Welcome to the Carol R. Brown Sculpture Garden at Allegheny County’s Hartwood Acres Park. This audio tour will guide you through this significant collection of fourteen large public sculptures located throughout the park. Eleven are sited near the mansion; two are at the park’s entrance off Saxonburg Boulevard; and one is located off Middle Road by the Hartwood Acres Amphitheater.

This impressive sculpture collection was acquired by Allegheny County through a program led by Carol R. Brown, the former director of Allegheny County’s Bureau of Cultural Programs, that brought art to Hartwood Acres Park. Beginning in 1979 and extending into the 1980s, Brown worked with Leon Arkus, director of the Carnegie Museum of Art from 1969 until 1980, and Sydney Feldman, a Carnegie Museum of Art board member and owner of Tygart Steel, to install eleven sculptures by nationally and internationally renowned artists throughout the park. Works by Tillie Speyer and Lila Katzen were installed in the first year, with works by Betty Gold, Jack Youngerman, Ron Bennett, and Lyman Kipp installed by the early 1980s. By the mid-1990s, an additional five sculptures were added, including works by artists Fletcher Benton, Peter Forakis, David Hayes, Clement Meadmore, and Charles Ginnever. One additional sculpture by David von Schlegell was acquired in the following decades.

In 2019 and 2020, as part of a major project funded by the Allegheny County Parks Foundation and Allegheny County, the artworks underwent conservation. During this process, most sculptures were moved from their original locations in the park to be closer to the mansion for a more cohesive and accessible sculpture garden. This effort also included a newly commissioned work by artist Dee Briggs which was installed in 2021. Allegheny County unveiled the redesigned sculpture garden in 2022, and it was officially named the Carol R. Brown Sculpture Garden at Hartwood Acres Park.

The tour of the Carol R. Brown Sculpture Garden includes stops at each of the garden’s sculptures where you will learn about the artworks themselves and the artists who made them.

You’ll notice several themes on this tour. One theme is production. At the time the sculptures were made, there were strong ties between art, industry, and steel fabrication in Pittsburgh and beyond. Most of these sculptures are made from weathering steel, also known as COR-TEN steel which was developed by the United States Steel Corporation. Also, due to Sydney Feldman’s involvement, several of the sculptures were fabricated at a shop in Donora, Pennsylvania owned by Tygart Steel, or in McKeesport, Pennsylvania where Tygart Steel was based.

Another theme is artistic style. Notice how the artists made sculptures that have geometric forms and open-ended interpretations. These types of styles may be referred to as abstract or Minimalist depending on the work.

One other thing to note is that the Carol R. Brown Sculpture Garden features four women sculptors. Three of these women work in steel, a material and type of sculpture that have historically been dominated by male artists.

You are invited to take your time with each sculpture as you move through the tour. Notice what is near each sculpture and its connection to the park’s surroundings. Think about the themes shared, and feel free to identify more themes of your own.

Before we begin, please keep your map accessible. You may be using a paper map or its digital version at: acsculpturegardentour.org.

We will start our tour today with David von Schlegell’s North Light.

The sculpture is near the mansion’s parking lot entrance. Turn right into the parking lot and the sculpture will be behind you. Move through the parking lot and cross the road. North Light stands on a slightly raised platform in the grass.

Made of painted aluminum in 1982, North Light by David von Schlegell was originally located in front of One Oxford Centre facing Grant Street in downtown Pittsburgh. North Light was designed to flow up and over traffic. The sculpture was moved to the Carol R. Brown Sculpture Garden in 2017 and is still connected to the rhythm and movement of cars.

Notice the curve?

Von Schlegell described it, “like one segment of a cylinder, like bending a piece of paper…just a right angle and the result of a curved line.”

North Light shows von Schlegell’s knowledge of boat building and engineering, however, he preferred the interpretation of his work to be left to the viewer’s imagination.

Our next stop is Cloudt by Ron Bennett. Turn around and move safely across the road to the bottom left-hand corner of the parking lot. Follow the pathway until you reach Bennett’s work. The sculpture will be on your right-hand side. Pause the audio as you make your way towards Cloudt.

Made of weathering steel in 1982, Cloudt by Ron Bennett explores his idea of what he called “nature forms.”

Cloudt is like many of Bennett’s other works which were inspired by landscapes and nature. Notice Cloudt’s curved lines and how it seems weightless.

Also notice the difference between the sculpture’s organic round shapes and its geometric cube form.

