'80s-themed fundraiser to support arts projects in downtown New Kensington

An upcoming fundraiser that promises to be “totally tubular” will support art in downtown New Kensington.

The event, ’80s for the Arts, will be Saturday, April 16 at Voodoo Brewery New Kensington.

It is being sponsored by Voodoo Brewery, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, New Kensington Art Center and the New Ken Downtown Partnership.

Tickets cost $25.

The winners of a 1980s costume contest will get a private candlelight dinner for two at Voodoo, operations manager Michelle Thom said.

Proceeds from the event will support an artist-in-residency program at Valley High School and the expansion of the “Wings Across Westmore­land” program into New Kensington.

Bernie Wilke, an artist from East Liberty, will work with students at Valley High School to create art that will be displayed downtown.

With the help of city residents, Wilke created the three-story New Kensington community mural on Fourth Avenue at Ninth Street that was dedicated about a year ago.

Wilke said his plan is to work with students on street art projects, which include “creative sidewalk improvements” and small murals at various locations.

Ray Sharkins teaches visual art at the high school. He expects about 10 students in the high-level art classes to participate and work with Wilke in April or May.

“Bernie’s artwork is just so impressive,” Sharkins said. “To know we can work with him and have our students be able to put that on their resume that they were able to work with him would be a great benefit for them.”

The ‘Wings’ display

The Westmoreland Cultural Trust, which owns and manages The Palace Theatre in Greensburg, started “Wings Across Westmoreland” in 2019. It grew out of the trust’s “Art in the Alley” project, in which the first set of angel wings were among the art installed in an alley next to the theater’s courtyard in 2018.

Designed by Patrick Mahoney and his daughter Riley, the wings feature local landmarks and are popular for photos.

Seeing an opportunity to build relationships with other communities, wings have since been installed in Jeanette, Ligonier, Youngwood, Mt. Pleasant, Smithton and Vandergrift, according to Adam Seifert, manager of corporate and community engagement for the trust.

In addition to New Kensington, wings are also slated to be placed this year in Trafford, Monessen and Irwin, Seifert said.

New Kensington’s wings are expected to be placed in a parklet along Fifth Avenue at Eighth Street, known as Gazebo Park and where The Liberty Theater had once stood.

Thom said the parklet was chosen because it is publicly accessible and for the Coca-Cola “ghost mural” backdrop there.

“We plan to install the wings on a stand. That comes with a little higher price tag, hence the fundraiser,” Thom said.

Residents have already submitted suggestions for the images that will be included in the wings, Seifert said. They are now being designed.

Seifert said they hope to have the wings installed in New Kensington later this summer.

“It will be a fun landmark for people to come see,” said Jamie Smittle, vice president of the New Kensington Art Center.