“Travon Martin” Mural by Kyle Holbrook and Kemel Poindexter and 10 youth on Charles Street, NorthSide, Pittsburgh, PA.
‘Playin for Love’ Red Carpet mural on Lincoln Road, Miami (in progress).
PARTNERSHIP WITH CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY AND MLK MURAL PROJECT
The result of a campus-wide call for submissions, the mural’s design is the work of senior art major Adelaide Cole. (credit: Courtesy of Adelaide Cole)
Mahatma Gandhi is often attributed with saying, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
Taking inspiration from the life of Gandhi, Carnegie Mellon students from OM, a campus organization for Indian spirituality and culture, worked with the Pittsburgh nonprofit Moving the Lives of Kids Community Mural Project (MLK Mural) to create a mural of Gandhi on the side of Indian restaurant Coriander in Squirrel Hill on Sunday.
The mural is the grand finale to the Two Weeks of Peace and Gandhi’s birthday celebration that occurred all over campus through service projects, free hugs, lectures, and a screening of the film Gandhi in McConomy Auditorium.
“Initially we wanted to make it a service project by working with a student group, but we decided instead to make it an event for OM and CMU students to do to celebrate the end of Gandhi Week,” said sophomore electrical and computer engineering major Divya Kothandapani, who coordinated the mural painting.
The design for the mural was chosen through a contest by OM that sought submissions from talented Carnegie Mellon students. The winning design was submitted by senior art major Adelaide Cole, who was inspired by the intricacy of henna designs, the Indian art of ink-drawing on hands. Cole chose to use color symbolically, with orange fading into blue to symbolize the unity of people: She described orange as representative of the universal skin color, while blue is a symbol of peace.
MLK Mural is a Pittsburgh-based group of people who identify as both artists and community organizers. Through mural painting, they reach toward the goal of community progression by strengthening and bringing communities together.
A multifaceted organization, MLK Mural launches projects that range from working with youth groups, painting commissioned work. The organization also hosts a summer work program for at-risk teenagers to teach life skills such as collaboration in work settings. Muralist Kyle Holbrook of Wilkinsburg, Pa. started MLK Mural in 2007. It has since expanded to projects across the nation with offices in Pittsburgh, Miami, and Atlanta. Holbrook says, “The murals let people take pride in their neighborhoods. People will tell me how they change where they walk just to see the mural because it makes such a difference.”
Over the last six years, MLK Mural has created over 260 murals in Pittsburgh alone, including 13 this past summer. It’s an impressive feat, but more impressive is the number of young people that have been involved in the projects, which is well over 5,000.
A delicious lunch was provided by Coriander and a rough sketch of Gandhi was well under way — the energy grew as local kids and volunteers eagerly picked up paintbrushes to join the effort.
Editor's note: Adelaide Cole is a staff artist for The Tartan.
PARTNERSHIP WITH Florida International UNIVERSITY AND MLK MURAL PROJECT
Artist Kyle Holbrook Painting Trevon Martin Mural from Tribune Review Article 8.1.13
Pittsburgh Hill District Vacant Lot and Mural
Amidst the blight and emptiness in this neighborhood appears this blinding mural, evoking the Hill District's golden age in the 1940s and 1950s, when it was known as "the crossroads of the world." The mural is by Roberto "Max" Maxwell and Erick "Error 404" Morrel, 2015.
The image in the middle is Ahmad Jamal, American jazz pianist (born Frederick Russell Jones) at the piano during rehersal for an episode of Robert Herridge Theater entitled Jazz from 61, New York, New York, September 2, 1959.
On the left, Unknown photographer, Charles "Teenie" Harris, photographer, posed with another man on sidewalk in front of Harris Studio, Centre Avenue, Hill District, c. 1940–1945, Carnegie Museum of Art Teenie Harris Archive, 2001.35.6604.
On the right, Charles "Teenie" Harris, Woman posed against 1952 Lincoln Capri coupe car, with man leaning out of driver's side and wrapping his arms around her, c. 1952-1960, Carnegie Museum of Art Teenie Harris Archive, 2001.35.3114.
The Teenie Harris Archive at Carnegie Museum of Art is a trove of over 70,000 images, scanned from negatives many of which had never been published, depicting the landscape, people, events, and places of the Hill and other Pittsburgh neighborhoods from the 1930s to the 1970s. Worth an extended excursion: teenie.cmoa.org/
8.3.22 (Cover Story) Travon Martin Mural designed by Kyle Holbrook painted with Northside youth and artist Kemel Poindexter.
Kyle Holbrook and Washington D.C. Mayor Grey talk about future projects in the capital at “S.O.M.E.” Unveiling painted with homeless youth October 3, 2013.
Auberle 60 year Anniversary Mural by Kyle Holbrook and Portia Hornick
Auberle 60 year Anniversary Mural by Kyle Holbrook, Portia Hornick and BZE 2013.
Showcase Motors 2244 Saw Mill Run Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15210 by Kyle Holbrook and Portia Hornick.
10 Year Anniversary Event Week, Dec 2013 of the Monroeville Mall Mural by Kyle Holbrook 2003-2013
‘Coriander’ 2201 Murray Ave. Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh ,PA by Kyle Holbrook.
Opalocka Mural unveiling with local youth paid on Christmas Eve sponsored by Pinnacle Housing.
“Welcome to Allentown” mural by MLK Mural Artist Lucas Stock
Northside Coalition for Fair Housing Mural 2013
Babbs Hideaway Mural for March Madness
