In 2010 I was given the go ahead by Uptown Partners of Pittsburgh -the community group of Uptown to design and create a mosaic "Welcome To Uptown" Sign. Thus proceeded a lengthily process of fundraising and site permission/control. The Uptown community is a strategically located corridor connected to downtown Pittsburgh as well as to the many nearby business and university neighborhoods. Uptown in its hey day was a thriving area that went into decay and poverty- and is now showing real signs of new growth and development-----

The site is on Fifth Ave at the Birmingham Bridge-where Uptown Begins- a most important intersection where thousands of folks pass by everyday on there way to Downtown, the South Side, and the Hill District of Pittsburgh.

PennDot owns the land and had never been involved in an artist project and land use contract before.  After one year of correspondence and a few nervous breakdowns we came to an agreement on a contract that would work for everybody. 

I designed the art-sign in the shape of a tree-The tree part itself is 15' x 15' with a 9 foot trunk .The tree is created on concrete board which will then be attached to a metal frame /Skelton. The frame will be attached to a 16''steel pipe that will represent the trunk and rise up to hold the tree frame.The unseen trunk will sink 9 feet into the ground filled with a 3 foot diameter of concrete.

I like the tree theme-for many reasons-Its particularly visually effective from a distance-and It gives me a lot of freedom with colors and themes-Any thing goes really- for this one- leaves and flowers, bugs, animals, turtles, armadillos, penguins, and cherubs. These days I am using more stain glass like-the beautiful Youghiogheny River glass -made nearby -it's actually sometimes cheaper and prettier than colorful mosaic tile. I find tile and glass work great together for free standing projects. (Not for walking on).