Bennett commented on his use of weathering steel by saying, “I like using a hard material to express a soft idea.”

Bennett was one of the first artists to have their sculpture placed at Hartwood Acres Park. He commented on having his sculpture in the park by saying, “I like the mark of human hands and the idea of using material usually thought of in industrial terms.”

Think about your initial feelings when you arrived at this work. Bennett said, “if it evokes a response from the viewer, even negative, then I’m happy.”

Our next stop is Coronet: Homage to David Smith by Lila Katzen. Move along the pathway towards the garden and bear left. We invite you to move through the grass to approach the sculpture or remain on the pathway. Pause the audio as you make your way towards Katzen’s work.

Coronet: Homage to David Smith was created by Lila Katzen in 1978 from weathering steel and was fabricated by Tygart Steel in McKeesport.

Katzen’s sculptures were always site-specific, designed to harmonize with their surroundings, and reflect a place’s environment and people. She also considered steel a “living and growing entity,” and preferred to fold and roll the metal rather than cut or weld it.

Before becoming a sculptor, Katzen was a painter. Her paintings focused on shapes and several types of lines used in decorative writing such as calligraphy. Notice the influence of how her time as a painter affects the sculpture’s lines and shapes.

Coronet: Homage to David Smith references David Smith, a prominent sculptor from the 1950s, known for leaving large negative spaces between the forms of his sculptures.

Notice how Katzen used this technique in Coronet: Homage to David Smith. The sculpture mainly consists of negative spaces that frame the park’s surroundings. I invite you to move behind the sculpture and explore its openings.

Our next stop is Mobius Trip X by Peter Forakis. Return to the pathway and move towards the mansion. The garden will be on your right-hand side. Turn at the first left in the pathway. Pause the audio as you make your way towards Forakis’ work.

This is Mobius Trip X, by Peter Forakis, completed between 1966 and 1983. The sculpture is made of blue-painted steel, and its name references a mathematical form with only one side called a Möbius strip.

Mobius Trip X loops back into itself to form an endless cycle. Notice how the sculpture’s shape changes based on your position. I encourage you to explore as I share more about the artist.

Forakis enrolled at the California School of Fine Arts after serving in the military. He then relocated to New York City. During his early years in New York, Forakis relied on discarded building materials to make art. He eventually went on to become a co-founder of Park Place Gallery, the first large-scale artists’ cooperative in New York City. Other co-founders included notable sculptors Mark di Suvero, Dean Flemming, and Carol R. Brown Sculpture Garden artist Charles Ginnever.

Our next stop is Manly by Lyman Kipp. Move along the pathway until the next fork and bear left. Continue on the pathway, and then turn left into the parking lot. Next, turn left on the road to go downhill. Use caution as cars may be on this road. Follow the road until it comes to a T, and Lyman’s red and blue sculpture will be on your right. Pause the audio until you reach Manly.

Now that you’ve reached Lyman Kipp’s Manly, the best position to experience this sculpture is straight on. Please be in the grass at the fork in the road. We do not encourage visitors to move around the work due to uneven terrain.

Made of painted steel in 1980, Kipp’s Manly was part of a group of works he called his Trinity series. These artworks had three intersecting flat surfaces called planes. Manly’s two blue planes converge on an upright red plane. The bright colors of the planes emphasize the sculpture’s power and stability.

Kipp’s work is often described as Minimalist, which is a type of art that focuses on things such as simplicity, geometric shapes, and limited color. However, Kipp didn’t care for this description, and referred to his work as simple structures in primary colors.

In the 1970s, Kipp began working with large metal planes that could be joined together with nuts and bolts. This made his work portable and – coupled with the commercial fabrication of his artworks – made him a popular choice for public sculpture commissions.

Our next stop is Totem, Lamina, Limbus by Jack Youngerman. Move back up the road to return to the parking lot. Turn right to return to the pathway. Move along the pathway towards Youngerman’s large red, white, and blue sculptures. Please pause the audio until you reach Youngerman’s work.

This is Totem, Lamina, Limbus made by Jack Youngerman in 1979 from painted steel. Totem is the blue sculpture, Lamina is the white sculpture, and Limbus is the red sculpture.

Totem, Lamina, Limbus was fabricated by Tygart Steel in Donora, Pennsylvania. The sculptures were commissioned by New York City’s Public Art Fund and exhibited in Central Park before being gifted to Allegheny County and placed in Hartwood Acres Park in 1981. This work is often called a sculpture grove because of how the sculptures are placed next to each other; however, each sculpture is a standalone artwork.

