Local artists 'raccoonize' creative uses for Rainbow Raccoon Park in Millvale

Artists, performers, DJs and dancers from across Pittsburgh gathered Oct. 18 to welcome Millvale’s tallest resident with a big party.

The 12.5-foot-tall, 5,000-pound steel raccoon was installed the week before in Rainbow Raccoon Park, a former junkyard off Route 28.

After the long-awaited arrival of the statue, it was up to Mike Schwarz of Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood to promote the new park as a place for entertainers, musicians and artists to work and share their talents with others in the community.

Schwarz, the founder and owner of Wicked Pittsburgh, advocates for local artists by giving them a central platform and a way for consumers to locate a specific type of artist for events.

Core Collective Entertainment is a group of artists who work with Schwarz’s company, and many of their dancers and musicians performed at the event.

“It’s all the strange and different acts that you can imagine. Core Collective Entertainment has fire eaters, jugglers, dancers, circus-type stuff and a ton more. I’m glad we can partner with them,” Schwarz said.

Schwarz, a Pittsburgh native and photographer by trade, originally felt like he couldn’t earn a fair wage in the Steel City so he moved to Los Angeles. Now, he’s back and trying to revive the digital music scene in Pittsburgh.

“So much changed, and I just feel like the electronic dance community here got crazy and fell off,” Schwarz said. “I just want musicians and artists to be able to earn a good wage and do what they love. That’s why I’m doing this. All these performers are making a fair wage tonight at this event so it can be done. I want to see more of it.”

Pittsburgh’s creative scene includes a plethora of artists and performers. And nobody enjoys the opportunity to dance and entertain more than the electronic dance and music community.

Various fast-paced styles of electronic music such as drum and base, techno, house, trance and others was popular locally — and all over the world — in the 1990s and early 2000s.

“This park could be a place that we use to revitalize the electronic music genre and the dance that people enjoy with it. This could be a safe environment where dancers and DJs could earn money and gain popularity,” Schwarz said.

Schwarz and others who participated in the opening ceremony, as well as in the construction and placement of the raccoon, spent countless hours putting the project together.

The park is the result of years of work by the Millvale Community Development Corporation and community collaborators.

“The Grable and Henry L. Hillman foundations were huge donors in this project. They need a huge thank-you,” Schwarz said.

Additionally, students from the Shaler Area School District decided on the name of the park and design of the space. Members of the high school’s Sustainability Club collected hundreds of pounds of plastic caps and lids that were recycled into a colorful bench.

The 600-piece steel raccoon was assembled in Braddock and delivered to the park fully constructed.

Professional fabricator Filip Agren put the components together at Standard & Custom, his specialty metals shop.

“We used Colter Steel for the entire project. Colter Steel is made right here locally, and it is the same material used to build the steel building,” Agren said.

After Agren completed the massive raccoon, it had to be transported to Millvale. That was no easy task.

“A lowboy trailer and truck was used to transport the giant metal critter. Upon arrival, Sunbelt Rentals provided the lift to remove the raccoon from the trailer and place it in its current location,” Agren said.

The raccoon proved to be the perfect spot for DJs to set up inside and spin music for the dance party. Colorful lights emanated from statue and bounced off its surface as sound systems pumped out the beats.

Squares of vibrant yarns stitched together by local knitters were draped over the statue’s arms and head.

The party was a hit.

Now, artists, residents and visitors can enjoy the massive raccoon and find more uses for the park.