Art is everywhere, including parking garages. From the Fort Duquesne Boulevard garage, boldly illuminated by Pfaffmann and Associates and topped with an installation by architect Richard Gluckman and artist Robert Wilson, to the memory cues of Andy Warhol portraits in the North Side garage, some Pittsburgh parking garages are serving as canvases for creative expression.
The latest example? An ambitious public artwork created by artist and Pittsburgh native James Simon. Installed on a brick facade of Duquesne University’s Forbes Avenue garage, Uptown Rhythm is a 10’ x 25’ relief sculpture designed to bridge the University with the neighboring community. "This is one of the first examples of Duquesne University coming off the Bluff to extend its campus to both sides of Forbes Avenue," says Steve Schillo, Duquesne's vice president of Business and Management.
Unveiled February 9th, the artwork is the first piece in phase one of the $70 million expansion project in Uptown spearheaded by Duquesne University. It includes a multi-purpose recreation center, new bridge, a Barnes & Noble and Starbucks.
“We want more folks, new amenities and public art on Forbes Avenue," says Schillo. "Uptown Rhythm is the first manifestation of the investment that is coming to this area.” With groundbreaking underway, the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2007.
Simon, who has worked as a sculptor for more than twenty years, is thrilled that Uptown Rhythm has found a permanent place in the community he has called home for six years. "The more creatively a community expresses itself, the more vibrant it is,"he says. Businesses are attracted to areas that embrace the community through public art, he adds. "Artists are critical drivers of economic development, often a first wave of revitalization in under-developed districts." His hope is that "the work will attract visitors to Uptown and become a magnet for other artists and businesses seeking distinct communities.”
Uptown is a neighborhood of contrasts--from households and businesses to schools and prostitutes and drug dealers, notes Simon. He is confident that the area — a critical corridor linking Downtown to Oakland and the Southside to the Hill District — is already beginning to experience that first wave of revitalization.
The artist, who thinks there is too little funding for public art in Pittsburgh, created other public art in town, including Liberty Avenue Musicians, three striking 15-foot figures commissioned for 947 Liberty Avenue downtown.
The centrally located Forbes Avenue garage was a natural choice for Uptown Rhythm due to its visibility within a main street corridor. With Duquesne University as primary funder on board, additional support was secured from the Heinz Endowments, the Executive Office of Allegheny County, and the Uptown Action Community Group.
"The project is a great example of collaboration,” says Schillo. One goal, he says, is to improve the quality of life for the 10,000 students as well as Uptown residents.
A close up look
Simon’s labor-intensive process, which took nearly a year, included constructing sculptures in clay, making plaster molds, casting forms in concrete, and adding color. The relief’s lower half is primarily comprised of musical themes, reflecting both the Hill District’s legendary jazz history, as well as the significance of music in Simon’s life. A violinist in the lower left-hand corner connects the project to Simon’s long career as a violinmaker and to his father, who played the instrument. The lower panel also celebrates distinct characteristics of Simon’s urban neighborhood, featuring a man grilling ribs, corn and chicken—a heartfelt depiction of spontaneous street barbecues that dot city streets during warm weather, and a nod to Uptown favorite Mr. Ribbs, located at 1315 Fifth Avenue.
Simon creates a fluid composition, juxtaposing animals and figures in unexpected pockets of the relief: a turtle appears on the handlebars of a bright blue bike while dogs twist and turn below a gathering of horn, piano and guitar players. Architectural elements immortalize the Hill District houses adored by the artist, and include details of Duquesne University’s Cathedral, which the artist sculpted from a photograph. The gothic Duquesne “D” logo and bright blue arch echo the University’s entrance, creating a visual bridge and a colorful perch for a playful parrot.
A professionally-trained lutier and restorationist, James Simon grew up in Stanton Heights and attended Peabody High School. With works ranging from small desktop pieces to large commissions, he has worked with developers and architects in a variety of mediums.
After living in Sao Paolo, Simon returned to Pittsburgh to care for his parents, buying a three-story brick building on Uptown’s Gist Street that houses his 1,500 square-foot studio. For years, Simon has graciously opened his colorful home to host the highly popular Gist Street Reading Series. Celebrating its fifth anniversary in March, the salon-style event features emerging national poets along with beer chilled in an antique bathtub, homemade desserts and occasional live music.
Years ago, he propped up a seven-foot King Kong sculpture in his window which prompted good response from the community. Encouraged, Simon launched “Art on Gist Street” with collaborator John Fleenor. The idea? To create an outdoor art gallery featuring framed panel paintings attached to homes and businesses in Uptown, simulating a “larger than life street gallery.” Last summer, with a small grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Simon brought Mexican painter Jean Foss to Uptown to create Oaxacan Dinner, the first in a series of outdoor pieces helping to transform a vulnerable neighborhood.
By placing art in everyday terrain, he strives to “add color, style and narrative to a decayed urban environment by transforming Gist Street into an ‘art street’ where people slow down to see what's new."
The labor of love has paid off. “This is what I can contribute to help a neighborhood improve. The response has been great and people are delighted. The project is colorful and positive and has a good vibe,”he says. Under the hovering gray sky of a Pittsburgh winter, it is comforting to imagine Simon’s bright parrot keeping watch over a neighborhood and its legacy.
Jennifer Baron is education director at the Mattress Factory. A Pittsburgh native, she writes a column on historic signs for Western PA History magazine and runs fresh popcorn productions.
Photos:
947 Liberty Avenue
James Simon in his Gist. St. studio
Uptown Rhythms, Forbes Ave. garage
All Photographs Copyright Tom Altany