You are invited to move through the sculptures on the platform. The platform is slightly raised. Notice how the shapes of each sculpture seem flat as you move around them.

Think about the relationship between the sculptures and how your position affects your experience of the artwork. As you explore, I’ll share more about Youngerman and this work.

Born in 1926, Youngerman began his artistic career as a painter at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France, under the GI Bill, following his service in the United States Navy during World War II.

After his first exhibitions in Paris, Youngerman moved to New York City, where he was represented by The Betty Parsons Gallery. He lived in Lower Manhattan’s Coenties Slip neighborhood and painted during the era of Abstract Expressionism—a style characterized by abstract shapes, uneven paint application, and large sections of color.

However, Youngerman wasn’t an abstract expressionist. He described his paintings as having brightly colored “hard-edge” forms and shapes with ragged-edge brushwork.

Youngerman eventually transitioned from painting to sculpture because he wanted to learn how to make the forms in his paintings become three-dimensional objects. These sculptures also reference Youngerman’s interest in Japanese design, by resembling kirigami, the Japanese art of cutting and folding paper to make three-dimensional shapes.

The forms and shapes in Youngerman’s work are often associated with nature, but Youngerman preferred their meaning to remain ambiguous. He explained that “they are not abstracts or shapes of specific things, but they have obvious references. It is impossible to have a form which doesn’t make the viewer think of something he’s seen before.”

Our next stop is Stretch by Charles Ginnever. With the mansion in front of you, move along the pathway towards the mansion until you reach a fork. Turn left and follow the pathway to the road. A large sculpture will be in front of you and the mansion will be to your right. Pause the audio until you reach Ginnever’s work.

Here we have Stretch created by Charles Ginnever between 1980 and 1981. It is a long, tall, and narrow weathering steel sculpture. Stretch was fabricated by Tygart Steel in Donora, Pennsylvania.

Notice the rustiness of the sculpture. Weathering steel develops a rust-like layer that protects the steel from corrosion and eliminates the need for paint. At one point in time and for unknown reasons, Stretch was painted black and gray. During conservation in 2020, the sculpture was restored to its original gold-brown patina.

As a boy, Ginnever spent time on San Francisco’s Peninsula, observing how fog distorted the surrounding landscape. His interest in illusion and perception heavily influenced his work, as did origami. We encourage you to cautiously explore the sculpture’s illusion; please note that there is a steep drop off behind the sculpture. The artwork seems to be either two-dimensional or three-dimensional depending on the viewer’s position.

Our next stop is Hence by Clement Meadmore. Continue on the road and proceed around the left-hand side of the mansion. Move straight to return to the pathway and follow it around the mansion. You will pass the pavilion on your left. Continue on the pathway and a large black sculpture will be on your left-hand side at the edge of a grassy knoll. We invite you to either move through the grass towards the sculpture or to remain on the pathway. Pause the audio until you arrive at Meadmore’s work.

This aluminum sculpture is called Hence and was made by Clement Meadmore in 1973. Hence is painted matte black and hollow. Notice Hence’s twists and turns and the tension created by both ends of the sculpture pointed in opposite directions.

Meadmore’s sculptures, such as Hence, are called monolithic sculptures because they are made from one material. Meadmore was inspired by dolmens, or ancient stone formations that he saw in Ireland and France. According to Meadmore, he was attracted to large-scale sculpture because it “act[s] as a bridge between human scale and architectural scale.”

Meadmore was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. Initially planning to become an aircraft designer, Meadmore became an artist and craftsman instead, making furniture and steel and bronze sculptures.

In 1963 Meadmore moved to New York City and would eventually take part in the Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Meadmore’s art career flourished after politician Nelson Rockefeller purchased one of his sculptures.

Meadmore never intended to make large-scale sculptures, but his fascination with large works persisted until the end of his career with ideas about sculptures the size of skyscrapers.

Our next stop is Large Snail by Tillie Speyer. Continue to move along the pathway until you arrive at the left corner of the garden. There will be a large marble sculpture. Pause the audio as you make your way towards Speyer’s work.

This sculpture is called Large Snail and was made by Tillie Speyer in 1965. Speyer carved the sculpture from Carrara marble, which is usually either white or blue-grey marble with grey veining.

Speyer was inspired by rhythms in natural materials and organisms; especially marine forms and fossil remains. Rhythm is a common term in music, but it is also a term commonly used to describe art. It refers to a repeated shape, element, or color. Speyer described herself as being, “obsessed with rhythm,” especially the rhythm she observed in nature, such as the spiral.

