COMMUNITY TRAIL ART INITIATIVE

The Community Trail Art Initiative (CTAI) combines place-based eco-literacy and art to invest trailside communities in the 150-mile Great Allegheny Passage (GAP). Its aim is to increase grassroots participation and stewardship of the trail along the 19-mile Steel Valley Trail section of the GAP, between Clairton and Pittsburgh. We are particularly interested in encouraging young people to develop a personal involvement in their trail. This will help them see the ecological, social, and economic benefits of the trail in their community.

For 2009, we are expanding our scope to include the trails and community in Mt. Washington. The Grand View Scenic Byway Park encircles Mt. Washington and offers stunning views of Pittsburgh and the three rivers. Partnering with the Mt. Washington Community Development Corporation (MWCDC), we are offering free, after-school ecoliteracy and trail art programs for middle and high-school aged youth through the Ream Recreation Center that will result in trail art banners for both Mt. Washington and Pittsburgh trails. Our program will culminate in a region-wide Community Health, Art, and Trails Fest (CHAT) on Mt. Washington over Labor Day weekend. If your children would like to participate in our Mt. Washington program, please contact us. We are seeking funding to support these programs. If you can help, please contact us. See our About page for contact information.

For 2008, we partnered with Propel Middle Schools in Homestead and McKeesport. Students researched, designed, and produced banners that were installed along their section of the trail. Their banners greeted cyclists on the PNC Legacy Ride in honor of Pittsburgh's 250th Anniversary.

For 2007, we focused our efforts on McKeesport and Pittsburgh to capitalize on the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s 6th Annual Greenway Sojourn, June 23-30, 2007. Thirty unique art banners were produced and mounted in McKeesport and Pittsburgh to welcome the 500 sojourners from 34 states cycling from Washington D.C. to Pittsburgh. Trail art banners were designed by students and painted through a series of community workshops open to the public.

This site provides a virtual tour of the banners produced in 2007-08, including school and community workshops and related events. If you would like to see banners or other trail art along the trails in your backyard, please contact us: art4trails [at] gmail.com