I did not recognize George Washington in this bronze sculpture done by James West on Mt. Washington. I suppose I can be forgiven, seeing as how I never met the guy in person. He is also not wearing his iconic powdered wig. The view he and Guyasuta have from up there is amazing; I would even posit the best view that any sculpture in Pittsburgh has (and I swear that I wrote that before finding this PopCityMedia article).

Guyasuta was a leader of the Seneca tribe who has also had a Boy Scout camp and fire department named in his honor. He and GW met in 1770 along the Ohio River and negotiated about trade, that the Seneca wanted, and settlements that violated the Royal Proclamation of 1763 that they didn’t. Washington only wrote in his diary that they parted as friends.

The sculpture was erected in 2006, so Discovering Pittsburgh Sculpture doesn’t have anything to say on it I thought I saw Our Boy Mayor Ravenstahl in the accompanying sign, but I couldn’t be quite sure… seeing as how most of it has worn away already. Your city at work, ladies and gentlemen!

The statue was cast at A.R.T. Research Enterprises in Lancaster, PA, which happens to be where I grew up.

I’m really amazed at how quickly the bronze has aged! Take a look at the color of the statue when it was put up in 2006 versus now, just 3 years later:

photo courtesy of the Post Gazette
2006	2009

I’m amused that from the angle that I took the 2009 picture there, it looks like they are kissing. I like that interpretation better than the “mood… of tension and balance” that PopCity sees.

James West is a local developer, which can be somewhat of a dirty word in Pittsburgh, but West seems to be one of the good ones. His efforts fundraising and creating this sculpture and then donating it to the city have helped make this park a beautiful piece of green space on some prime property. He’s also a member of Hiram’s Riders, a Pittsburgh motorcycling club. He has hopes that the symbolism of resolving personal differences will inspire people to do the same, perhaps working on marital differences while watching the sunset and then going to have a nice, expensive dinner at one of the Mt. Washington restaurants. Sounds good to me!

The statue is part of the Mt. Washington Community Development Corporation’s efforts to improve the parks in the area. The materials for the statue cost about $130,000, covered by private donors, while the city donated the land, material for the base and a handicapped-accessible sidewalk.

The statue of Christopher Columbus in Schenley Park was one of the first mysteries of Pittsburgh for me when I started at Pitt. Why would there be a statue of him HERE? He was never anywhere near Pittsburgh!

I now know that there was an effort started in 1909 at the first celebration of Columbus Day to erect a monument to him in Pittsburgh, and that it took almost 50 years for the funds to be raised (pg 182). Most of the fundraising efforts were headed by the Sons of Columbus of America, an organization founded from combining 3 other organizations. It has chapters across the country but the headquarters remain in Pittsburgh.

The statue is bronze and is one of Frank Vittor’s many sculptures around Pittsburgh. Anthony Vittori, his brother, did the granite base. I think I actually like the base better– perhaps it’s because it’s easier to see! Columbus is too high. I love this sun on the back of the base.

The ship on Columbus’ right side has a pattern of one forward C and one backward C alternating on it, which I didn’t notice until I read about it at this site devoted to memorials to Columbus.

As you can see in this picture, it’s quite close to the University of Pittsburgh, but it’s not where the original permit applied to put it. Apparently they wanted it to be where Schenley Plaza is now, which was denied because it would interfere with the “grand entrance” to the park as a memorial to Mary Schenley. This is pretty funny since the grand entrance didn’t get completed until just a few years ago and was a parking lot for quite a while.

Poorly stitched together photos of the restoration plaque

The piece was restored in 1992 for the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ journey at a cost of $150,000. It was vandalized in 1997, just before 505th anniversary celebrations were held there, and painted red with the words “505 years of resistance” as a protest (allegedly) made by Native Americans against the idolization of Columbus. I’ve never really understood why he was so famous– he didn’t set foot on the continent, he wasn’t even the first to do so, and he didn’t get where he was trying to go in the first place!