What's That: Greensburg's Art in the Alley

A alley between the Union Trust Building and the Palace Theatre in Greensburg is more that just a shortcut from a parking lot to the Westmoreland County Courthouse.

Since 2018 its been home to about 50 pieces of art affixed the building’s facades that onlookers can examine day and night.

Officials with the Westmoreland Cultural Trust unveiled the Art in the Alley project four years ago as a way to promote local artists and improve what had previously been a drab downtown pass-through to the courthouse.

“The purpose was to beautify the alley because a lot of people walk through it and it really needed sprucing up,” said Jennifer Benford, director and marketing and development for the cultural trust. “It’s another attention-grabber to bring people in.”

From smaller paintings to murals, the project features local artists including some who rented studio space in the trust’s building that runs adjacent to the Wilcox Way alley that starts in front of the Greensburg Fire Department No. 2, a block from Main Street and along side the Palace Theatre to Otterman Street.

Sarah Hunter, 32, a Greensburg-based artist has three pieces that appear in the alley.

A native of Wampum, a small community in Lawrence County, Hunter came to Westmoreland County to attend Saint Vincent College in 2008 and has since made the city her home.

“Seeing my pieces there makes me feel that I am part of this town,” Hunter said.

Her works include a metal print and a poem along with a mural she and former studio mate, Stacey Pydynkowski created in 2019 that sits at the north side of the alley.

“It’s nice to know that my art can connect with people who I don’t know. Once in a while I’ll be in that parking lot and see people looking at my work and see they are discussing it and that means something to me,” Hunter said.

Marc Snyder, 57, of Latrobe, also once rented studio space in the Union Trust building but now runs his own gallery in Greensburg. Snyder’s has two pieces in the alley, including one that depicts an astronaut walking through a city scene and another that features images of Pittsburgh native Andy Warhol.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to get my work out there in the public,” Snyder said.

Western Pennsylvania’s challenging weather requires that artists periodically touch up their work to ensure they remain vibrant, Benford said.

And according to Benford the project continues to evolve.

Additional works are being added as others are rotated out and installed inside in the Cultural Trusts offices. Two new pieces were installed this spring.

“We just want to show off all the talent we have in Westmoreland County,” Benford said.