Rivers of Steel. “The story that their collection unveils of life in the mill is a wonderful complement to the rich archival holdings preserved by Rivers of Steel and other area repositories. Partnerships such as these, through our mini-grant program and regional cooperation, allow for all of us to tell, more succinctly, the enduring industrial and cultural history of our region and its legacies’ impact on the nation—and the world.”

Visit the Donora Historical Society and Smog Museum website for more information on upcoming tours and presentations and to learn more about the Bruce Dreisbach Collection.

Additional funding for the preservation project has also been provided by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the Washington County Community Foundation, and a generous donor—Steve Acai from Raleigh, North Carolina, who has ties to Donora.

All images provided by the Donoral Historical Society.

About the Mini-Grant Program

Rivers of Steel’s Mini-Grant Program assists heritage-related sites and organizations as well as municipalities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area to develop new and innovative programs, partnerships, exhibits, tours, and other initiatives. Funded projects support heritage tourism, enhance preservation efforts, involve the stewardship of natural resources, encourage outdoor recreation, and include collaborative partnerships. Through these efforts, Rivers of Steel seeks to identify, conserve, promote, and interpret the industrial and cultural heritage that defines southwestern Pennsylvania.

The Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is one of twelve supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Funding is provided via DCNR’s Community Conservation Partnerships Program and the Environmental Stewardship Fund to Rivers of Steel, which administers the Mini-Grant Program. The Donora Historical Society. is one of six organizations who received Mini-Grant funding through this program in 2021.

Gita Michulka is a Pittsburgh-based marketing and communications consultant with over 15 years of experience promoting our region’s arts, recreation, and nonprofit assets.  

If you’d like to know more about community projects supported by the Mini-Grant Program, read Gita’s recent article about The Westmoreland Museum of American Art’s latest exhibition, Stephen Towns: Declaration & Resistance.

By Gita Michulka, Contributing Writer   |   Image: Stephen Towns in his studio by Jermaine Táron Bell

Community Spotlight

The Community Spotlight series features Rivers of Steel’s partner organizations whose work contributes to the vibrancy of the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.

Stephen Towns: Declaration & Resistance exhibition opens at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art

The work of Stephen Towns is a metallic-infused, gold halo-topped bright light shining out of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a way that is both reverent and celebratory, the mixed-media artist elevates laborers and hidden figures from a historical timeline in this exhibition that weaves a connection to current events.

Southwestern Pennsylvania is no stranger to this pull of history on the present day. Pittsburgh and the stretches of land along the three rivers that define the area are well known as a blue-collar region that is deeply ingrained with the history of industry and labor movements. The Westmoreland Museum of American Art’s newest exhibition aims to elevate one aspect of this collective history that shines a light where it isn’t often cast.

Stephen Towns: Declaration & Resistance, which opens on Sunday, January 30 and remains on view through May 8, features newly created work by the artist, including over 30 new figurative paintings and story quilts. Organized by guest curator Kilolo Luckett in collaboration with Towns, the exhibition examines the American dream through the lives of Black Americans. Using labor as a backdrop, Towns highlights the role African Americans have played in the economy and explores the resilience, resistance, and endurance that have challenged the United States to truly embrace the tenets of its Declaration of Independence.

Curator Kilolo Luckett and artist Stephen Towns lead a walk though of the exhibition during a press preview on Wednesday, January 26, 2022.

“Much of the work in Declaration & Resistance began when I was quarantining in the spring of 2020. I thought about how I had the privilege to take a step away from my work. When I returned to my studio, I reflected on how I had gained a deeper appreciation for essential workers risking their lives in the midst of a global health crisis. I come from a long line of laborers in Georgia and South Carolina. Prior to being a full-time artist, I also worked many laborious jobs. This show is a testament to my ancestors and also the coworkers I have befriended along the way,” indicated Towns.

Two portraits by Stephen Towns from the Coal Miners series, which features six coal miners from West Virginia. The figures are surrounded by black mica to symbolize the mines. The flags represent the miners’ dedication to the American promise of a better life. Ancestral spirits in the form of yellow canaries protect each miner from the toxic conditions and constant threat of injury or death. Stephen Towns (b. 1980), “After the Shift,” 2020, and “Underneath the Mountaintop,” 2020. Oil, acrylic, fabric, buttons, Bristol paper, mica flakes, graphite, glitter, and charcoal on panel, 40 x 30 inches. Courtesy of the Artist and De Buck Gallery, New York, NY and a private collection, respectively.

