Rain. High 54F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a half an inch..
Rain likely. Low 51F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a half an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
If you haven’t heard already, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange are gracing the Washington Street side of Stone Bridge Brewing Co. in downtown Johnstown, thanks to the hard work of three really big self proclaimed “nerd-artists”
This installation is the only official Marvel Comics-approved public mural in the world, which is saying something, especially since Spider-Man’s co-creator, Steve Ditko, was from Johnstown.
Public murals have reached wider audiences thanks to social media, and have included thought-provoking imagery, political messaging, and tributes on a large scale.
Murals can leave the viewer with more questions than answers, sometimes a sense of unease or elation. Others can elicit a rebirth of community pride that had been missing before.
For these local artists, painting for others to see every day is a responsibility none took lightly and they are all proud to be called muralists. Art is – after all – subjective and murals – love it or not – are art forms.
Terrance Kaufmann is responsible for several well-known murals in and around the area, including Conrad Wholesale (Teak Street, Johnstown), The Freight Station (Matthew Street, Johnstown), and The Windber Hotel (15th Street, Windber).
A second mural is in the final stages of the design process, says Matt, and will be hung on the Bottle Work’s Tulip Building on Third Avenue. The third and final mural will be located in the West End neighborhood in the city where Steve grew up. A site is still being considered for this latest mural.
The mural serves as the perfect backdrop for brides and high school seniors alike looking for a unique snapshot, with a black background that pushes forth vibrant splashes of pink, blue, orange, and red flowers.
“Public art is so important to a community in terms of beautification and overall feel,” Melissa says. “We hope to be involved in more public art murals and various areas of the city in the future.”
If you haven’t heard already, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange are gracing the Washington Street side of Stone Bridge Brewing Co. in downtown Johnstown, thanks to the hard work of three really big self proclaimed “nerd-artists”
This installation is the only official Marvel Comics-approved public mural in the world, which is saying something, especially since Spider-Man’s co-creator, Steve Ditko, was from Johnstown.
Public murals have reached wider audiences thanks to social media, and have included thought-provoking imagery, political messaging, and tributes on a large scale.
Murals can leave the viewer with more questions than answers, sometimes a sense of unease or elation. Others can elicit a rebirth of community pride that had been missing before.
For these local artists, painting for others to see every day is a responsibility none took lightly and they are all proud to be called muralists. Art is – after all – subjective and murals – love it or not – are art forms.
Terrance Kaufmann is responsible for several well-known murals in and around the area, including Conrad Wholesale (Teak Street, Johnstown), The Freight Station (Matthew Street, Johnstown), and The Windber Hotel (15th Street, Windber).
A second mural is in the final stages of the design process, says Matt, and will be hung on the Bottle Work’s Tulip Building on Third Avenue. The third and final mural will be located in the West End neighborhood in the city where Steve grew up. A site is still being considered for this latest mural.
The mural serves as the perfect backdrop for brides and high school seniors alike looking for a unique snapshot, with a black background that pushes forth vibrant splashes of pink, blue, orange, and red flowers.
“Public art is so important to a community in terms of beautification and overall feel,” Melissa says. “We hope to be involved in more public art murals and various areas of the city in the future.”
Come on, Babe…why don’t we paint the town?
The popularity of murals and why the city’s empty walls are becoming one big blank canvas
During the 1930’s President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s ambitious New Deal spurred thousands of murals decorating state capitals and helping artists find work. It inspired a sense of nationalism and community pride, regaining what was lost in the years before. In the decades since, public murals have reached wider audiences thanks to social media, and have included thought-provoking imagery, political messaging, and tributes on a large scale.
In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the death of George Floyd was captured by a group of community artists on the side of a grocery store and memorialized through a mural that has been seen millions of times on the Internet and television, its now-iconic orange lettering with blue background that lists other black lives who have been claimed by gun violence. Banksy, an English graffiti artist, uses politics and satire, often together, to make a larger statement. Three years after Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005 in the city of New Orleans, he painted a slouching Abraham Lincoln on a decrepit building as a commentary on the slow progress to rebuild the city.
Murals can leave the viewer with more questions than answers, sometimes a sense of unease or elation. Others can elicit a rebirth of community pride that had been missing before. For these local artists, painting for others to see every day is a responsibility none took lightly and they are all proud to be called muralists. Art is – after all – subjective and murals – love it or not – are art forms.
Graffiti art started in the mid-1960’s, but was popularized in the 1980’s; its signature—the aerosol can—spraying modern street art over concrete and brick in cities across America and the world. Popping up in the most unlikely of places, current graffiti artists mix spray, markers, stencils, stickers, and paint.
Growing up in the outskirts of Washington DC, graffiti art was something in Terrance Kaufmann’s blood at a young age. He credits his parents’ support, who took him all around the city and the Baltimore area to visit other street artists’ work—work such as sticker bombing (where artists write on stickers and put it up on public places), tags, lettering, and murals. In his teen years, Terrance said he became an aerosol artist by specializing in graffiti. He would then spend the next 20 years traveling and learning about art until he eventually made his home in Windber in 2010 where he opened up his tattoo shop, Kink’D Ink Studio.
Terrance is responsible for several well-known murals in and around the area, including Conrad Wholesale (Teak Street, Johnstown), The Freight Station (Matthew Street, Johnstown), and The Windber Hotel (15th Street, Windber). Currently, he is wrapping up on the former O’Shea’s Candies near Solomon Homes in Johnstown with several other area artists. His art features bold colors, wildstyle lettering that’s iconic to graffiti styling, and heavy black lining that pops images out.
