Murals, Asylum Houses, Randyland and Tunnels

07/17/12 239.5# 35m

Rode 35 miles around downtown Pittsburgh, starting in the North Side and some neighborhoods I'm not yet familiar with. The first mural of the day was Children's Alphabet Garden, by Mary Mazziotti in an open lot at 1313 Sherman Ave.



A serendipitious discovery was Than Htay Maung's work at 324 Sampsonia Way, which wraps around two corners of the City of Asylum house and depicts a tableau ranging from the artist's native Burma to Pittsburgh's NorthSide. (read more)



In the adjacent property, Just Be Good by Oliver Lake wraps around the exterior of another City of Asylum house at 320 Sampsonia Way. (read more)



My next unexpected discovery was Randyland, downtown waiter Randy Gilson's three-lot parcel at Jacksonia and Arch streets - which is a gallery/residence for artists.



Then the second planned mural of the day (and final bit of artwork for today's post, thank you) was Birds Not Words, by Stevo Sadvary at 1300 Federal Street. The mural looks as if it were made of stained glass.



With that I rode across the Ft. Duquesne Bridge, out the Convention Center Trail to the Strip District, and stopped at Enrico Biscotti and got a biscotti and a coconut macaroon - very, very good.

Rode the Jail Trail, Panther Hollow, the Hazelwood Trail, crossed the Hot Metal Bridge, and rode south the Keystone Metals. Reversed to South Side Works and saw the work being done on excavating Tunnel Park for CSX's National Gateway project, to make the tunnel taller to accommodate double-height trains — because once the the Panama Canal is expanded in 2014, they'll need more rail capacity to carry the freight.



Ft. Pitt Bridge, Ft. Duquesne Bridge, back to the Bastille; 35 miles.