Fern Hollow Bridge to get new artwork along trails beneath span

Pittsburgh’s reorganized Art Commission on Wednesday approved an art installation for the rebuilt Fern Hollow Bridge.

The art installation, designed by Carin Mincemoyer, will be installed under the new span along a walking trail and will feature sculptures and benches designed to look like driftwood and river rock.

“Taking the slow force of water over time as a point of inspiration really fits well with the Fern Hollow Creek still bubbling in the background,” Mincemoyer said.

The installation is titled “Trail Meander.” It is designed to offer people using the trail a place to sit and reflect, meditate or socialize, Mincemoyer said.

The art will include six benches designed to look like driftwood, made of durable black locust, as well as six similar sculptures. Six benches will be designed to look like river rock, with six sculptures to match, according to plans presented to the Art Commission.

The river rock installations, made of glass fiber reinforced concrete, “are designed to require minimal maintenance” and should be durable, the artist said.

While the art doesn’t directly memorialize the history of the Fern Hollow Bridge, which collapsed in January 2022 and was rebuilt in less than a year, it offers a space for people to pause and remember what occurred.

Mikael Owunna, who was elected the commission chair Wednesday, said he would have liked an art installation that more directly acknowledged the bridge collapse.

“I understand there being mixed use for the site,” he said. “Some people want to be jogging there. Some people want to be resting, meditating.”

Still, he said, others may want something that offered history or memorial to the collapse.

Commissioner Anneliese Martinez said plaques or other memorials could be added to the site later.

Mincemoyer said there is no time to revamp the design, as the project is already behind schedule. The project is being funded by the Federal Highway Administration and is part of the larger work PennDOT is doing at the bridge site.

Mincemoyer said a delay in getting the project approved by the Art Commission left them “months behind.”

The commission unanimously approved the art installation on Wednesday, voting 4-0.

The delay in gaining approval from the commission came after Mayor Ed Gainey in November removed all prior Art Commission members with little explanation and reorganized the commission into two separate committees. Wednesday marked the newly-reorganized committee’s first meeting.

Members of the prior Art Commission had voiced concerns that the commission hadn’t been involved in the design process for the Fern Hollow Bridge rebuild. Because it was constructed under an emergency declaration that allowed officials to cut through red tape and expedite the process, the commission was bypassed.