“I pushed out a lot of murals about humanity and life,” says Terrance, referencing his work prior to COVID-19. “But now it has been focused on a lot of mental health and suicide awareness.”
Terrance says family, specifically his children, has become front and center in everything he is doing.
“My kids and relationship have consumed my life.”
Terrance says that he is taking the lessons from the pandemic and the impact that it has had on the world, and putting his energy into large-scale projects. His new idea, being placed on the former Eureka Building in Windber, will have Lady Liberty battling the Four Horsemen.
“It is a clash between good and bad, dark and light. I want to show the positives using color and the negatives using shading and textures.”
When Queen-Poetri Dozier, or “Poe”, first got the call from the Johnstown Redevelopment Authority’s Executive Director Melissa Komar that she wanted a mural painted on Main Street in Johnstown, Poe hung up the phone.
“I thought it was a joke,” Poe laughs. But when she was contacted a second time, she knew the offer was real. Never having painted outside before, Poe wasn’t sure if she was up for the task, but she also knew she didn’t want to let Melissa down.
“When [Melissa] came to me and asked me to do it, I was filled with so much emotion. I was terrified of heights, but I couldn’t be afraid of my dreams.”
The thirty-year-old artist says she’s been drawing for her whole life, always creating something artistic, but painting has been a relatively recent venture that began with a Mother’s Day gift she did on a whim to surprise her mom. After such a thrilling reaction from friends and family, especially her mother, Poe continued with successfully, painting on canvas for other family and friends until the call for the mural came.
Her collaboration with Melissa began simply by using iconic images from Johnstown such as Morely’s Dog, the Stone Bridge, and the Incline; and various sayings to welcome newcomers. Drawing her sketch right onto the building, with a total of 1,700 number 2 pencils, Poe completed the mural with even some input from pedestrians walking by while she painted. The completed mural now sits between Visit Johnstown and United Jewelers.
“No matter how many times I climbed up the ladder and back down it with a quick prayer, I did it to complete the wall,” says Poe. “Now I have more walls to complete and it is only going to go up from here.”
Poe says that she is excited to know that her paintings around Johnstown, will continue on long after her. Bringing about positivity to the community, says Poe, drives her to continue to do such great work.
“Public art is so important to a community in terms of beautification and overall feel,” Melissa says. “We hope to be involved in more public art murals and various areas of the city in the future.”
Local business owners Chad Pysher and Steven Biter are collaborating with artist Todd Stiffler to continue to change the visual landscape of Cambria City and seal it with the moniker, the “Art District”, loud and clear.
Under their umbrella company, Stella Property Development, the couple has commissioned three outside murals with a fourth on the way in collaboration with Todd, who has his studio, Sitara Art, behind the pair’s Cambria City Flower Shop, where one of the more iconic murals is displayed.
The mural serves as the perfect backdrop for brides and high school seniors alike looking for a unique snapshot, with a black background that pushes forth vibrant splashes of pink, blue, orange, and red flowers.
“It has become a destination,” says Chad.
Other murals in Cambria City Todd has tackled since he began large-scale painting 5 years ago have included Brigid’s Cross (6th Avenue) and St. Mary’s Byzantine Church (Power Street).
“For me, it is an attainable goal. I cannot fix whatever infrastructure problems there are, but I can paint something really nice someone else can see every day in the community. It is a big change you can make with such little investment,” Todd says, who went to school for graphic art. Together, the three believe they have a lot to contribute to the neighborhood.
“We live here and we are invested here—it is our livelihood,” says Chad.
If you haven’t heard already, Spider-Man and Doctor Strange are gracing the Washington Street side of Stone Bridge Brewing Co. in downtown Johnstown, thanks to the hard work of three really big self proclaimed “nerd-artists” —public art consultant Michael Allison, Bottle Works creative director Matthew Lamb, and employee and artist Glenn Klimeck. This installation is the only official Marvel Comics-approved public mural in the world, which is saying something, especially since Spider-Man’s co-creator, Steve Ditko, was from Johnstown.
The mural, installed in mid-June, is a massive 29-foot tall and 49-foot wide comic book graphic depiction that any fan would love. The bright reds and blues, with splashes of mustard yellow, are a signature of the identifiable art. Community members over two months were allowed to help paint the panels, then they were carefully lifted in pieces using scaffolding. An acrylic gel adhesive secured the panels into place and a clear coat sealed it up to make it permanent once Klimeck and Lamb made touch-ups to the mural.
“It means a lot to me that Steve was born here in Johnstown,” says Matt. “He has inspired all of us here and will continue to inspire the young people everywhere.”
A second mural is in the final stages of the design process, says Matt, and will be hung on the Bottle Work’s Tulip Building on Third Avenue. The third and final mural will be located in the West End neighborhood in the city where Steve grew up. A site is still being considered for this latest mural.
“It has been a two-year process, and to see it completed is amazing,” says Matt. “And now we are moving onto the second one—that is just great to see.”
Johnstown Magazine is a positive and forward-thinking monthly publication for the people of our region. Focusing on lifestyle pieces, biographies, food and drink and more, we cover the Greater Johnstown area and the residents that make it unique. A publication of The Tribune-Democrat.
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