Pittsburgh council approves appointment to revamped Art Commission

Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved Mayor Ed Gainey’s most recent appointment to the Art Commission, which the mayor recently reorganized.

Council on Tuesday approved Anneliese Martinez, who serves as senior director at The Pop District at The Warhol Museum, to sit on the commission’s Public Art Committee.

Councilman Ricky Burgess, D-Point Breeze, was not present for the vote.

This comes after Gainey in November removed all prior Art Commission members with little explanation. He then proposed a plan to divide commission into a committee dedicated to reviewing public art — like paintings and sculptures — and a committee focused on civic design, like construction and renovation of public buildings and parks.

City Council in January approved the commission’s reorganization and approved the mayor’s first appointments to the commission the following month.

Related:

• Gainey to replace all members of Pittsburgh Art Commission

• Pittsburgh Art Commission reorganized, city fund for public art created

• Members appointed to Pittsburgh's reorganized Art Commission

In addition to Martinez, the Public Art Committee includes Celeste Smith, Christine Bethea, Mikael Owunna and Tom Mosser. The Civic Design Committee includes Ariam Ford, Lisa Carver, Megan Zeigler and Gerrod Winston, who was approved for the committee late last month.

The Civic Design Committee still needs one more member, as each committee will be comprised of four experts and one community representative for a total of five members each.

The Art Commission has not convened since November as the mayor has revamped its organization and appointed new members.