Downtown Activation + Public Art
Developed in 2013, the Downtown Activation and Public Art initiative is a multi-year effort to enhance the Downtown neighborhood through public art events, creating thoughtful and innovative programming that enlivens unique areas throughout Downtown Pittsburgh. Our efforts employ object-, programming-, and community-based strategies to create a more sustainable neighborhood.
Over the past few years, the PDP has successfully implemented a number of programs to enhance the vibrancy of Downtown, from the transformation of Market Square and the expansion of our programming to the installation of public art in Strawberry Way. To build upon these efforts, the PDP will continue to initiate a range of programs and installations that enliven Downtown.
Smithfield Street Now Seeking Artists for Permanent Sculptural Lighting Installation
The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership (PDP) has issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for artists to design a permanent sculptural lighting installation as part of the Smithfield Street Reconstruction Project. Scheduled to begin construction in 2026, this project will expand Smithfield Street’s emerging reputation as a public art corridor.
The RFQ is open to individuals and artist-led teams that have at least one visual artist. Three finalists will receive a $5,000 honorarium to develop conceptual designs. One selected artist will be awarded a $15,000 commission design fee, with an implementation budget of $300,000 for the final installation.
- Deadline to apply: July 21, 2025 at 11:59 p.m.
- Virtual Info Session: June 23, 2025 at 5 p.m. EST (RSVP to attend; attendance is not mandatory to apply)
- Learn more & view RFQ: View Full RFQ
- Apply here: https://publicart.slideroom.com
Plastisphere: A Sinking Reality, 2025
by La Vispera
57 Heinz Center
Plastisphere: A Sinking Reality is the latest work of La Vispera, an artist collective formed by Kelly Jimenez and Alejandro Franco. This striking display uses discarded single-use plastics to raise awareness about the impacts of these unsustainable materials on the ecosystem.
Shadow Gallery, 2024
by Clear Story
Coffey Way
With support from the PDP’s Uncommon & Curated Fund and a grant provided by the Colcom Foundation, the Shadow Gallery was created by Pittsburgh-based lighting design and production firm Clear Story, and is now operational in the evening hours.
“The installation creates an experiential conversation between the patterns of light projection across the surfaces of Coffey Way and the images contained within the lightboxes,” said Rob Long, Principal and Design Director of Clear Story, a Pittsburgh-based design and consulting firm.
Elemental, 2024
by Carolina Loyola-Garcia
One Oxford Centre
Elemental is a site-specific multi-channel video installation designed to showcase a loop of nature videos depicting the ocean, an active erupting volcano, snow, wind, sunsets, clouds, and flora. The alternating footage of nature provides passersby a moment to wonder and a window into worlds far from the downtown business atmosphere. It is meant to serve as a moment of respite or as an invitation to a few minutes of meditation or solace. Read artist statement.
Emerging Visions 2.0 – “Send My Love to the Hill,” 2024
by Charlese Dawson
Seventh Ave
Charlese Dawson’s “Send My Love to the Hill” is a love letter to the neighborhood where she grew up, connecting the past and present of both The Hill and her own experiences to imagine the future. Complemented by poet Jhordan Price near the corner of Seventh Ave and William Penn Place, Dawson’s work invites pedestrians and drivers to pause in their commutes and journeys to contemplate the life and joys of residents of the Hill District today.
Paint The Town Purple, 2024
by Babesburgh
Mellon Square
Babesburgh is proud to launch Paint the Town Purple, a new public art exhibition funded by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership’s Placemaking Grant. Paint the Town Purple offers passersby a chance to see a visual, historical representation of 16 important women in Pittsburgh as imagined and illustrated by four Pittsburgh-based female artists. These incredible, colorful illustrations will be on display along Smithfield Street, at Mellon Square Park.
Market Square Moment: Good Service, 2024
by Rigel Richardson
Produced by the PDP, Market Square Moment is a new platform to showcase large-scale art on a 20-by-50-foot frame on the building facade of 8 Market Square, home to Pizzaiolo Primo, towering above the intersection of Market Square and Forbes Ave. This platform will allow for a new, original work of art to be selected for the display on a regular basis.
For the inaugural installation, a regional call for artists was conducted by Shiftworks, leading the selection of a painting by Pittsburgh-based Mexican American artist Rigel Richardson titled Good Service, a work inspired by the nature found in backyards and gardens in Millvale.
Emerging Visions, 2023
Various artists
Liberty Ave
This collaboration with Silver Eye Center for Photography features the works of rising Pittsburgh artists on the windows of currently vacant storefronts along Liberty Ave., creating a public art gallery in the heart of Downtown.
Planting Seeds: Taking Steps, 2023
by Do What We Love
Smithfield Street
The vibrant murals adorning the Frank & Seder Building at 441 Smithfield Street beautifully encapsulate nature’s tranquility and the bustling cityscape, adding a burst of color to a prominent corner of Downtown. They are part of the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership’s Great Route Project, a transformative initiative aimed at enhancing the pedestrian experience in Downtown Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh Postcard, 2022
by Phil Seth
6th Street
Designed and painted by Pittsburgh native Phil Seth, this mural was created as part of efforts to enhance 6th Street as a destination dining corridor in the heart of Downtown’s Cultural District. This work is made possible with the generous support of the Benter Foundation.
Rainbow Road, 2022
by Max Gonzales & Shane Pilster
and students from Pittsburgh CAPA
Strawberry Way
This new 440-foot long street mural has transformed Downtown’s Strawberry Way into a vibrant work of public art created by students of Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts.
Greedy Pigeons, 2022
by Josie Norton
Market Square
Judah, 2022
by Curtis Reeves
Downtown Renown, 2020
by Gavin Benjamin
The “Downtown Renown” installation features 14 artworks and stories that celebrate the careers of Pittsburgh sports icons and athletic groundbreakers. Installed in windows around Downtown, find artistic renderings of household names from Mario Lemieux and Franco Harris, to Swin Cash, Dan McCoy, and more, showcasing a breadth of talent and accomplishments that is truly inspirational.
Garrison Canal, 2018
by Andrea Polli
Garrison Street
If you were disappointed to see the beautiful lighted artwork, Energy Flow, disappear from the Rachel Carson Bridge, you will be happy to learn that lighted elements of the original artwork have been re-used to create a dynamic new piece: Garrison Canal. Andrea Polli, who created the original work, has created the new light work which turns the Garrison Place alleyway into an imaginary underwater future world of big data.
Walking Tours & Publications
Thanks to our friends at the Office of Public Art and Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, you can download free self-guided walking tours and a variety of publications detailing even more public art on display in and around Downtown. Visit their website.
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412-566-4190
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Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership
The Bank Tower
307 Fourth Avenue – Floor 2
Pittsburgh, PA 15222