The MLK Community Mural Project is for Pittsburgh the biggest and brightest art venture in the city’s history, with murals scheduled to cover 26 walls throughout the city and already engaging hundreds of Pittsburgh’s biggest and brightest residents.
Currently, we’ve produced more than a dozen murals along the MLK East Busway, spanning eight neighborhoods. The dimensions are larger than life. The colors are purposefully vivid and visually stimulating. The images are jazzy and abstract. The narratives painted are of great historical significance. Most importantly, we are developing the vast artistic and intellectual wealth represented by our gifted Pittsburgh youth.
Many of Pittsburgh’s most legendary artists have come forth to mentor dozens of Pittsburgh teens and their families in the production and tremendous value of public art as a way of strengthening communities. Kids learn about the historic figures and events of their neighborhoods and then translate what they learn into beautiful organic images on the walls.
This blog will serve as a communication point and source of information for all of those involved in the project for this year. The blog will feature many things such as pictures of upcoming projects, videos of the projects, and words from the artists involved in the mural themselves. In doing this, we hope to give the people out there reading this blog a more in depth idea of what goes on behind the scenes to make such a large undertaking happen. As well, this blog will serve to better explain to the public the benefit of the arts in the lives of young people.