PITTSBURGH’S
ARTIST & MAKERS
Pittsburgh’s Artist and Makers is a compilation of images highlighting the work of various individuals from the creative class in Pittsburgh. This portfolio was produced by a Public Affairs Fellow from the Coro Civic Center of Leadership with support from the Richard King Mellon Foundation. The Fellow identified the various artist and makers in the portfolio through various interview and meetings while working in collaboration with Ryan Lammie of Radiant Hall, an artist-run studio-centric organization in Lawrenceville, and Julia Reynolds of The Shop in East Liberty, a shop that provides everyday art, home goods, and jewelry handcrafted by makers from around the country in East Liberty. The portfolio includes 13 artist and makers with varying talents. The images showcase the artist and makers work, however, their abilities and imaginations extend beyond what is found in this document. All of the artist and makers have expressed interest in collaborating with other artist and makers to produce uniquely crafted products. The second half of the portfolio begins to explore new applications for the artist and makers work. In particular, the Coro Fellow generated several design concepts to investigate how artist and makers work can be translated into products that can be used the real estate development industry such as: lighting (sconces, lighting fixtures, lighting tracks), accents (wall application, apartment numbers, soap dishes, switch plates, window/door decals), and functional objects (doors, key trays, furniture, door knobs, towel racks, door hooks).
1. Kim Beck 2. Nicole Ryan 3. Paul Rosenblatt 4. Leah Patgorski 5. Zak Kruszynski 6. Emily Walley 7. Ron Copeland 8. Jeffrey Krsul 9. Madelyn Roehig 10. Rose Duggan 11. Mia Henry 12. Ryan Lammie 13. Ashley Cecil 14. Peter Johnson 15. Jenelle Huddleston
Kim Beck Using images of architecture and landscape, Kim Beck makes drawings, paintings, prints, photographs, books, cutout sculptures and installations that survey peripheral and suburban spaces. Electrical transformers, cell towers, and billboards grow like invasive species. And invasive species, such as dandelions, pop up in photographs of lawns and installations using vinyl decals, stuck directly to walls and windows. These create mutated landscapes, alien-but-familiar spaces in a continuous state of flux. Her work urges a reconsideration of the built environment - the peculiar street signs, gas station banners, overgrown weeded lots, and self-storage buildings — bringing the banal and everyday into focus. Beck sees opportunities to utilize her work by finding ways to place existing work, designing wall paper, vinyl decals installations for windows and walls, surface design for murals, walls, tables, curtains, etc., bathroom tile and sink bowls. For more work: http://www.idealcities.com/
Nicole Ryan Nicole Ryan is a painter working primarily with watercolor on waterproof paper. Ryan’s works are mostly, imagined landscapes of the natural world, focusing on the region of Western PA. Some portraits are intended to invoke a memory of a person, place or thing. Gritty and dark at the edges but also fuzzy and romantic. Ryan’s originals or prints can be places in lobbies, behind desks, above couches etc.. but she could also do works based on a narrative of that place or person influential to that place. Ryan does a lot of diptychs and triptychs showing the passage of time, example, morning and evening, seasons, time lapse over a half an hour. This could lend continuity to a space. For more work: http://www.artbynicolerenee.com/
Paul Rosenblatt Paul Rosenblatt is a practicing artist and licensed architect who has straddled the line connecting/separating these fields ever since double-majoring in art and architecture at Yale. A New York City native, Rosenblatt has called Pittsburgh home for more than 25 years. Rosenblatt is founding Principal of Springboard Design (www.springboarddesign.net) an award-winning Pittsburgh based architectural firm that envisions innovative museums, exhibitions, workplaces, and homes. Recent architectural projects include the National Aviary, Carnegie Mellon University’s Tartan’s Pavilion, the Teenie Harris Exhibition at the Carnegie Museum of Art, and Creator Square Johnstown. Rosenblatt can imagine producing a variety of pieces including custom made illuminated display cases for lobbies and public spaces, display systems, wall mounted reliefs, paintings, wallpapers, and screens, LED lighting installations, and interactive sound and video installations.
