Carnegie public art project brightens borough

Crossing the West Main Street Bridge in Carnegie will be a brighter and more colorful experience, thanks to a new public art project.

The borough’s first public art project sought to bring an uplifting voice to community spaces, and that voice was found in local artist Alicia Kesneck. She, along with her husband, Nathan, Carlynton High School art teacher Marlynn Vayanos, local high school and elementary school students, and several community helpers brought her beautiful concept to life.

The bridge, formerly a dull gray, has been painted with vibrant colors, showing icons of Carnegie and a variety of flowers with a very special meaning.

“Every flower that’s there stands for a different ethnicity, so everyone’s represented in Carnegie,” Kesneck said.

Representing each community in Carnegie was a high priority in Kesneck’s design, and there are 20 flowers on the bridge. Additionally, several icons of multiculturalism can be found in the bridge’s new paint job.

The mural also includes a heart design that contains the Carnegie clan tartan, a colorful plaid pattern that pays homage to the town’s namesake, Andrew Carnegie.

The project came to Kesneck after health problems inspired her to look for reasons to make the world more beautiful.

“I wanted to be able to smile again. My goal was painting a sunflower, and they offered me the bridge mural project,” she said.

Now there are many flowers painted along the bridge, including that sunflower.

Bob Podurgiel, a member of the Shade Tree Commission in Carnegie, put Kesneck in touch with Deneen Underwood in Carnegie Borough Administration, and Kesneck was able to submit a proposal for the project to borough council for approval.

Kesneck said that the opportunity to make the proposal was a chance to give some of herself to the community, and to get everyone involved as well.

“I said, ‘I’m going to be me. If I do this project, I want the kids involved, I want as many people involved as possible.’ Get them all out there painting, get them all involved.”

Ten students from Carlynton High School and Carnegie Elementary School were involved with the transformation of the bridge, a project that took several days of painting. They were encouraged by passersby, who offered words of inspiration and even refreshments like pizza and doughnuts.

“I know a lot of the kids and heard a lot of what they said about Alicia [Kesneck], and they just love her,” Underwood said.

“We are so excited to be a part of this community art project. It was wonderful for students to hear so much positive feedback from passersby while working on the mural,” Vayanos said.

Many other members of the community also made this project possible. Marlene Smith Pendleton, who owns MS Designs Inc. on East Main Street, opened up her space for paint storage and even provided water and space for washing brushes. Marie DeSimone, who owns Nailed it DIY, came to the bridge to help with the project as well. Even the paint came at a reduced price – Carnegie PPG Paints provided a discount on the paint purchased for the project, as well as advice on paint and primer.

The community’s assistance is evidence of how important Carnegie’s artistic streak has been for the borough.

“There’s a lot going on in the arts, really driving the comeback of the town. This is a resilient town,” said Bob Podurgiel.

Both Podurgiel and Underwood extol the virtues of Alicia Kesneck’s work, and they can’t wait to work with her in the future.

“I told Alicia, ‘send some more Alicias!’” Podurgiel said.

Underwood is looking forward to more public art projects, some of which will be coming soon.

“Alicia lives in the community, so there’s definitely going to be art involvement in the future … she has a lot of great ideas,” Underwood said.

Kesneck is also looking forward to future projects.

“It has been awesome. I love working with kids … working on the bridge brightened back up my life,” she said.

She has even joined the Borough’s Shade Tree Commission as its secretary, and will also be participating in the upcoming Monarch Butterfly Festival on July 11.

There are plans to place a QR Code on the bridge so that pedestrians and motorists can find out more about the bridge by scanning the code with their phones.

Alicia Kesneck hopes that she has helped her community find some joy around them.

“It’s my own way of saying ‘I got you.’ I might not be the biggest, toughest or richest, but I can make you smile,” she said.