‘Artspiration’ is the next rung in Sharpsburg’s artistic ascent
Ten years ago, many Pittsburghers may have described Sharpsburg as that town beneath Route 28 on the way to the zoo. That’s still true. But when Mayor Brittany Reno created the Sharpsburg Community Vision Plan beginning in 2017, the tide began to turn.
Through one-on-one coffee meetings with residents and town halls with hundreds of them, Reno and others learned what the community wanted and needed. They talked about sustainability efforts, such as winterizing homes and solar power initiatives, and mobility improvements, such as bike racks and better access to the riverfront trails. But the change residents wanted that is most visible, especially to those just driving by or through, is more public art.
“One of the great things about living or visiting here is how walkable the community is,” Reno said. “Trying to give people different things to get excited about while they’re walking around outside is huge. It’s almost like there isn’t a bad piece of public art because everything is going to make somebody feel something.”
Murals have been popping up in Sharpsburg at a rate that seems almost impossible, and behind many of those projects, either holding a paint brush or connecting artists with blank walls, is Fox Chapel
Area School District art teacher and Ketchup City Creative art space owner Nanci Goldberg.
“As soon as the art started going up, people got really excited and talking about how cool it was. They started looking down alleys more and making suggestions about where more could go,” she said. She was referring to one of the first murals she worked on, a series of patterned balloons on the side of Art in Motion dance studio. “I’ve never had that many people stand in an alley and have a conversation.”
A few projects later — and midpandemic — Goldberg decided to formalize her efforts into a new nonprofit called Artspiration, and she had plenty of connections in the local art scene to get it going.
Not only is Goldberg known for drawing a crowd for public art, but
also she attracts everyone from the art-curious to professional artists as the owner of Ketchup City Creative.
That inclusive environment welcomed collage artist Lauren Broyles. When the former addiction researcher isn’t teaching academics how to secure federal funding for research, she’s organizing her group, Pittsburgh Collage Collective, or serving on the board of Artspiration.
“For me, it’s about creating the
art together as well as having the finished product,” she said. “It’s not just about the sculpture, painting or mural — it’s in the making.”
Although Artspiration is only a few months old, there’s already been plenty of that making.
Through a donation from Second Harvest Community Thrift Store and food bank, fence tape was used around the 16th Street Playground: “We’ve had incredible feedback,” Goldberg said. “And it’s just a fence!”
Then, there’s the “Kindness” mural at the corners of Main and 10th streets, painted by acclaimed public artists Shane Pilster and Max GEMS Gonzales.
A “Welcome to Sharpsburg” piece is in the works, and plenty of others are in the brainstorming phase.
Since its inception, Artspiration has already expanded to include Etna and Millvale, and Goldberg hopes someday to extend
that reach even further.
But it takes money. The group’s first “fundraising push” will take place Oct. 15 at Ketchup City and another
community art space in Sharpsburg, Atithi Studios.
Findings from the Sharpsburg Community Vision Plan turned into the Triboro
Ecodistrict Plan, a to-do list with many of its public art boxes already checked because of the efforts of Goldberg and Artspiration.
“My approach to community leadership is never that one person gets the plan done. It’s always been finding the people who want to do more, who can do more, and lift them up,” Reno said. “For some people that’s gardening
or parks. For Nanci, it’s public art, and it’s been tremendous.”