Leah Patgorski Leah Patgorski’s art production over the past 10 years has been primarily textile sculptures and associated drawings. The forms of her individual work range from flat to voluminous, habitable to uninhabitable, buoyant to collapsing; through these qualities she explores how fabric constructions take on lives of their own based on our psychological associations. Leah has also been commissioned by others to make large-scale pieces including wall panels, a tent, and a fabric rowboat. With larger pieces such as Tent 2 and Duende, Patgorski is exploring the construction and perception of ephemeral fabric volumes. Flat pieces such as Untitled are studies in applying geometric patterns to the unpredictability of life. Many of the pieces contain or reference secondhand clothing. Pieces like these have potential as they are, or in future iterations, against walls, near windows, or as partitions. For more work: http://www.leahpatgorski.com/
Zak Kruszynski Zak Kruszynski is the owner and designer behind Bones and All, a Rust Belt workshop offering design and fabrication of furniture, home goods, and decorative objects & images. They produce custom work on commission for private and commercial clients, as well as keeping an inventory of one of a kind pieces for the home, table, and public spaces. Past projects include custom dining tables, retail racks and fixtures, stools, chairs, side tables, and cabinets. Much of their work would be directly applicable to new residential and commercial developments. Furniture items from small stools and end tables to dining or conference tables, as well as counter tops and built in fixtures and shelving would all be natural fits. Additionally, smaller decorative and home goods like cutting & serving boards, candle holders, vases, and coat racks would work well as accent pieces. For more work: bonesandall.com
Emily Walley Emily Walley is the founder of Minimel Design, a small business focused on hand crafted and screen printed wooden accessories. Walley’s architecturally inspired designs would transpose beautifully onto walls, windows, flooring, home decor, lighting, and furniture. For instance, the shape and pattern of a dangle earring could become a painting, table top, or rug; a post earring may become a pendant lamp, seat, or end table. She has worked closely with businesses such as Wigle Whiskey to create accessories utilizing raw materials sourced from their process to produce to fashionable accessories that appeal to their customers. These pieces not only provide an additional source of revenue, but they’re also an extension of the Wigle brand. With her fine art background and experience in a broad range of mediums including painting, textiles, and woodworking, Walley believes that she could do the same on a larger scale to create unique, practical and inspiring design elements. She feels that her art, design work, and business experience will be an asset to the arts initiative. See more at minimeldesign.com and emilywalley.com.
Ron Copeland Ron Copeland’s lighting work is created using all locally sourced recycled plexiglass, signage and assorted plastics. He also incorporates hand made text and additional colors to complement the existing content on the materials. These works have taken the shape of small desk lamps, large column lamps, clocks, hanging chandeliers, abstract sculptures and large scale installations. Copeland sees the possibility for his work and or process to be altered slightly and made into mass producible lighting fixtures elaborating on the forms he’s constructed as well the possibility of all new work of different shapes and sizes. For more infomation: http://www.galerief.com/portfolio-type/artist/ ron-copeland/
Jeffrey Krsul Jeffrey Krsul primarily works with historic photographic processes in a modern context. Some of these processes include: cyanotype, salt print, albumen, gum bichromate, tintype, albumen, platinum/palladium, pinhole photography etc.). He is inspired by using methods that are mostly forgotten about, and giving them new life. As an artist, Krsul feels it is important to use a process that enhances and supports the message of his images. He strives to learn a wide variety processes to set myself apart in his field. An ongoing series of his, repurposes and transforms the interiors of security envelopes into bold, graphic cyanotype prints. His process is all handmade and analog, and uses only the darkroom and the sun to create this series. Krsul’s recent work includes printing cyanotype on textiles, and can be utilized in applications such as curtains, pillows, upholstery, etc. His works on paper could be incorporated in a variety of ways, or could be printed on other surfaces such as wood, metal, glass, concrete, or virtually any nonporous surface. For more information: http://theshopinel.com/search?q=jeffrey+krsul
Madelyn Roehrig Madelyn Roehrig has been working on the ongoing art project Figments: Conversations with Andy, documenting visitors to Andy Warhol’s grave, which will be adapted in an upcoming book about the project. Recently, she received the Acquisition Award from the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh 102nd Annual Exhibition at the Carnegie Museum of Art. Her work has also been shown at the Warhol Museum, the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Associated Artists of Pittsburgh Annuals at the Carnegie Museum of Art, and Seton Hill Harlan Gallery. Her work can be adapted for wallpaper, window decals, and lighting fixtures. For more work: http://www.andyfigments.com/
