Tuesday, November 16, 2021
Pittsburgh dinosaur statue repainted to spread message of “diversity and inclusion”
Visual Art | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh City Paper: Pittsburgh features a number of curious dinosaur statues spread throughout various neighborhoods, all painted to celebrate different aspects of the city. Now one of them, a Triceratops, has been repainted through a collaboration of a local school and two artists.
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I think these dinosaurs being around Pittsburgh are a great symbol and I think what they are doing by painting this one is great. I think having the looks of the dinosaurs change is a great idea because it shows that things change and Pittsburgh is changing and we are changing with it to adapt. From what it seems, this one has been painted like a piggy bank since 2003, so changing it now is a great way to show that maybe some of the others could get painted and if the time comes again for a change, that can happen. I think having kids work on this one with the artist is a great idea because they are going to be invested in this dinosaur for such a long time, and with that they will be invested with the messages that the dinosaur represents. This project is part of a bigger public arts project which I really do love that Pittsburgh has so many public arts projects, something you don’t see in every city.
The dinosaurs around Pittsburgh are so fun, and I love the tradition of interacting and modifying them to support certain causes or connect to events and times of year. I think that it really helps people to connect to what can be a very static and inaccessible art medium (sculpture). I've seen the sauropod by the Carnegie Library decorated for all sorts of things, including holidays, sports matches, and political elections. I didn't realize how many dinosaurs there were around Pittsburgh, and especially combined with the very neighborhood based organization that Pittsburgh is famous for, I love this implementation of a neighborhood painting the statue to reflect a value they want to lend support to. The dinosaurs are really good for this because they don't really have any sort of implication, they're just a fun, blank canvas (I suppose with the exception of some extremist creationists that deny evolution, but that seems pretty niche at this point).
I have loved the Pittsburgh dinosaurs since I moved to this city. There are not the most conventional sort of statues to have around and I think the city speaks of being something other than just a regular city. They are so cute and adorable ~ the one that I see the most is the dinosaur on Forbes Avenue, near the Carnegie Public Library. Every time I have crossed this dino, something new is up with it. The other day, it had a Christmas wreath around its neck. And I laughed when I saw that.
That being said, I think that dinosaur about diversity and inclusion is the one that is striking the most chord with me. As someone who has been in situations and places where diversity does not exist and no effort is made to be inclusive, this dinosaur just warms my heart and makes me feel good.
I will be honest, I got really excited because I thought this was the giant dinosaur statue in front of the music hall down Forbes Ave. I am not disappointed though! I notice these dinos all the time and they are quite cute and cool, even without paint. I think that painting this dino was a lovely initiative, and I am happy that the inspiration was so positive. It is also awesome to see that this dino in particular is outside of a school with such a huge focus on diverse learning methods and inclusion. Things like this tend to be really exciting for young kids, and making school a place they are excited to go to is so important. Public art is a great joy and privilege for any city to have, and I hope there are further plans to paint more dinosaurs in the future! Very very cool!
I love all the dinosaurs scattered about the city. I actually didn’t know that they were any more other than the ones near the Carnegie Natural History and Art museums until reading this article! But hey, the more the merrier. I always love walking by the aforementioned dinosaurs next to the Carnegie museums and always seeing a different scarf, neck tie, or hat on them. It always brightens my day just a little bit to see the big old dinosaurs decked out for the changing seasons, or for a specific upcoming event. In regards to this article, I really appreciate the thought that went into the new design for this triceratops statue. Not only in theatre, but as a general population, diversity, equity, and inclusion have been a long standing problem with our world and how it operates. Progress is being made, slowly but surely, and there is still a long way to go, but simple little actions like this are a nice small way to remind us that the change is happening. I have never met this specific dinosaur, but I may have to take a stroll one day so I can see its fresh look and enjoy it in person.
When I first saw this, my initial thought was, "Whoa! They repainted Dippy the Dinosaur?" They did not repaint Dippy the Dinosaur, which I am quite fine with. Painting the other dinos is super cute idea though! I most frequently see the ones when heading down Forbes towards Cathy, or Pitt's campus. If I remember correctly, those triceratops are frequently painted in colorful, quilted patterns, and it always brightens my day. It is also a pretty clever idea, given these sculptures are everywhere across the city and visible to all manner of people. Additionally, the people behind it will not have to expend extra money to construct any structures to hold these messages, just have to get enough paint to give them a little spit shine. I do not really go out much to traverse the city, but maybe I will see a couple of these every now and then.
“Shady Lane believes that high-quality early childhood education is for everyone.” I agree. I think that everyone should have access to high-quality education. I think that knowledge needs to be shared for free and that access to quality education needs to be available for everyone. It’s hard to say as someone that has greatly benefited from my enrollment at CMU (a very expensive private college) sometimes I wish that CMU would partner with more activities like this. Can we start to do projects in classes that are tied to the community around us? I always feel so isolated from the rest of Pittsburgh while studying at CMU. Between work and classes, I feel like I never have the time to go out and engage with the Pittsburgh community. (Like come on SoD… You had me running two shows on CMU’s day off for community day, really???) I think it would be really cool to see classes partnering with outside organizations for art installations, like Beth’s mural project for first years. Why not partner with an organization where maybe one of the projects could actually be put up in Pittsburgh! Isn’t the art we create here supposed to be shared?? Shouldn’t we be seeing our work outside of Prunel? I miss the days when we had projects that got us out of the same building, I always learned the most from those. I see these dinos all the time and love what they have done with this one
Like some of the other people here I had initially thought upon reading the title of the article that they had repainted the giant dinosaur outside the Carnegie Museum. I went, “woah, they painted that MASSIVE thing??” but upon opening the article it was clearly a different sculpture aha. There is another colorful triceratops on Forbes a little past forbess that’s painted with the alphabet. I think it’s really sweet that there are more of them throughout the city. Pittsburgh’s thing with dinosaurs is pretty cute. It kind of reminds of back in my hometown at one point there was this thing where a bunch of artists all painted/ decorated these giant butterflies that were then put up for auction (I think for a charity event?). So even years later walking around there you can see different colorful butterflies everywhere. From the library, to the Culvers, people’s back yards, etc. It’s kind of a creative way to tie the whole place together.
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