New sculptures are part of improvements to Squirrel Hill's Wightman Park

A bee, a butterfly and a lightning bug gather at a park next to a waterfall.

This isn’t the opening of a joke — it’s a public art project that’s part of $4.2 million in improvements to Wightman Park in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood.

The park is set to reopen next week when the project, in the works since 2018, is complete.

Exciting News - Wightman Park will be ready to re-open to the public after October 28, 2020!

Thanks to everyone that dedicated their time, resources, and energy to bring this project to fruition, creating a sustainable and green space that our kids can enjoy for years to come!

— PGH District 8 (@PGHDistrict8) October 21, 2020

The artwork consists of four stainless steel sculptures made by Pittsburgh area artists Oreen Cohen and Alison Zapata of OOA Designs (pronounced “ooo-ahh”).

“It’s really satisfying. It was our first time working with a construction crew and engineers to create the sculpture,” Cohen said.

In the works since 2018 when the park renovation started, Cohen, 34, is a Rochester native now based in Millvale. She and Zapata, 45, a Pittsburgh native, teamed up to form OOA Designs and were chosen to craft the piece.

It consists of four stainless steel sculptures: a bench that’s crafted to look like a waterfall called Cascade and three bugs, a butterfly called Transform, a bee called Pollinate and a lightning bug called Illuminate.

Glass panels from Jeannette Glass will also be installed in the work to mark the park’s heritage of being the home of the former Lorenz & Wightman Glass Co.

Glass artist Ashley McFarland of the Pittsburgh Glass Center and Protohaven Makerspace also assisted, as did students from Community Day School in Squirrel Hill.

The students worked to design the bugs in a workshop with Cohen and Zapata, who translated their design into stainless steel that was laser-cut using the waste materials from the larger Transform sculpture, Cohen said.

“It’s always been a goal of mine to be a public artist,” Cohen said. “It’s just been really interesting. It’s very different from working in a gallery setting.”

The edges of the work have been rounded off and the holes in them are safe for kids to play around, she said.

Installation of the sculpture is wrapping up this week and the park itself is set to reopen next week.

Improvements are well under way at Wightman Park in #Pittsburgh's Squirrel Hill!

This park improvement project not only rehabs a neighborhood gem, it will be a key player in @pgh2o stormwater management. pic.twitter.com/tHD2d2mJp0

— Pittsburgh Public Works (@PGHDPW) May 15, 2020

The project was funded by the city’s Public Works department’s capital budget.