Community mosaic project draws contributions from Pittsburgh and beyond

Shawn Gold of Butler was vacationing in Puerto Vallarta on the western coast of Mexico when he began noticing some of the striking public art installations in the area.

“I looked into them and met a woman, Natasha Moraga, who is creating just unbelievable works of art, including community mosaics,” said Gold, 51, who is the owner of the CoExist Glass Gallery in Steelton, Dauphin County.

Moraga’s philosophy is to use art to transform run-down public spaces and create not just attractive artwork, but also public gathering spaces.

As someone with an appreciation for creativity and artwork, Gold decided to sponsor one of Moraga’s larger mosaic pieces, and started looking for ways to bring more of that sense of community to Steelton.

“When I first came here, we looked around and saw that Steelton was a struggling town,” he said. “So we’d host events we called ‘Unity through Community,’ providing food and entertainment.”

Gold began looking for a project that could instill a sense of ownership in the community among Steelton residents, and ultimately settled on a community mosaic mural of his own, focused on flowers and garden-themed items, which will be installed on the side of the CoExist gallery building on the town’s Front Street later this summer.

In addition to seeking out local artists from the area, Gold is reaching out to friends both near and far, from the Pittsburgh area and across the globe.

Artist Carrie Strope of Lincoln, Neb., an integrated learning specialist with the Nebraska Arts Council’s Artists in Schools and Communities program, is among those contributing pieces.

“I met Shawn through some glass events and noticed he was posting about the mosaic project in Puerto Vallarta,” Strope said. “I reached out because it piqued my interest.”

Now, Strope is working on several mosaic flowers that will become part of the CoExist mosaic. She said everything about the project resonates with her.

“I really enjoy getting people working together and communicating, and doing some creative thinking around the process,” she said.

Butler artist Tom Panei, 52, is also going to contribute a piece of the mosaic.

“I do a lot of abstract, colorful flowing art,” Panei said. “I don’t have a plan in my head right now, but that’s probably the line it will follow. Usually I never know the design until I start.”

Bernadette Gerbe, 57, owner of Gerbe Glass in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood, is creating what are called cabochons, glass or gemstones that have been polished and shaped, but not faceted.

The intricately detailed pieces are about 2-and-a-half inches in diameter, made of clear glass with a flame-worked flower inside.

“I take rods and tubes of glass, and melt them to make different things,” Gerbe said. “For this, I melt it into a sphere, squash that into a disc, and on the bottom, I take colored glass I’ve prepared ahead of time to ‘paint’ the first layer of petals of a flower.”

Having previously lived just a couple miles up the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg, Gerbe also has a local connection to the Steelton project.

“I love giving back to the community,” she said. Panei agreed.

“I’m excited to be a small part of a big project,” he said. “It’s cool collaborating with other artists you’ll never meet, while creating a small piece of the overall mosaic,” he said.

Gold said he would like submitted pieces to be mailed by July 1, with the goal of assembling the mosaic in late August. In addition to the mosaic project, CoExist is also getting a local farmers’ market going and is planning a “Mardi Gras in July” event in the town.

“With Steelton being such a small town, we want people to understand that the world is big, there’s a lot of people and we’re all the same,” he said. “We all need to work together, and I think we can create something great.”

For more, or to get involved with the project, see CoExistGallery.com.