Color Park’s radiant magnetism attracts all sorts of crowds, from amateur to highly skilled artists, where the quality of the work does not define the meaning behind the work, it is all about how the art affects fellow visitors, and snowballs into a melting pot of thought. Artists with an intent to leave a mark on unsuspecting visitors never learn of their impacts on others or even who they impacted. This anonymity is what makes the cogs of Color Park’s gears turn; how everyone has their own independent stories made of a web of unknown influence over the course of their whole lives. This scene is a playground for free expression and is one of the most diverse canvases in Pittsburgh, creating a community where no one even knows each other but are still connected through their art pieces. Over time, Color Park has become one of the most vibrant locations in Pittsburgh. With the increase in attendance and participation from guests, it has become not only vivacious but anonymously informative. The art all flows as smooth as the Monongahela where it resides, with each piece covering another, colors swirling around the park as scattered as the aftermath of a tornado.
A major part of this art form is the anonymity of it all, where artists would be recognized only by their definitive tags. When exploring the long and decorated Three Rivers Heritage Trail, art is everywhere. Users leave their own messages without knowing how it would affect anyone else’s life, intertwining them with their viewer’s story. On the path, there are many signs with current social issues that many of the artists have drawn, especially recent topics causing controversy such as Black Lives Matter, recent election signage, and abortion. While someone may be upset by some of the messages written within the park, they have no one to blame, as the artist who has no face slipped back into the darkness, along with their ideals. Something so grand about the community of Color Park is that if one area does not make the space feel like a place, it is so vast that somewhere along the myriad of tags, everyone identifies with something. This constant communication keeps things running and engaging visitors. But for every sign that says, “vote blue” or “We are Penn State”, somewhere along the trails there exist contradictory messages, to represent everyone's differing opinions in their psyches. An American Flag with the acronym ACAB written over top. A colorfully languaged pro-choice statement partially covered with a matching pro-life one. Or even as simple as, “vote red” and “no” to create a combined narrative. Color Park has a vast community because of these disparities, and the personability and interactive components provide incentive to interject with individual takes on any topic any visitor desires.
Yi Fu Tuan’s concept of Space and Place describes the rendering of identities useless for the definition of space, and it can instead be solely on others' interactions with the space rather than the other participants. Tuan wrote, “All places are small worlds: the sense of the world, however, may be called forth by art, as much as by the intangible net of human relations” (Yuan). Place is determined in part by emotional connection to a site and seeing common topics such as a character from your favorite television show or a tribute to a musical artist you liked leaves emotions tied to the location even without the personal connection to other individuals within the site. While you can identify with other artists with similar tendencies and interests, the anonymity keeps everyone separate, like a series of stone walls impeding vision.
Just because free expression allows all participants to test the limits of what can be said, many of the tags are less than controversial, and are inspired by nothing in particular, just the artists having fun, which is exactly what Color Park is for. By journeying down this vibrantly tattooed trail nestled on the bank of the Monongahela, I was able to explore the enjoyment of visitors by viewing their witty and interesting creations. To some, bold political statements or strong word choices are not the way to go, some visitors come for other reasons. Any of the reasons people come to make art adds a piece of them to the giant mural that is Color Park. Even if it is just a sketch of a fiery dragon or a painted strained eyeball with angel wings, that particular artist’s contributions helped them become connected to the space, writing themselves into the pages of the Color Park story.
One of my favorite incomplete stories of Color Park is one I found by two individuals, where they may never know who held a hand in completing the work. It reads “I loved you” by one artist and followed by “& you didn’t care” by the second. With the first part in red embleming the feeling of love, artist number two turns the tone of the message into one of bitterness with their icy blue paint. While these artists could be complete strangers trying to release pent up feelings, imaginative passersby could write their own stories, for instance scorned lovers. This element of facelessness for graffiti artists at Color Park helps bring its mystical appeal.
Our world is averse to graffiti, governments see it as a nuisance and some people find it to be an eyesore. Free expression is a natural right, and taggers are sending messages with their art the same way as an author writing a novel, or even anyone posting on twitter. Taggers and graffiti advocates are active in the community intent on informing the graffiti opposers on how this art form is beneficial to its creators. One advocate Michael DeSoto defines graffiti as being multipurpose, “recognized as … a way to create awareness of socio-political issues, an expression of hope for the future, an effort to reclaim public spaces, or an attempt to beautify the urban environment, among others” (DeSoto). Having this stigma that graffiti is destructive perpetuates the necessity for anonymity, leading artists to resort to unique tags to represent their work as their own. One-of-a-kind signatures etched into the rough concrete, where taggers are revealing their identities while still shrouding their persons.
In the end, Color Park is only what you make of it. It’s a personal experience; the anonymity of the whole place sets the scene, and lets each individual connect as much (or as little) as they can to this site. Visitors’ ability to interact with the site creates a place with an incredibly lived-in feeling, especially due to the designs that snake their way up the path before Color Park even begins. If you ever find yourself in the area or have an urge for graffiti, Color Park invites you to add to the never-ending story of this creative community.
Work Cited
Tuan, Yi-Fu. “Space and Place: Humanistic Perspective.” National Communication Association,https://www.natcom.org/sites/default/files/publications/Tuan_1979_space-place.pdf.
DeNotto, Michael. “Street Art and Graffiti: Resources for Online Study.” College & Research Libraries News, 2014, https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/article/view/9109/10006#:~:text=Street%20art%20and%20graffiti%3A%20Resources%20for%20online%20study,Arts%20Program%20...%205%20Mobile%20app%201AM%20.