Notice how Speyer played with rhythm by contrasting the carved and polished surfaces with the rough, natural texture of the marble.

Born on Pittsburgh’s North Side, Speyer discovered her passion for painting at an early age. Her love of art was shaped by visits to what is now the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, where she found inspiration in both the sculpture and fossil collections.

It was not until later in life, and after raising her children, that Speyer turned towards sculpture.

In 1949, while wintering in Florida, she began to study sculpture at the age of 60 under the renowned Spanish-American sculptor José de Creeft.

In 1978, at the age of 89, Speyer had her second one-woman exhibition at the Carnegie Museum of Art. She fully pursued her passions without letting age become a barrier. She rode a bicycle well into her 70s and continued to make work three weeks before her death in 1979, the same year that Large Snail was installed at Hartwood Acres Park.

Our next stop is Margie and Pete by Dee Briggs. With the garden on your right-hand side, continue straight on the pathway. The sculpture will be on your left-hand side and is in between trees. We invite you to either remain on the pathway or to move through the grass towards the sculpture. Pause the audio until you arrive at Briggs’ work.

This weathering steel sculpture is called Margie and Pete and was made by Dee Briggs in 2021.

Margie and Pete is named after Briggs’ great-uncle and great-aunt. Each part of the sculpture represents a masculine and feminine side coming together to form a cohesive whole. Notice how each side of the sculpture mirrors the other.

The sculpture is the only one in the collection that penetrates the ground, like two deeply rooted trees. Briggs prefers to work with weathering steel because she likes how the material rusts over time and gives the impression of a sculpture constantly changing. Margie and Pete was Brigg’s first permanent public commission in the region.

Briggs was born in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania and grew up in Wellsburg, West Virginia. She received her bachelor’s degree in architecture from the City College of New York and her master’s degree in architecture from Yale University in 2002. While at graduate school she chose large-scale sculpture as her preferred artistic practice because it was the perfect combination of working with architecture and her love of working with her hands.

Our next stop is Tower Iron, Sculpture No.5 by Joseph Goto. The sculpture is at the bottom of the hill to the left of the parking lot and is not accessible by a marked pathway. We invite you to explore the work from the pathway or cautiously move downhill towards the sculpture. Pause the audio until you are in a comfortable position.

Tower Iron, Sculpture No. 5 was created by Joseph Goto between 1967 and 1968. The sculpture measures 10 feet by 8 feet and weighs 16.5 tons, which is 36,376 pounds.

It was named after the Tower Iron Works near Providence, Rhode Island where Goto cut plates of high-tensile, corrosion-resistant steel and welded the sculpture together himself.

To finish the work, Goto’s process involved grinding and filing the metal to apply a lacquer that prevents rusting. Goto wanted the weathering steel to be resistant to the elements instead of naturally rusting over time.

He explained his work for Pittsburgh by saying, “it fits in because there is a ruggedness that I don’t see in any other city.”

Goto was familiar with Pittsburgh because he worked as a visiting professor of sculpture at Carnegie Mellon University in 1968 and participated in the 1958 and 1970 Carnegie Internationals at the Carnegie Museum of Art. Tower Iron, Sculpture No. 5 was first unveiled in 1970 at the Fifth Avenue Terrace of WQED-TV in Oakland, a site chosen by Goto himself. In 2020, Tower Iron, Sculpture No. 5 was relocated to Hartwood Acres Park as part of a long-term loan from the Carnegie Museum of Art.

Our next stop is Monumental Holistic Image IV by Betty Gold. Move towards your mode of transportation and begin your descent down the main road that takes you towards Hartwood Acres Park’s main entrance off Saxonburg Blvd. The bright yellow sculpture will be on your left-hand side towards the bottom of the hill. We invite you to experience the work from your transport or continue through the gates and pull over near Ring Series #5 and move back through the gates to experience Monumental Holistic Image IV. Pause the audio until you arrive at Gold’s work.

Made of painted steel in 1980, Monumental Holistic Image IV by Betty Gold was fabricated by Tygart Steel in Donora, Pennsylvania.

Monumental Holistic Image IV is one of nine sculptures in her Holistic Series. Gold’s series explored how interrelated parts cannot exist separately.

Let’s talk more about this concept. In front of you, there is a bright yellow artwork that has many sides going in different directions. There are right angles and curved semi-circles. Does it seem as if this sculpture was made from only one piece of steel? Not at first glance, but let’s explore it further. Can you find the yellow semi-circle?