The exhibition expands on the historical narratives of enslaved and free people who toiled under extreme hardships. Through acts of rebellion, courage, guile, and determination, they persevered. They are deftly portrayed here by Towns, whose use of color, pattern, and choice of materials radiates the character of these individuals, reaching beyond the scope of their trials to imbue their triumphs. Towns explores these stories in his painting and quilts, often creating a series of work reflecting a type of industry. Many of the featured artworks depict arduous trades often associated with historic roles, including coal mining and agricultural and domestic labor. However, he has also crafted images that highlight care and nurturing, such as nursing—a theme that the artist felt was important to pursue as he created new works during the COVID-19 pandemic, works that highlight the racial disparities that continue to plague the country.

“This is my most ambitious project yet,” said Towns. “I want this show to be a celebration,” noting how repeated motifs in his work exude this vibrancy. “For me, the butterflies represent spirituality . . . flowers emanate joy.”

Curator Kilolo Luckett discusses the leisurely nature of the subject in Stephen Towns painting “Ms. Elsie Henderson,” 2021. Ms. Henderson worked for the Kaufmann family. Luckett noted how you imagine the source image having been taken poolside near the Fallingwater residence. Courtesy of the Artist and De Buck Gallery, New York, NY.

Guest curator Kilolo Luckett is a Pittsburgh-based art historian and curator. She is the founding executive director and chief curator of Alma|Lewis, an experimental, contemporary art platform for critical thinking, dialogue, and creative expression dedicated to Black culture.

“I’m very committed to questions around American patriotism, exceptionalism and labor. I’m also interested in querying the foundations of belonging and access, and unsettle some of the assumptions we have. Through his beautifully imposing quilts and mixed-media paintings, Stephen offers viewers sobering truths and tender stories of Black life that break away from dominant narratives that continue to plague society in the United States of America,” Luckett stated.

Accentuating Towns’s work, an adjoining gallery holds a collection of work by other artists in similar media. Notes Luckett, “It was important to put Stephen in the context of a broader range of artists.” This gallery, titled End of an Illusion, features nearly 30 pieces of art and draws connections between the work of Towns and those who have preceded him. Other artworks include pieces by Thomas Doughty, the first American artist to work exclusively as a landscapist; Master of San Sepolcro’s Angel with Crown of Thorns and Spear, a circa 1330 painting on loan from the Frick Art Museum; a collection of Charles H. “Teenie” Harris images; and work by Joshua Johnson, the earliest African American known to have made a career for himself as an artist.

Stephen Towns (b. 1980), Mary McLeod Bethune, 2021, Natural and synthetic fabric, polyester and cotton thread, crystal glass beads, metal and resin buttons, 43.5 x 64 inches. Courtesy of the Artist and De Buck Gallery, New York, NY.

The Breadth and Depth of American Art

The Westmoreland Museum of American Art, located in Greensburg about 45 minutes east of Pittsburgh, is the only museum dedicated to American Art in western Pennsylvania. Its permanent collection highlights the breadth and depth of American art, with a strong focus on the art and artists of southwestern Pennsylvania.

“At the core of our permanent collection are scenes of industry, highlighting the labor of this region during the big steel era. This exhibition centers the lived experiences and contributions of Black Americans, whose labor built this nation, through beautifully rendered multimedia and textile works. With a shared focus on labor, Stephen’s art connects well to our collection, but more importantly, his works reveal stories that have been largely left untold in American history and in American art. This is why we are so honored to have the opportunity to collaborate with him and Kilolo in presenting Declaration & Resistance and to bring more light to these stories of resilience,” commented Anne Kraybill, The Richard M. Scaife Director / CEO of The Westmoreland.

Declaration & Resistance was funded in part by Rivers of Steel’s Mini-Grant Program, which is dedicated to uplifting projects that define our region’s cultural and industrial heritage.

“Funding made possible to present this exhibition shines a light on the importance of the state providing support for these Mini-Grants and the partners like Rivers of Steel who administer them,” says Rhonda Madden, Director of Advancement at the museum.

“The works of Stephen Towns are an absolute treasure—and the exhibition a must-see experience,” adds Carly V. McCoy, director of marketing and communications for Rivers of Steel. “It’s an honor to support a project like this. Rivers of Steel was founded by the desire to preserve the stories and the culture of our region’s workers. The Declaration & Resistance exhibition is presented in that spirit, connecting our present day and with an understanding of the past. Stephen’s work offers viewers a chance to understand his carefully selected subjects in a new way and, in this case, take joy from them.”