Rose Duggan Rose Duggan explores our relationship with objects and our natural environment through painting. Her non-representational work addresses color relationships, paint as a material and the absurdity of art-making. She has exhibited nationally, most recently as the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s featured artist at Cabaret Theater and was named one of the Three Rivers Arts Festival’s emerging artists in 2013. Duggan sees her work being used in two-dimensional interior and exterior residential and commercial applications such as printing the images on ceramic glazed tiles and installing them in bathrooms, entryway floors and backsplashes. She also sees it being used effectively in flooring tile. She has a hard non-porous material in mind, like that found in composite flooring, ceramic tiling and exterior cladding. For more work: http://www.roseduggan.com/
Mia Henry Mia Henry is an oil painter living and working in Pittsburgh. In the interest of expanding opportunities for local and regional artists Henry co-founded the Mine Factory in North Point Breeze. As director of the Mine Factory her mission is to promote, exhibit, and support the ever growing art and maker scene. As a deeply entrenched member of the creative community she sees her role in this endeavour as a “connector� since she has worked/am in communications with so many artists and designers. In terms of transitioning my art into functional design Henry has worked on textiles in addition to paintings. Shy can see her existing work easily printed onto fabrics for upholstery, linens and more. For more work: miatarduccihenry.com
Ryan Lammie Ryan Lammie is a sculptural painter living in Lawrenceville, PA. He uses found-objects, industrial materials, and domestic waste as source material for creating multi-dimensional monochromatic light-driven work. Over the last year, Lammie’s work has been featured in the North-East Issue of New American Paintings, WQED’s Pittsburgh 360, and Sabika Jewelry’s 2014 Catalog. Ryan attended the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY from 2007 to 2012. Before returning to Pittsburgh, Ryan was awarded the Elizabeth Stokel Battell Fellowship Award and attended the Yale Norfolk Residency, in 2011. In addition to his studio practice, Ryan also founded and directs Radiant Hall Studios. For more work: radianthall.com
Ashley Cecil Ashley’s formal training as an illustrator has guided her painting toward representational subject matter. Early on in her career, she was commissioned to paint portraits (of both two and four-legged subjects) and architectural renderings for private individuals. She has also created work for corporate clients such as the manufacturer of Jack Daniels, and for nonprofit clients including Oxfam America. While earning her master’s in art business at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art London, Ashley was heavily influenced by artists such as William Morris and the vast collections of textile arts housed in British institutions including the Victoria & Albert Museum. Her recent work is a marriage of her technical training and experience in painting the illusion of three-dimensional form with her love of two-dimensional pattern. She brings everything full-circle by using her original artworks to develop new patterns that are custom printed on fabric and sewn by Ashley into a variety of textile products, which you can browse in her shop. Apropos of the “Steel City,” Ashley’s studio is in a old industrial warehouse retrofitted for artists’ work spaces. This is where she produces original artwork on canvas and board, and develops the corresponding patterns. For more information: http://www.ashleycecil.com/
Peter Johnson These are key ideas that I keep in mind for each sculpture: Lines, curves, convex and concave shapes. Motion and Balance, the point where they meet. Contrast, the line between light and shadow. I try to distil a gesture or action into a 3 dimensional line drawing. I think of the idea first as a 2 dimensional sketch. I pick a gesture or moment of action of perhaps a dancer raising her arm or a bird with it’s wings stretched in flight, and try to place that image into a piece of wood or stone. The combination of the sharp edges, convex and concave surfaces, creates the lines, highlights and shadows of a simple sketch of the movement from multiple views. The lines and curves are really more important to me than the object. Sometimes I just “doodle”. I go along with the wood grain and try to find and expose what is beautiful in that particular piece of wood. For more information: http://pgjohnsonsculpture.com/home.html
Jenelle Huddleston Jenelle Huddleston is an illustrating designing crafting extraordinaire with a passion for animals, adorable girlish things, and monsters. Huddleston does a lot of things. For more information: http://www.jenellehuddleston.com/
Application Concepts
Wall mounted light fixture
Ashley Cecil
Kim Beck
Emily Walley, Cuff-link
Cabinet Knob
Cabinet
Ron Copeland
Hallway apartment fixture
Jeffrey Krsul
Apartment number decal
Mia Henry
Fixed lighting with shade
Elevator vestibule glossy wallpaper
Rose Duggan
All of the images included in this document are property of the respective artist and makers and duplication is not permitted without the permission on the owner. If you are interested in learning more about the Pittsburgh’s Arist & Makers Initiative please contact Nenha Young, Coro Pittsburgh Fellow in Public Affairs at nyoung.fellow@coropittsburgh.org and if you are interested in speaking to the artist and makers directly please contact them through the information provided on their respective website (listed at the end of each description). Thank you