Created in collaboration with Steve Gurysh, Pictures of the Future, takes its name from the proclamation made by Thomas M. Marshall at the inauguration of Riverview Park, Allegheny City in 1894:
“Within its broken hills, nooks, dells, and secluded spots, the young can whisper into each other’s ears and can draw pictures of the future without either paint or brush.”
Realized through the help of arborists, wood carvers, an astronomer, observational drawing teachers, a blacksmith, a paper-maker, a filmmaker, park rangers, grounds and maintenance crews and several municipal and non-profit organizations, Pictures of the Future is a public artwork comprised of several elements that serve to resource, amplify and recalibrate the relationships between Riverview Park’s dedicated caretakers, visitors, and the unique context of a historic astronomical observatory situated within a dense, 250-acre urban forest.
Through the project, the park’s heritage trees have been surveyed for the first time, finding some over 300 years old and others unique in the city. Many of these trees have witnessed the landscape's transition from indigenous homeland to farmland, the construction of an observatory, the formation of a city park, and its succession into a dense urban forest under ecological strain. These witness tree were then identified with individual bronze markers. The mapping and identification of these witness trees has enabled the registry of the park as one of only a small handful of arboretums in the city.
With the help of Tree Pittsburgh seeds of the witness trees have been collected for propagation, and future generations of these trees can be planted to expand the canopy within the park and into surrounding neighborhoods.
In addition, bespoke tree planting implements have been made, each embedded with meteorite to be gifted to the park’s caretakers and public works crew; a public program offering observational drawing classes with handmade paper and charcoal made from the park’s fallen trees; a faithful reproduction of one of the architectural columns within the facade of the Allegheny Observatory has been carved in-situ directly into the volume of a 200 year old wind-fallen oak deep within the forest.
Ultimately, the work will integrate into the life of the park. The meteoric dibbles will become part of the library of everyday tools for planting new trees. The distributed charcoal and paper will become traces of the public's observations of the park's daily transformations. The column will slowly decay, fungus will emerge from its intricate details. As each element recedes, we wonder how these gestures will leave lasting traces and afterlives in the cultural and environmental ecology of the city? How might an artwork link the stewards of a park in new capacities and inspire ongoing acts of care?
We are indebted to our close collaborators and partners: Riverview Park Rangers, City of Pittsburgh Forestry & Public Works, Tree Pittsburgh, The Allegheny Observatory, Friends of Riverview Park, on-site millwork by Urban Tree, woodcarver Fredy Huaman Mallqui, carving assistance from Brandon Barber, Dan Yates & Evan Miller, blacksmith Glen Gardner, printmaker Li Luijiang, papermaker Katy DeMent, and Pisano Films.
Commissioned by the City of Pittsburgh Department of City Planning for Art in Parks. This project received a RADical ImPAct Grant from the Allegheny Regional Asset District (RAD).