“Scenes of industry are well known at The Westmoreland and reflect a key time in our region’s history,” says Madden. “The Stephen Towns exhibition enriches this story and highlights the important contributions of Black laborers.”

Visiting The Westmoreland

The Museum’s operating hours are Wednesday–Sunday from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. General admission to the museum is free with advanced registration. Visit thewestmoreland.org for more information.

Stephen Towns: Declaration & Resistance will travel to the Boise Art Museum in Boise, Idaho, in the summer of 2022 and to the Reynolda House Museum of Art in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in winter of 2023.

Visitors to the exhibition will also want to make sure they view the adjacent exhibition, Cultivation: Journey of the Work by quilter Tina Williams Brew, which examines the artist’s 40-year journey of self-discovery, teaching, and linkages to cultures not always found in the history books.

About the Exhibition

Stephen Towns: Declaration & Resistance is generously supported by Eden Hall Foundation; The Heinz Endowments; Hillman Exhibition Fund of The Westmoreland Museum of American Art; Arts, Equity, & Education Fund; National Endowment for the Arts; and De Buck Gallery.

Additional funding was provided in part by a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation and Conservation, Environmental Stewardship Fund, administered by Rivers of Steel.

About the Mini-Grant Program

Rivers of Steel’s Mini-Grant Program assists heritage-related sites and organizations as well as municipalities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area to develop new and innovative programs, partnerships, exhibits, tours, and other initiatives. Funded projects support heritage tourism, enhance preservation efforts, involve the stewardship of natural resources, encourage outdoor recreation, and include collaborative partnerships. Through these efforts, Rivers of Steel seeks to identify, conserve, promote, and interpret the industrial and cultural heritage that defines southwestern Pennsylvania.

The Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is one of twelve supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Funding is provided via DCNR’s Community Conservation Partnerships Program and the Environmental Stewardship Fund to Rivers of Steel, which administers the Mini-Grant program. The Westmoreland Museum of American Art is one of six organizations who received Mini-Grant funding through this program in 2021.

Gita Michulka is a Pittsburgh-based marketing and communications consultant with over 15 years of experience promoting our region’s arts, recreation, and nonprofit assets.  

If you’d like to know more about community projects supported by the Mini-Grant Program, read Gita’s recent article about Center of Life’s collaboration at the Hazelwood Green.

If you’re interested in learning more about Black labor in southwestern Pennsylvania, check out John Hughey & the Legacy of Black Workers at the Carrie Furnaces by Ryan Henderson.

By Gita Michulka, Contributing Writer   |   Image:  This CommUNITY mural by Shane Pilster inspired the Murals on a Mission: New Kensington project.

Community Spotlight

The Community Spotlight series features the efforts Rivers of Steel’s partner organizations, along with collaborative partnerships, that reflect the diversity and vibrancy of the communities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.

Partners Create Arts Destination in the Newly Reawakened City of New Kensington

The tale of New Kensington is not one that is unique in this region.

Located along the Allegheny River about 20 minutes northeast of Pittsburgh, New Kensington was once home to the Pittsburgh Reduction Company—later branded as Alcoa—and then the city saw a decline in residents and resources after the facility closed in the early 1970s. Like so many other industrial towns in southwestern Pennsylvania, the decline continued over the years until only a shadow remained of their once-vibrant business and cultural district.

But the town’s recent regeneration may just be one of the most unique stories around.

“Shine” by Ashley Hodder. Ashley is a local Pittsburgh artist specializing in large-scale public art projects.

Where other revitalization initiatives typically include big development companies and cautious buy-in, if any, from the residents, the story of the new New Ken started with a one-man shop and has been fueled by a rally of overwhelming community support. Michael Malcanas, of Olde Towne Overhaul, saw potential where others might have seen blight. After purchasing several dilapidated properties in the downtown corridor, Malcanas chose to renovate them instead of tearing them down, preserving a piece of the city’s history. Beyond the renovations, his efforts have also been grounded in how he can help the people of New Kensington bounce back with as much vigor as the buildings he is remodeling.

This investment in relationship-building is paying dividends. Despite the complicating factor of opening a business during a pandemic, the downtown district has seen a dozen new businesses move in over the last year. The buzz is building among New Kensington residents and beyond.

This groundswell of grassroots energy has been building over the last few years and is now coalescing around a newly envisioned Corridor of Innovation located on Fifth Avenue in the downtown area. Combined with coordinated strategies at the district and county level through the Reimagining Our Westmoreland comprehensive plan and the Alle-Kiski District plan, New Kensington is poised for future growth.

