When Shannon Pultz moved back to Pittsburgh in 2007, the Strip District became a comfort to her. It had that “European feel” — shop owners recognized her and silver-haired Italian men drank espressos, reminiscent of her 15 years in Italy.
But it really felt like home three years later, when she began to spend a lot of time there.
After school let out at Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School for the summer of 2010, Pultz would meet Carley Jean Hill, another teacher at CAPA, in a small parking lot on Penn Avenue at 19th Street. Until late November of that year, the two would spend the evenings on an aerial lift, with short breaks eating takeout from the restaurant across the street.
The months-long effort led to “The Strip Mural,” a collage representing the neighborhood’s old and new. The mural has evolved with the popularity of the Strip District, towering above the beloved mom-and-pop shops along Penn.
“It really changed the whole dynamic of this corner,” said Jules Troiani, the owner of 1949 Penn Ave Parking. “It’s probably one of the most photographed things in the Strip.”
Over a decade later, the 50-by-100-foot mural is an iconic part of the neighborhood — a background for photos and a piece soon to be featured in a new CBS TV show, “Watson.”
But few know all the icons that are a part of it, Troiani said.
“Those two artists really helped preserve the legacy of the Strip,” Troiani said. “We are forever in debt to Shannon and Carley for the people they put on it,” he said.
Amid the color popping off all three stories of the Hermanowski building, at 1907 Penn Ave., every figure on the wall represents a real person. Hidden logos can be traced to a local shop. Even the overflowing shopping cart nestled in the bottom right corner has a purpose: It represents Bob, an unhoused man who had long lived nearby.
“He was always around, so we wanted to pay a tribute,” said Pultz.
The project began in response to a call for proposals from the The Sprout Fund, an organization responsible for many of the large-scale murals around Pittsburgh. The Sprout Fund was sunsetted in 2018, after a 15-year public art program that resulted in 56 murals across the city, created in more than 40 locations and commissioned by 50-plus artists.
Pultz and Hill’s proposal was selected by a neighborhood group, currently called Strip District Neighbors, from numerous submissions.
For the look of the collage, Pultz turned to her college days. In New York she had studied the work of Romare Bearden, one of the most influential African American artists in the 20th century, who has ties to Pittsburgh.
Bearden grew up on Penn Avenue in Lawrenceville with his grandparents, so it was only fitting, Pultz said, to draw inspiration from his work — specifically “The Block,” a six-paneled mural depicting life in Harlem. Bearden himself stands in the center of the mural, holding a newspaper titled “City of Champions.”
In preparation, Pultz also spent time at the Heinz History Center, taking old photographs of the neighborhood and integrating them with new ones. She drew by hand, scanned sketches to her computer, then started manipulation in Photoshop. It was the first large-scale public mural done by Pultz, who has since led teams of CAPA students on two other mural projects. They are currently working on one for the UPMC Shadyside parking garage.
Once the neighborhood selected her design, they offered input into different elements to integrate — for example, Joe Hermanowski, the owner of the building.
As the mural went up, Hermanowski was retiring from the wholesale grocery store that had become a legacy on the corner of 19th Street and Penn Avenue, following years of friendly service and selling candy in bulk. Hermanowski and his father smile from two window sills with blue backdrops. His father — who ran the lottery and knew everything happening in the Strip — wears a Pirates hat, while his daughter Joyce finishes the family line in the top right window. Joyce Hermanowski still works in the building, which is a Black & Gold Forever store today.
Wholey’s seafood market is another Strip dynasty that made it to mural. Robert Wholey stands in a black tie against a checkered backdrop, surrounded by fish and produce. Even today, those working behind the counter at Wholey’s wear a suit underneath white butcher jackets.
Business titans are a part of the story the mural tells, but not all of it, said Troiani.
“It’s everybody… it’s not just Robert Wholey or Joe Hermanowski and his family,” Troiani said. “It’s Auerelia, the little girl with all the medals.”
Troiani remembers when Aurelia Sheehan had pulled into his lot wearing junior Olympic medals from a swim championship, a hat pulled tight over her ears. Her portrait is still there today, smiling from a yellow window behind bushels of flowers.
“She ended up on the mural because she was one of the everyday people,” Troiani said. “They added more people as they were here and interacted with people.”
Time led to other additions by Pultz and Hill, including the motorcycle of one of the parking lot attendants. The scene also has hidden personal tributes: Pultz’s daughter in a snapback, her son playing the saxophone and her own silhouette alongside Hill’s, overlooking the scene from a black iron balcony. Hill added her father’s initials to the bridge, only noticeable if you’re really looking for them.
The steel crows were a final element added by Hill, who created the relief pieces to commemorate the murders of crows that flock to Polish Hill and mark the start of winter. She remembers being at an art party and listening to talk about their silhouettes in the sky, prompting her to build crows out of steel using plasma cutters. When the sun moves, the birds create shadows against the building.
After outlining the entire mural with an oil stick, Pultz and Hill painted it with help from their students and families.
“As an artist, especially in public art, it's really important to be respectful and mindful of the people who live and play and work in the areas that you get to honor,” said Hill.
The respect was mutual throughout the project's duration, the artists said.
The late Enrico Biscotti, whose flying biscotti logo soars through the backdrop, brought them cookies and croissants while they worked. The flower company in front of Pennsylvania Macaroni Co. gave them leftover flowers at the end of the weekend. Kaya’s logo is incorporated into the painted building; the restaurant staff would set out buckets of water from the back of the kitchen so the artists could wash their brushes.
Out of three Sprout Fund murals created in the Strip District, “The Strip Mural” is the only one that remains on view to the public. “Welcome to the Strip,” 2004, was painted over when redevelopment came to the Penn-Rose building, now riverside flats. “Celestial Weaving Girl,” 2006, is now located inside The Midwife Center after redevelopment.
“It's nice that for some of these murals that have a little bit more staying power, those faces still reflect the community that was then, and to some degree, the community as it still is today,” said Matt Hannigan, co-founder of the Sprout Fund. “Not all of the murals that were originally painted look like they did at the time, or are even visible in the same kind of way.”
But over a decade later, Troiani said the mural still serves as a reminder that “the Strip is for everybody.”
“Fourteen years later, the colors are still as vibrant as the day they painted it,” he said.
First Published: July 17, 2024, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: July 17, 2024, 3:38 p.m.
