Pittsburgh Art Commission Records, 1987-2011

The Pittsburgh Art Commission was founded on May 12, 1911 by order of an Act of General Assembly No. 183. This commission was based on commissions in other cities around the United States, including New York and Boston. The commission, however, would have no power as an outside force due to a limit imposed by the state legislature, so it was situated within the departments of city government. The Pittsburgh Art Commission’s founding members included: John W. Alexander (a painter), Hermon A. MacNeil (a sculptor), A.B. Harlow (architect), A.B. Orth (architect), Henry McGoodwin (architect), John W. Beatty (Director of Department of Fine Arts at Carnegie Institute of Technology), and W.L. Mellon, under the leadership of Mayor William A. Magee and Joseph G. Armstrong, the Director of Public Works.

The Pittsburgh Art Commission worked to approve public works of art including murals, sculptures, and practical features of the city such as bridges and buildings. Today, the Art Commission does much of the same work, approving works of public art to beautify Pittsburgh’s many and diverse neighborhoods.