“Welcome to New Ken” by Shane Pilster. Shane is an artist, muralist, curator, and graphic designer. Bridging his expertise in graffiti and urban arts with community involvement, he prides himself in also being an educator, advocate, mentor, and well-rounded, creative individual.

The Voice of a Community and the Graffiti Art that Represents It

In 2020, Rivers of Steel began a partnership with the city of New Kensington, Olde Towne Overhaul, and other local business and community representatives to develop a public mural project designed to energize the community through high-impact public art. Murals on a Mission: New Kensington was developed with the knowledge of the larger growth strategies already in place and with the intent to catalyze further investments in creative placemaking throughout the Corridor.

“We believe in the power of public art,” says Shane Pilster, graffiti art curator and outreach coordinator for Rivers of Steel. “When you’re coming around a corner and see the side of a building with a beautiful mural on it, you just stop in your tracks to ponder it all. Some murals invoke the imagination, while others are more of a historical telling. Through the Murals on a Mission project we aimed to give people words of inspiration and hope for the future of the city.”

Backed by seed funding from the Creative Catalyst Program at the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Rivers of Steel and the Murals on a Mission: New Kensington team worked with six local artists to install eight graffiti-style murals throughout the city’s downtown between May and November of 2021. The process leaned heavily on community involvement, and in the end over 3,000 residents engaged with the project through surveys, at events, and during the mural installation. The Murals on a Mission team collected over 130 words and phrases of inspiration about New Kensington.

Rivers of Steel staff and project team members also visited with local organizations, such as the New Kensington Art Center, to hear from local voices and learn more about other activities underway nearby.

“Great Beginnings,” in progress, by Max Emiliano Gonzales. Max is a muralist, printmaker, curator, educator, and social activist, is a fourth-generation Mexican American.

“My favorite part of this project was interacting with community members and learning their individual stories and the history they could share about the area,” notes muralist Max Gonzales. “This piece did adapt over the time of its completion, with each day providing more insight into what New Kensington can mean to individuals.”

“Great Beginnings, Great Work, Progress, Together We Can, You Are Not Alone, Do What You Love, Just Step Forward, Down But Never Out, and Make Offer—these are all of the words and phrases used in my mural,” continues Gonzales. “The theme of the mural is cross-generational communication. With the first and most prominent phrase being Great Beginnings, this mural seeks to promote a sense of community and understanding. The imagery includes technology from the early 20th century until the present; all referencing forms of communication or broadcasting. The phrases all connect to one another and can be read in a variety of orders to always create a narrative of collectivism.”

“Fill Your Heart with Love” by Christian Miller. Christian, also known as “Mad Rabbit,” is an artist who aims to create as much as possible. Working in several mediums, he produces hand-painted signs for small businesses and creates mural projects to bring color and positivity to the neighborhoods.

In addition to works by Pilster and Gonzales, murals were completed by artists Ashley Hodder, Juliandra Jones with Dejouir Brown, Christian Miller, and Jewels Antonio. Every artist selected their word or phrases from the list acquired from the community and residents. Each concept had few limitations, says Pilster, aside from approval from the building owner. “Our goal was to allow the artists to showcase their styles and personalities through their work, and that really shined through.”

“All of the artists were incredible to work with, very professional, and they all went above and beyond with what they painted,” notes Pilster. “We only requested a certain size of mural per our budget, but each artist went beyond that to showcase their skills and to convey the idea of solidarity through art. They all deserve an extra shout out for the work, time, and effort they put into to creating these murals with love for the art form and the community.”

“BeYOUtiful” by Juliandra Jones & Dejouir Brown. Juliandra is a visual artist and muralist who believes in the power of community and using art to elevate the voices of all people. Dejouir is an urban artist with a distinct cartoonish style.

A Sense of Place

Like a beacon for the arts, the work in New Kensington also attracted regional partnerships like the Hemispheric Conversations: Urban Art Project (HCUAP, pronounced, “hiccup”). HCUAP is an international initiative, based out of the University of Pittsburgh, that seeks to create platforms for conversation and education about urban art production (graffiti, street art, and muralism, among other genres) and to explore aesthetic and historical connections between postindustrial cities.

During the 2021 production period for Murals on a Mission: New Kensington, HCUAP hosted a residency for Latin American artists to visit Pittsburgh and participate in various public art projects. This year, Mexican artist Eva Bracamontes, Argentinian artist Sasha Primo, New Kensington artist Anton Bachman, Spanish artist Tomas Garcia, and Pittsburgh-area artists Max Gonzales and Shane Pilster worked collaboratively to contribute an additional mural for the city located at Ninth Avenue and Barnes Street.

