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Color to brighten commute in murals on inn, T station

Color to brighten commute in murals on inn, T station

Life in the South Hills is a bit brighter, thanks to some colorful projects.

Passersby have been following the progress of two large-scale murals within a half-mile of each other. One part of the Pittsburgh 250 celebration is steadily taking over three large walls of the Mt. Lebanon T station off Shady Drive East.

The other involves transforming a plain, gray-block garage addition to the Ivy Inn on Castle Shannon Boulevard in Mt. Lebanon. Thanks to great weather in the last few weeks, both are heading rapidly toward completion, probably by late September.

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"Originally, we had the concept of doing a three- or four-story facade [on the side of the under-renovation Denis Theater] that involved a trolley, people walking," said Helen Worsing, art director for Mt. Lebanon Magazine and designer of the Pittsburgh 250 mural. "When they asked me to redesign it, it was basically just the idea of doing the walking thing."

Mt. Lebanon prides itself on being a walking community. Most of the mural features silhouettes of people walking, riding bikes, walking dogs, pushing a toddler in a stroller. Bright colors were used for much of the painting, although one short side that faces a residential area will be completed in black, white and gray.

Pittsburgh native Kyle Holbrooke, an artist who has overseen a number of public paintings in Allegheny County, put together the project through his K&L Designs. K&L, a nonprofit that runs out of Hill House, is funded through several major Pittsburgh foundations and grants through Allegheny County. The painters include professional members of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, such as Ms. Worsing, and students, who are paid.

The mural project gives students a chance to work with artists. It also employs at-risk kids and former offenders from the courts system. Part of the art goes beyond design and painting. Mr. Holbrooke often makes music videos with the art as a backdrop.

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Bonnie Schindler is the Mt. Lebanon site coordinator. Others working on the painting are Karen Mahoney, Meg Graham, David Johnson, LaMont Thomas and Lu Li.

Overall, Mr. Holbrooke has overseen 21 new murals in Western Pennsylvania this year, including one that was unveiled yesterday in Duquesne.

"We have 130 kids paid, 20 teachers, 40 artists, 50 ex-offenders, a fitness manager, a music manager, a fashion manager," he said.

"It's a half-a-million-dollar project."

He said the Mt. Lebanon murals were challenging, "unlike any we've done in the past.

"The wall is really irregular, a lot of different sizes and textures."

If the T station work is eye-catching, the Ivy Inn project takes the concept a step further. Artist Ashley Hodder, a lifelong Mt. Lebanon resident, has transformed a cracked, older building by choosing an eye-popping garden theme.

"We were talking about Pittsburgh 250 and some of the highlights of Pittsburgh, and one of the things that was mentioned was Phipps Conservatory, so I took inspirations from that," said Ms. Hodder.

Employing green, blue and teal, she covered a garage-like building with huge leaves and a waterfall. The finishing touch, she said, will be "ivy" tumbling from the Inn onto a smaller attachment.

"It kind of ties in with all of the businesses. We talk about it being a little garden for the neighborhood."

Alice Neishloss, of the Neishloss & Fleming insurance agency, is an officer for the Castle Shannon Boulevard Shops organization of business owners.

"I can't tell you how many people have stopped in to tell us how much they like that mural," said Ms. Neishloss, who added, "This was done without township, county, city or anyone else's money. We did this all on our own, and I think that's very important."

The Shops organization raised $3,000 toward the project, and the acrylics were donated by one of its members, Pittsburgh Paints.

Ms. Hodder designed the final drawings freehand, on the site. But before she could begin, she had to fill in cracked mortar and apply a heavy-duty primer.

"The building's in better shape now than when we started," she said. "The prep work probably took two weeks to get it solid, but it's worth the time to get it right because it adds length to the life of the artwork.

"Kind of the fun part of doing this mural is that it's in my neighborhood. I hear people talking about it. A few think a new business is going in there, is it a garden shop or a travel agency opening up?"

First Published: August 28, 2008, 10:15 a.m.

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