Art | Troy Hill Pittsburgh

Archive for the ‘Art’ Category

Rox music lessons – Free!

Posted in Art, Community, Cultural, Kids, North Side on September 20, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Troy Hill’s gateway sign artist unveils memorial statue in Bloomfield

Posted in Art, Civic, Community, Historical, People on April 11, 2011| 1 Comment »

James Simon gathered lumps of clay and molded them by hand. Slowly, he fashioned a 6-foot-tall statue of St. Michael the archangel and cast it in concrete.

The new memorial, which honors Pittsburgh police officers Paul Sciullo II, Stephen J. Mayhle and Eric G. Kelly, will be dedicated Monday, exactly two years from the day these men died in the line of duty in Stanton Heights.

St. Michael will be unveiled outside Immaculate Conception-St. Joseph Church on Liberty Avenue in the center of Bloomfield. Set in a small park with trees and a garden, the sculpture stands on a three-tiered base decorated with ceramic tiles that bear the officers’ images. Behind the statue is a stainless-steel shield made by Forms+Surfaces, an international company with an office in Etna.

Last July, while the sculpture was in progress, members of the officers’ families and the Rev. John Dinello, pastor of the parish, stopped by Mr. Simon’s studio.

“I wanted them to have a final look at it while I could still change things,” the artist said. “The statue has to be expressive enough to carry these three families’ emotions.”

This version of St. Michael is a protective warrior with a watchful gaze. His left arm bears a shield and the right hand a sword. There’s a cross on his belt. Instead of a coiled snake, decorative scrolls that represent clouds are at his feet. Heightening this ethereal effect are the beautifully formed, textured wings. Besides police officers, St. Michael is the patron saint of people who confront danger daily — paratroopers, paramedics, fighter pilots and soldiers.

Bill Garrison, a first cousin of Officer Sciullo, recalled that when he grew up in Bloomfield with his extended family, “as long as you had a bike and a baseball glove, you were happy.”

Co-founder of the advertising agency Garrison Hughes, Mr. Garrison served on a committee to plan the memorial and was delighted with the sculptor’s work.

“He knew the deepness of it and he knew how sensitive it was,” he said.

Public memorials are fraught with pitfalls; that pressure can weigh on some artists.

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Veterans’ Memorial Restored and Returned to Troy Hill

Posted in Architecture, Art, Civic, Community, Environment, Historical, North Side, People on August 25, 2010| 1 Comment »

Thank you to Morton Brown and everyone from the City who were involved in restoring and replacing the monument in the Heart of Troy Hill. This is not the end, however. Our generous Councilwoman, Darlene Harris has allocated $250,000 for improvements to this critical area. The Troy Hill Citizens’ Board hopes to improve safety, enhance beauty and slow traffic in this intersection. Please stay tuned for upcoming meetings to explore and discuss the possibilities.

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Kids Summerfest 2010

Posted in Art, Civic, Community, Cultural, Event, Food, Historical, Kids, North Side, People on June 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

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The View from Troy Hill

Posted in Art, Community, Cultural, Environment, Historical, Homes, North Side, Photograph on May 10, 2010| 1 Comment »

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Fobear (www.jonathanfobear.com)

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T-shirts for Sale! $10

Posted in Art, Civic, Community, Cultural, North Side, People, Pig Hill on April 7, 2010| 1 Comment »

St. Nicholas preservationists to meet with Croatian Ambassador

Posted in Architecture, Art, Community, Cultural, Historical, North Side on January 19, 2010|

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review: Members of the Preserve Croatian Heritage Foundation and the Northside Leadership Conference are traveling to Washington to meet with Ambassador Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, who has taken an interest in the preservation and re-use of the former Croatian Catholic church squeezed between Troy Hill and Route 28, said Mark Fatla, executive director of the leadership conference.

“The fact that there’s national and international interest is a real shot in the arm,” Fatla said.

Read the entire article here.

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The Making of the Troy Hill Mural

Posted in Art, Community, Cultural, Environment, North Side, People on January 13, 2010|

Thanks to Troy Hill’s good friend, and wonderful artist, Carolyn Kelly for making this cool time-lapse video (not to mention the mural!). Special thanks also to the Sprout Fund and Curt Gettman for making it happen.

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