Wings Across Westmoreland unveiled in Irwin

Irwin area residents will get a chance to see — and have their picture taken with — the latest installment of Wings Across Westmoreland set to be unveiled at noon Thursday at The Lamp Theatre in the 200 block of Main Street.

This Wings Across Westmoreland — two coated black metal angel wings with a design of landmarks and sites that speak to the culture and history of tech town — was erected this week on a pillar at The Lamp Theatre’s courtyard.

The two wings, famed in the shape of a pair of wings so that a 5-foot-9-inch person would have them sprouting from their shoulders, are adorned with icons. The scenes include the Irwin Volunteer Fire Department, Irwin Park, police, the town’s Clock Tower Building, the Irwin car cruise, the Irwin Veterans Memorial, the Fourth Street Arch and the John Irwin House. The design is printed digitally onto the metal, said Rob Fejes, owner of Fejes Signs of Jeannette, which made the one-quarter-inch-thick wings. The wings are laminated with a weather-resistant coating.

“Community conversations help shape the Wings and inspire dialogue to continue well beyond the installation,” said April Kopas, Westmoreland Cultural Trust CEO.

Placing the wings in Irwin was the result of a partnership between the Westmoreland Cultural Trust and the non-profit Lamp Theatre Corp. board of directors. Members of the Lamp board of directors donated money to pay for the wings.

“It’s great to have a community like Irwin participate in the Wings program,” said John Gdula, Lamp Theatre board president.

“It’s a proud community with great ties to its past,” Gdula said.

The final design was the result of a collaboration among members of a local committee, in discussion with former cultural trust artist Patrick Mahoney and his daughter, Riley, on what best represents the community, Gdula said. Representatives from The Lamp, Irwin Borough, Norwin Public Library, and Norwin Historical Society helped choose landmarks to include in the design.

“Irwin takes tremendous pride in our community and the history behind it. The wings highlight how we started as an industrial staple, then evolved to community members keeping Irwin alive and buzzing with shows, events, and businesses still thriving,” said Shari Martino, borough manager.

The Wings Across Westmoreland project began in 2018 with a large set of metal wings designed by Patrick Mahoney, the incubator artist with the cultural trust, placed against a building off the North Main Street parking lot in Greensburg. Those wings Greensburg sites, past and present, including the Westmoreland County Courthouse, The Palace Theatre and other distinctive downtown sites. They have been a backdrop for selfies, senior portraits and wedding photos.

The Wings project become popular enough that other communities wanted their own set of wings. The cultural trust in 2019 expanded the initiative, installing the Wings at Overly’s Country Christmas at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds near Norvelt, at Sobel’s Obscure Brewery in Jeannette, Ligonier Town Hall, the Mount Pleasant Library, Trafford Municipal Building complex, the Casino Theatre in Vandergrift, the Five Star Trail parking lot in Youngwood and Smithton Borough Building.

Two other Wings projects are in the planning and design stages — in West Newton and New Kensington.