The people, places and things that make up the South Greensburg community are being memorialized in bright colors.

Artist Raphael Pantalone is tucking the recognizable landmarks from the past and present into his latest mural while adding some personal touches, like the house where he spent about 10 years of his childhood.

He plans to incorporate some of South Greensburg’s most prominent residents while paying homage to the wildlife and natural beauty that make a home in the borough. He’s been working on it for about a week.

“I think this will be like an ongoing piece,” said Pantalone, who splits his time between Crabtree and Florida. “I can see myself coming back every couple years and adding to it.”

There has been a burst of murals lately in Westmoreland County.

Those include artwork in Jeannette, Greensburg, in a parklet and along the Five Star Trail. When Pantalone did his first murals in Greensburg in the late 1990s, there was nothing like it around, he said.

There have been a lot popping up in the area lately, showing that large-scale artwork can have a place in communities, either bringing attention to specific areas or drawing attention away from something else. It’s exciting to Pantalone, a retired art teacher who has completed public murals all over the world.

In South Greensburg’s case, the mural is part of a renovation of basketball, tennis and pickleball courts, said recreation director Jen Detore. The word “Hufftown” — South Greensburg’s nickname — was painted on a blank wall at the tennis court, and Pantalone has created scenes in and around the big block letters. He had help with a big chunk of the work from former student Josh Cook.

The borough is paying for the mural.

Detore sought suggestions for those scenes from community members and got an overwhelming response. The mural will include nods to Winky’s, a burger joint that once stood along Route 119, and Colleen Rosensteel, a three-time Olympian who competed in judo.

While he’s been working, Pantalone said, passersby have stopped to make more suggestions.

“It’s sort of like a historical mural,” he said. “The people in the community have a real appreciation for the history and what’s happened here — and what’s going to happen in the future.”

Each letter of “Hufftown” is representative of a specific season and time of day.

“I think anybody that looks at it will find something they like,” he said.

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