Sargent's Liberty Avenue Gallery of
Pittsburgh Electrical History
By Greg Suriano

While the Strip District is home to many publicly acknowledged cultural institutions, visitors on foot or passing in a car on Liberty Avenue will inevitably notice some eye-level outdoor wall surfaces adorned by intriguing murals. With hardly a hint of why they are there and what enterprise they belong to, more than a dozen works of art decorate the building and stone "fence" of the century-old Pittsburgh business, Sargent Electric.

Sargent Electric Company has played a major part in the technological side of Pittsburgh progress since 1907. Fred Sargent, the grandson of the founder, is still involved, serving as a consultant. Begun by Fred's grandfather, Edward B. Sargent, the company has specialized in industrial and civic electrical projects such as steel mills, Pittsburgh street lights, and the Beaver Valley nuclear plant. In the late 1950s Sargent expanded its operations into northwestern Indiana serving steel mills and oil refineries.

Since 1979 the company's main headquarters has been in the Strip. Today, the president and CEO is Stephan H. Dake, who with a Pittsburgh-based industrial group purchased the company in 2006. "We knew and respected Sargent as a great company with a long history in electrical construction," says Dake. Recently there has been more interest in serving the utility sector, wireless infrastructure, and transportation. Sargent's recent major projects include those for Pittsburgh International Airport and Heinz Field.

A few years ago, it was time for office expansion, and new construction was completed in the area next to the old building (2767 Liberty Avenue, between 27th and 28th streets), and the enterprise became a collaboration between the company, the city, and eventually the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Sargent wanted to add its voice to the ongoing efforts to beautify the Strip and hoped that its plans for the outdoor appearance of its property would produce something special. The city had a few ideas, notably in regard to murals.

The 6 panels from the Pittsburgh Electrical History section

Sargent's Director of Project Controls, Gregory Gmys, was assigned to work with the city on the art project. "When the new investors bought the company, Sargent had several different operating locations—not very efficient. We had the original 2801 building across the street—now a rental property—but needed a warehouse and more office space, so we planned to concentrate all operations in this new building," says Gmys. "To do that we sought the cooperation of the city and the Planning Commission. We agreed that planting trees, adding lights, and sponsoring art would be in keeping with the desires of the Strip area to beautify the district. We wanted to be good neighbors."

Gmys had an idea that would not only simplify the process but benefit yet another Strip occupant, the Art Institute. In 2007, he arranged with the Institute's Shirley Yee to begin a cooperative effort between the school and the company, whereby Sargent and groups of students would come up with ideas for a series of panels to decorate the new buildings. Ann Rosenthal directed the students of her Environmental Graphics course to create images reflecting a timeline of electrical history from the late 1800s into the future, and she oversaw the entire project of, eventually, 13 main panels.

"This was a very creative way to do it, so we could have more involvement instead of leaving it to many different and independent artists," says Gmys. When it came time to beautify the parking area that fronts on Liberty by replacing the old chain-link fence, the art project continued with a stone-wall "fence" and wrought-iron-style opening (finished in 2010). Thus, an outdoor art galley the entire length of a Liberty Avenue block (and stretching around a side street as well) was produced.

One of Gmys's concerns was to find a way to negate vandalism to the artwork. The solution led to the unique way the "murals" were created: each image was digitally designed and printed onto a mylar sheet, then adhered to a hard aluminum-backed plastic board and bolted onto a backing in the recessed area of the building wall. If any disfigurement occurs, they simply print out another version and replace the damaged panel.

The project was tackled in two phases—first the building, and then the lot wall. The main building's lower area originally had glass-block windows, with little room for pictures. Gmys added six larger recessed areas to house the art, using the five smaller areas under the glass-block sections as color-coordinated transitional designs. This theme was "Evolution of Electricity (Late 1800s to Present)." One of the panels on the main building has the signatures of all the students who contributed. Each image was designed by a different group of five students.

4 of the 5 panels depicting the general electrical history

On the fence-wall (for the second phase), there are seven recessed panels—six plus a graphic with participants' signatures—on the theme of the "Electrical History of Pittsburgh." As the wall continues around the corner onto 27th Street, one panel ties the whole project together with ten images from all the graphics plus a section with the signatures of the second phase's artists; at the far end is the sixth panel, with the city shield and symbols of Pittsburgh's futuristic technology.

The panels of the lower part of the main building comprise a general history of electricity, divided into several decades each—from 1870 into the future. There are: Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse; the coal industry and Tesla's AC electricity; rural electrification, hydropower, and the New Deal; nuclear energy and renewable sources of energy; and the future of electricity through wind, solar, and biomass resources.

On the wall-fence that lines Liberty Avenue and turns onto 27th Street are panels depicting: Nicola Tesla—the scientist whose work with Westinghouse outshone Edison's version of electrical current (DC) to provide the world's standard of use (AC)—and the first Ferris Wheel, invented in Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh entertainment innovations such as the first commercial Nickelodeon and the first commercial radio station (KDKA); Sargent Electric's work for military equipment used in World War II; and, toward the future, Pittsburgh's debut of wireless electricity in 2003, and its naming in 2007 as one of 25 "Solar American Cities" by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Through this very unique collection of images, Sargent Electric has enlarged its stature as one of the city's most enduring enterprises and given Art Institute students an opportunity to create an outdoor gallery of art. The company has also provided the Strip with a permanent, visually stunning historical exhibition highlighting Pittsburgh's technological innovations.

Greg Suriano is the editor of The Strip! and a writer on historical, artistic, musical, and popular-culture subjects. A former Random House senior editor, he has written seven books and served as editor for several magazine groups.