Muralist Dejouir Brown reflected on why this work held value for the community. “True Art is self-expression and holds unlimited possibilities in the impact it can have on another onlooker. It’s great to have murals that incorporate people of color—done by people of color—to show others growing up that it’s ok being who you are and to love yourself, and to show you anything is possible.”

“Chrysalis” by Jewels Antonio. A mural artist and printmaker, Jewels has owned and operated the Pittsburgh-based screen-printing studio Public Print House since 2015 and has been traveling the Midwest painting text murals for the last decade.

Lessons Learned to Recreate Success

As the mural project began wrapping up, after almost two years of invested time, planning, collaboration, and implementation, Pilster and the Rivers of Steel staff worked to turn their experiences with Murals on a Mission: New Kensington into a community toolkit for other industrial towns on the cusp of a similar regeneration.

“The toolkit outlines our path for the entire project from getting the grant, the overall objectives, collaborating with businesses, working with artists, and connecting with the community,” says Pilster. “Some of the key features include an in-depth look into the city we are working with, our process and work within the city prior to the project beginning, connections that were critical with businesses and artists, and ideas on community engagement that we found to be successful.”

Pilster also emphasized the importance of having a partner like Mike Malcanas. “Olde Towne Overhaul went above and beyond to make the mural dream in New Kensington a reality. They were able to make many of the building owner introductions, assisted with setting up a live painting event, and included us in other events around town. Without having an instrumental connection to businesses in the area, I believe it would have taken longer to make those connections organically, but I also believe that it starts with just one solid connection to make a project like this start to flourish.”

Click here to download a copy of the Murals on a Mission: New Kensington Community Toolkit.

“This is something that could be utilized in cities across the state on a either a smaller scale with a minimal team or on a much larger scale with multiple organizations involved. Large-scale public art is a sign of revitalization, creativity, and a city moving in a positive direction. The plethora of positive feedback that we received from residents passing us by while painting the murals was worth everything and makes me believe that this would work in many cities across the country.”

“Revival” by Shane Pilster.

About the Murals on a Mission: New Kensington Program

Murals on a Mission: New Kensington is a project designed to energize the community of New Kensington, Pennsylvania through highimpact public art. The partnership harnesses the power of large-scale, text-based murals to enhance the visibility of the city, create a sense of place—and bring color, vibrancy, and new character to the urban environment. View the Community Toolkit here.

Murals on a Mission: New Kensington was made possible by generous support from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and Bloomberg Philanthropies, who provided the crucial seed funding necessary to launch this pilot. In the months since its inception, the project has continued to grow, complimenting other public art in the city, creating renewed energy downtown, and attracting new projects throughout the Corridor of Innovation.

Rivers of Steel remains a committed partner in the effort to reimagine the future of New Kensington. The organization will continue to work with the project team to bring new, creative programs to the city as an extension of its mission to serve the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.

Gita Michulka is a Pittsburgh-based marketing and communications consultant with over 15 years of experience promoting our region’s arts, recreation, and nonprofit assets.  

If you’d like to know more about community projects in the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area, check out this recent collaboration between Center of Life, Arts Excursions Unlimited, and Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Architecture.

By Gita Michulka, Contributing Writer   |   Image: The Carothers Family cabin in the Historic Harmony District will showcase how 19th-century setters worked.

Community Spotlight

The Community Spotlight series features Rivers of Steel’s partner organizations whose work contributes to the vibrancy of the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area.

Harmony Museum’s Newest Display will Showcase how 19th-Century Settlers Worked

Harmony Historic District—a National Historic Landmark sitting north of Pittsburgh “30 miles and 200 years from the big city”—is home to one of the region’s largest preserved collections of buildings dating to the first quarter of the 1800s. The Harmonists, a communal society from Germany, first settled in the area in 1804. “They were very industrious,” points out Rodney Gasch, President of the Harmony Museum. “When they left in 1814 after just 10 years, they left 135 buildings, of which we have 25 left. It’s a great concentration of old buildings, and we’re really blessed to have all of this historic structure here in town.”

Thanks to a generous donation from a supporter of the museum, paired with funding from River of Steel’s Mini-Grant Program, this historic collection has grown by one log cabin and one unique display.

