Artists to discuss Westmoreland billboard project, which drew national attention

Two artists will discuss their involvement in the Diversity Billboard Art Project during a Jan. 14 virtual conversation hosted by The Westmoreland Museum of American Art.

Ginger Brooks Takahashi and Susanne Slavick are among 10 artists whose original commissioned work has appeared on billboards across Westmoreland County in a public art campaign titled “Make Our Differences Our Strengths,” curated by the museum and the Westmoreland Diversity Coalition.

Their conversation, beginning at 7 p.m., will be moderated by Sheila Cuellar-Shaffer, lead artist for the project and a diversity coalition board member.

Originally envisioned by coalition co-founder Carlotta Paige, the project was underwritten by a $150,000 grant by the Heinz Endowment’s Just Arts program.

Billboards began appearing around the county in October, with an estimated 1 million motorists expected to see them through the course of the project — which has received national attention through coverage by Forbes and Bloomberg.

Forbes included the project in an Oct. 8 story about public art projects across the United States that promote messages of equality, inclusion and social change. A Dec. 11 Bloomberg story explores the impact of the project on a county it describes as “reliably Republican and overwhelmingly white,” including the experiences of both Paige, a Black woman, and Cuellar-Shaffer, an immigrant from Colombia.

“I think it’s great that we got national attention,” Paige said. “It’s something we did not expect. From way back, I’ve felt responsible for raising awareness.

“The great response we’ve gotten proves that these messages are needed, given what’s been going on in our country,” she added.

“The message (of the project) is to see the world in a different way. If we unify as a community, it makes things easier for everyone,” Cuellar-Shaffer said. “The community has received the project so well that it shows that people need a positive message right now.”

Slavick is an artist, curator and the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon University, whose work has been recognized by the National Endowment for the Arts and through four awards from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Her work, “Full Spectrum,” appeared on billboards in Greensburg and Derry, ending Sunday.

“Humans tend to fear what and who they do not know — fear that easily manifests itself as hostility. Visualizing differences as strengths aims to alleviate that fear and channel it toward the unified energy we really need to overcome the profound systemic problems that threaten us all,” Slavick said.

“Given the current polarization of our country, I hope that the images arising from the Diversity Billboard Art Project open people’s hearts and minds to the project’s message,” she said. “Given our nation’s ‘melting pot’ history and demographic multiplicities, it is a message that should not be controversial.”

Brooks Takahashi is an artist and co-founder of queer and feminist journal “LTTR,” whose work has appeared in museums around the United States and abroad. Her work, “An Army of Lovers Cannot Fail,” appears on a billboard on Route 119 between Greensburg and Youngwood until Feb. 21, and on Route 30 eastbound west of Ligonier through March 27.

“After the billboards were installed, I delivered my lightbox sculpture to the Westmoreland Museum and encountered (participating artist) Edith Abeyta’s piece on the way there,” Brooks Takahashi said. “I hadn’t seen the artwork before but knew instinctively that it was not a commercial billboard, because the visual language was so different from advertising. I couldn’t tell what the billboard was ‘advertising,’ but I knew I wanted to know more.”

The artist talk is free; advance registration is required at thewestmoreland.org.

The original artworks have been displayed at The Westmoreland. They are scheduled to move to You Are Here in Jeannette for an exhibition tentatively scheduled to open Jan. 8, contingent on the easing of pandemic gathering restrictions, Cuellar-Shaffer said.