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Valley's Fifth Avenue mural
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On a chilly afternoon just days before Christmas, the Golden Triangle was buzzing with the typical pre-holiday bustle, with mobs of shoppers scurrying about in search of last-second gifts. On a depressed stretch of Fifth Avenue near Mellon Arena and Duquesne University, a man walking tote in hand was visibly caught up in the Christmas chaos. He moved with purpose and focused on his destination until his attention was caught by the newest garnish on the city’s skyline — “Urban Paradise,” a 60-foot mural in Pittsburgh’s Uptown.
The man didn’t stop walking, but for one moment the image managed to break through the trance that had captivated him during the busy holiday season.
That’s the kind of reaction Peters Township resident Gregg Valley had hoped for when he created the mural. “It’s wonderful to have something that large in the public eye every day, especially the one on Fifth Avenue in Pittsburgh,” says Valley, a McMurray resident who also designed and painted a 1,800-square-foot mural on the side of a building in Carnegie.
While the murals are Valley’s most eye-catching creations, he’s also done work for clients ranging from Pepsi and McDonald’s to the National Wildlife Federation and the U.S. Postal Service, the range and size of clients an indication that vibrant, successful artists don’t need to work or dwell in the urban clutches of the megalopolis; they can thrive in places like Peters Township.
“It’s not about where you live,” he says, “it’s about what you put into it, how much you market yourself. You have to get your work to as many people as possible.”
In addition to the murals, people in the region routinely see Valley’s work on the Pittsburgh Great Race poster, for example, and on the work of local advertising agencies, corporations, and T-shirt producers.
In a way his story is an inspiration for the burgeoning community of artists in Peters Township and surrounding areas. A group brimming with creativity, it is determined to show the world that the same kind of artistic talent exists in Washington County as in Manhattan.
Just ask Michalina Pendzich, co-president of the McMurray Art League.
“We have people of all skill levels,” she says. “From real beginners to professional artists. There’s a lot of talent here.”
The McMurray Art League is a community arts organization that has been in existence for 41 years. The membership fee is just $24 per year, and there is no screening or tests required to gain membership. “All are welcome,” Pendzich says.
The art league has a reputation that extends beyond its municipal borders.
“We have a lot of members from right in Peters, but we also draw members from as far away as Waynesburg, Washington, Baldwin and Brookline.”
The League offers opportunities for artists to exhibit their work and network with other artists. As part of their league membership, members are invited to six meetings and two shows per year (including a big fall show at the Mt. Lebanon Galleria), as well as the chance to participate in the group’s wildly popular classes, which are offered at the league’s studio, located in the McDowell Shops.
Virginia Swartz joined the McMurray Art League in 1993 on a dare from her husband.
“I had never painted before at all. I got hooked. Now I love it, I take all the classes,” she says.
These days, she also organizes the schedule and books artists to come in and teach lessons. Most of the league’s classes are offered on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with some occasionally scheduled on weekends. And the classes are open to the general public, not just league members.
“There’s no reason to be intimidated. Everyone is very giving of their time,” Swartz says. “It’s a mixed group. When I started, I knew nothing. Other people had been painting for years and years. But there’s a lot of give and take, and people will stop what they are doing to come and help you with something.”
There are currently just over 100 members in the league, and their preferred media include everything from oil paint to acrylics to photography to wood. Some even work in graphic arts.
Other organizations offer similar opportunities. Valley, for example, speaks highly of the Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators. “There are some amazing artists there,” he says, “it’s pretty impressive.”
Simultaneously discussing the work of Swartz and Valley perfectly sums up the spectrum of artists in Peters Township: one is a professional who makes a living from his art, while the other is a hobbyist, learning and evolving with every brush stroke. Yet both are equally passionate about their work.
Valley, who grew up in Pittsburgh’s North Hills but has lived in Peters since 1989, graduated from Carnegie Mellon in 1986 with a bachelor’s of fine arts in illustration. For 12 years, his medium of choice was colored pencils and he worked with commercial clients, children’s book publishers and advertising big shots. But then he had a change of heart and, like so many artists, allowed his artistic yearnings to evolve.
“I really enjoyed working with [colored pencils], but after about 12 years of doing that, I was burned out,” he says. “I wanted to change it up and try to develop something unique.”
Natural Progression
Valley always liked computers, so the leap from pencils to the keyboard and into the world of graphic arts was a natural progression. His murals started as part of the Sprout Fund, a public art program which in the past few years has brought 31 murals to sections of town most would consider drab.
Valley’s first project with the Sprout Fund came during the summer of 2005 when he was commissioned to bring life to the Rome Hardware Building on Main Street in Carnegie. The mural, “Rebirth,” features a backdrop of the town’s skyline: a former steel mill, the library and storefronts. Raging waters, representing the 2004 floods, dominate one side of the mural, while the other is splashed with bright sunshine and a phoenix soaring high, representing the future recovery of Carnegie.
Valley was then commissioned by the Sprout fund to create the Fifth Avenue mural last summer. The 1,500 square-foot piece covers the side of the old Merchants Savings & Trust Co. building, which now houses a refuge for homeless women. Valley’s job was to bring life to the drab facade while keeping it somewhat feminine, given the nature of the business inside the building.
The result is a brilliant landscape composed of jagged shapes that somehow blend in such a manner as to smooth away the rigidity. Wisps of blue paint bring alive a river, complete with waterfall, which trickles past a series of sharp triangular mountains that jut skyward. Green leaves and red berries create a color contrast, but what really grabs the eyes are the critters: an orange lizard, dragon flies and a lady bug.
Amid the flurry of activity, it’s easy to miss – peeking out from behind one of the rolling hills – the tops of Pittsburgh’s skyscrapers. A suburban Pittsburgh experience, it contrasts the vibrancy of the city with the calmness of the suburbs, not unlike the community of artists in Peters Township.
Anyone interested in joining the McMurray Art League should call membership chair Arlene Popko at 724-942-3899.