“There is a supporter of the museum, the P.W. Carothers Family, and the house that they grew up in was getting torn down, and the basis of that house was a circa 1820 log cabin,” says Gasch. “They offered to donate the log cabin part of the building to the museum so it could be preserved. We were able to partner with the Borough of Harmony—they had what was just a gravel municipal parking lot at the entrance to Harmony’s Historic Landmark District—and we reassembled the log cabin on that gravel parking lot to serve as a new focal point as you enter the historic district.”

A collection of Harmony Museum volunteers worked to dismantle, relocate, and reconstruct the log cabin. Work included numbering the logs as they were taken down—so they could be put back together “like Lincoln Logs,” sealing the area between the logs with cement chinking, installing a roof, and adding an era-appropriate porch.

Once this work was complete, the porch was used to house visitor information for both Butler County and places of interest in the Borough of Harmony.

“But we didn’t have the funding to finish the inside,” explains Gasch. “And so the Mini-Grant Program was really crucial for us, because we could match the Mini-Grant money with our labor, and we have a lot of really talented volunteers. Like most nonprofits, funding is a challenge, but we have skilled people who are happy to help out.”

Harmony Museum volunteer Frank Luek applies a finish to the beadboard ceiling. Recessed ceiling lights, powered by rooftop solar panels, provide the lighting.

The Harmony Museum is already home to a similar cabin that was donated about 40 years ago, which is included as part of the museum tour to showcase how a 19th-century pioneer family would have lived. The display includes old rope beds, a spinning wheel, and candle making tools, among other artifacts.

Once completed, the Carothers Family cabin, which Gasch considers a “sister cabin” to this current display, will showcase how settlers from the same era worked.

With the funding from the Rivers of Steel grant, the interior of the cabin is in the process of being completed as true-to-the-era as possible. The cabin received a new sub-floor, and a museum member with a particular interest in having things look historically correct arranged for the delivery of hemlock plank flooring. The interior chinking has been fortified, and Gasch was also able to locate rosette nails from a manufacturer in Massachusetts that still makes the old-fashioned square-headed nails, to complete the look.

Installing solar panels on the cabin.

In order to have greater flexibility to offer programming throughout the year while staying true to the integrity of the time period, the museum also had solar panels installed on the roof that will power recessed direct-current lighting to illuminate the cabin during tours and programming. “The cabin is still ‘off-the-grid’,” notes Gasch, “but we now have flexibility to hold events into the evening hours or during dreary winter months.”

An additional donation from the Carothers Family will be put toward the final installation of the exhibit itself, which will include wood working tools, blacksmith tools, rake making, and representation of domestic work as well, with 150-year-old washing machines and butter churns.

Visitors to the cabin will also be able to learn how settlers utilized natural freeze / thaw cycles to create what locals call “barn stones”—massive chunks of sandstone that were carved down into square building blocks used as bases for buildings and structures.

Beyond the permanent displays, a new feature of the museum’s programming will be an artisans-in-residence series offered at the cabin. The exhibits housed in the center of the space will live on moveable panels, allowing the museum to open up the cabin to showcase an artisan at work. “We can invite a wood carver, or someone who spins or weaves, to come in and spend some time demonstrating their craft,” says Gasch. “We’re looking forward to highlighting artists who can demonstrate these skills that would have also been integral to the daily lives of the 19th-century settlers.”

Harmony Museum volunteers are working to complete the interior of the cabin and the displays by the spring of 2022. Learn more at harmonymuseum.org.

All photos provided by Historic Harmony, Inc.

About the Mini-Grant Program

Rivers of Steel’s Mini-Grant Program assists heritage-related sites and organizations as well as municipalities within the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area to develop new and innovative programs, partnerships, exhibits, tours, and other initiatives. Funded projects support heritage tourism, enhance preservation efforts, involve the stewardship of natural resources, encourage outdoor recreation, and include collaborative partnerships. Through these efforts, Rivers of Steel seeks to identify, conserve, promote, and interpret the industrial and cultural heritage that defines southwestern Pennsylvania.

The Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is one of twelve supported by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR). Funding is provided via DCNR’s Community Conservation Partnerships Program and the Environmental Stewardship Fund to Rivers of Steel, which administers the Mini-Grant Program. The Historic Harmony, Inc. is one of six organizations who received Mini-Grant funding through this program in 2021.

Gita Michulka is a Pittsburgh-based marketing and communications consultant with over 15 years of experience promoting our region’s arts, recreation, and nonprofit assets.  

If you’d like to know more about community projects supported by the Mini-Grant Program, read Gita’s recent article about Center of Life’s collaboration at the Hazelwood Green.