A Penny Lane barber “showing photographs of every head he’s had the pleasure to have known” was immortalized in a song by The Beatles. A Stowe barber who displays photos of many of his clients — including rap artists and Pittsburgh Steelers — is being honored by a social services agency for decades of service to the community.
The owner of Steve Wray’s Barbershop located in Stowe, along with Angela Scrivens, owner of Serenity Styles in McKees Rocks, will be recognized on Saturday in a celebration of “the cultural impacts of barbershops and beauty salons in the black community,” according to a news release from Focus on Renewal.
The 5-8 p.m. dinner buffet, art exhibit, photography display and a screening of Chris Rock’s 2009 movie “Good Hair” fall in February, which is Black History Month. However, Focus on Renewal’s promotional literature notes, “We’re celebrating black history this month and every month” in their 2019 African American Celebration of the Arts, which was made possible by a first-time grant from Wells Fargo bank.
The events take place at the Ryan Arts & Culture Center, 420 Chartiers Ave., McKees Rocks.
“Within the African American community the experience of ‘the Shop’ ... is like no other. It becomes a community forum, a place in which people of all ages can converse about a wide range of subjects including sports, politics, music, life, love and religion. They are safe havens,” according to Focus on Renewal’s news release.
On a recent weekday afternoon, the barber chairs of Steve Wray and four other barbers are filled with customers ranging in age from Austin Gray, 4, to Betty Brewer, 87, both residents of the Chartiers City neighborhood. Many others wait their turn.
The shop at 640 Broadway Ave. “is very diverse. This is a nice, beautiful community,” said Henry Rainey. “I thank Steve Wray every day for giving me the chance to work here” for the past four years.
All of the barbers are African-American men, and so are most of the customers. On this day, two customers are white -—and welcome — and two are women.
“I’ve been Steve’s customer for many years,” Ms. Brewer said. “He is excellent. They talk too much, the ladies at the beauty shops. But I could happily spend the whole day here.”
Mr. Rainey trimmed the blond locks of Siroya “Peaches” Mitchell and shaped her eyebrows.
Mr. Wray “really is open” and accepting, said Ms. Mitchell, a local comedienne whose performance credits include hosting the TransPride Pittsburgh Pride Week Showcase last September. “There are not many shops where the LGBT community can go.”
Steve Wray’s Barbershop is also family-oriented, Ms. Mitchell said. “If you send your kid here, you know he is safe,” and that includes the high school students that drop in after school, she said.
After Peaches, Mr. Rainey’s next client is Mike Martin of Brentwood.
“I probably drive past 40 barbershops to come here,” Mr. Martin said. The Allegheny County Jail guard comes about every 10 days to have his reddish blond hair and beard trimmed very close.
Mr. Wray, 52, has been cutting and styling hair and doing hot toweled shaves for 27 years — the last 14 at the Broadway Avenue shop. A native of North Carolina, “the people welcome me here,” he said.
Virtually every square inch of all four walls is covered with photographs, from regular guys to sports celebrities including retired Steelers Charlie Batch and Max Starks, and Roberto Clemente Jr., son of the late, legendary Pittsburgh Pirate. Also pictured is Atlanta rapper Lil Scrappy, who stopped in when he was in Pittsburgh for a concert.
On that same weekday, the usually busy Serenity Styles had just two customers. It was raining hard and “women don’t like to get their hair done if it’s raining,” said Jennifer Gray, arts coordinator at Focus on Renewal.
“I come all the way from Coraopolis for Angie Scrivens for years” said Bristol Bryant. “She knows my head and I love the love here. You walk out of here with a smile and a new attitude.”
Ms. Scrivens said her 25th anniversary as a stylist is Feb. 15. “I know that because it’s the date on my license.” She’s been at the 718 Chartiers Ave. location for 12 years.
Her services include quick weaves, extension, wigs and eye lash extensions. The other stylist in the shop, Jacquend Barnett, also does waxing.
In Mr. Barnett’s chair was Willie Dawson, “a customer and a friend for six years,” he said. He’s co-chair of the African American Celebration of the Arts at Focus on Renewal and is an artist whose oil paintings have been displayed at the Ryan Center.
“I can’t do a show on hair and go there looking raggedy,” he joked.
The Saturday event, open to the public, also includes the work of local visual artist Joanne Elliot-Pugh, along with photographs from Mr. Wray’s shop. Tickets are $20, and proceeds will benefit McKees Rocks and Stowe residents who need haircuts for special occasions including graduation, weddings and job interviews.
Go to www.forstorox.org for further information.
Linda Wilson Fuoco: lfuoco@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1953.
First Published: February 13, 2019, 1:43 p.m.
