Pittsburgh plans to find space for historic abstract mosaic

Pittsburgh is planning to conduct a study to find suitable quarters for unique artwork dating to Pittsburgh’s first renaissance.

City Council on Tuesday introduced a resolution that would authorize the hiring of Hill District-based E. Holdings for $25,000 to conduct a feasibility study on the “reconceptualization and reinstallation” of a 28-piece mosaic created in 1964 by late artist Virgil Cantini.

Pittsburgh last year had the mosaic removed from a pedestrian tunnel linking Chatham Street and Seventh Avenue behind the U.S. Steel Building, Downtown. PennDOT demolished the tunnel under Bigelow Boulevard during construction of a $26.4 million cap over the Crosstown Expressway.

Dan Gilman, Mayor Bill Peduto’s chief of staff, said the city intends to install the mosaic in a “historically correct” environment. Cantini created the mosaic to be featured in a tunnel. Suggestions for its relocation have ranged from the enclosed Portal Bridge in Point State Park to other pedestrian tunnels in the city.

The abstract mosaic consists of colored glass set in concrete and represents a bird’s eye view of the city at night and in the day.

An Italian immigrant, Cantini founded Pitt’s Department of Studio Arts and taught at the university for more than 40 years. His works are displayed in various parts of the city, including Pitt.

The mosaic was designed through a contract with the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority during attempts to improve the Lower Hill District in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It included the construction of the Civic Arena and demolition of many buildings in the Lower Hill, a dense residential and commercial area.