Can you find where there is a negative space in the sculpture that seems to have the same shape?

This is an example of how Gold worked. Her process was to cut different shapes from one singular piece of steel. She then repositioned the shapes and welded them together to make her sculptures. If you could, you would be able to detach the sculpture’s different shapes and place them back together to create a flat, simple piece of metal.

Gold continues to explore geometric forms through various mediums such as sculpture, painting, collage, and jewelry. She has a hands-on approach to fabricating and engaged in the installation of her artworks throughout her career. Gold enjoys working with weathering steel – either leaving the work with a rusty patina or painting the works with gloss enamel in safety colors yellow, red, blue, white, and black.

Our next stop is Ring Series #5 by Fletcher Benton. Move to the bottom of the hill using your mode of transportation. Ring Series #5 will be on your left-hand side. We invite you to experience the work from your transport or to move safely through uneven terrain towards the sculpture. Pause the audio as you make your way towards Benton’s work.

This is Ring Series #5, a painted steel sculpture created in 1983 by Fletcher Benton. The bold, black sculpture with red accents stands out in the surrounding greenery.

Ring Series #5 remains in its original location and was not relocated as part of the redesigned Carol R. Brown Sculpture Garden. However, it did receive a perfect paint touch up. Jim Gwenner, the apprentice who worked with Benton on Ring Series #5 identified the sculpture’s original paint during restoration for a perfect match.

Like many of the artists whose work is in the Carol R. Brown Sculpture Garden, Benton was fascinated by geometry, especially the ancient Greco-Roman notions of ideal, geometric forms like the circle. Ring Series #5 focuses on the circle. Notice the size of the rings.

In commenting on similar works, he said, “I felt that somewhere within the circle were dynamic forces that I wanted to explore.”

When Ring Series #5 was fabricated, Benton was consulted for its installation. Although not documented, it is significant that his sculpture is the first one you experience when entering the park on Saxonburg Boulevard. It acts as a type of sign for Hartwood Acres Park, and hints at what you can expect from the Carol R. Brown Sculpture Garden.

Our final stop is David Hayes’ Large Escargot, located at the other end of the park off Middle Road in the field by the Hartwood Acres Amphitheater. Access the map for directions to the work and use your preferred mode of transportation to the site. Travel times will vary. Pause the audio as you make your way towards Hayes’ sculpture.

Made of painted steel in 1982, David Hayes’ black, yellow, red, and blue sculpture Large Escargot contrasts against a horizon of trees. Notice the sweeping yellow curve that comes down from the central pillar. On top of the pillar is a wavy crest like a rooster’s comb.

As you move around the sculpture, notice how the yellow curve gradually disappears to reveal a supportive piece of perpendicular steel.

Hayes considered light and shadow to be just as important as form. The gaps in between the three flat surfaces, or planes, cast shadows that seem like sculpture.

The planes encourage viewers to experience it from every possible angle. Hayes especially loved how his sculptures looked during the winter, after a fresh snowfall, unobstructed by foliage or cast shadows.

Hayes welcomed opinions on his work, even negative ones, saying, “forget intellectualization…go with your visceral feelings, your emotive responses.” In his words, art should mean “whatever you like it to mean.”

This concludes our tour today. Thank you so much for listening.

To learn more about Allegheny County, the Allegheny County Parks Foundation and the Carol R. Brown Sculpture Garden and its individual sculptures, please visit: acsculpturegardentour.org.

The Allegheny County Parks Foundation would like to acknowledge Shiftworks Community + Public Arts for developing and implementing this audio tour – generously supported by the Richard King Mellon Foundation, and the first of its kind for Allegheny County.

The Allegheny County Parks Foundation would also like to recognize our partner, Allegheny County.

Since 2019, the Allegheny County Parks Foundation and Shiftworks Community + Public Arts have worked together to create interpretive, educational materials on, and establish an archive for, the Carol R. Brown Sculpture Garden and its history.

The content for this audio tour was researched and written by Audrey Desnain, Layne Shaffer, and Samantha Wert in collaboration with Rachel Klipa, program manager of education at Shiftworks Community + Public Arts. The research for this audio tour was completed through a program between Shiftworks Community + Public Arts and the Department of History of Art and Architecture at the University of Pittsburgh.

This audio tour was created and recorded in 2024. Sound engineering was provided by Bright Archives, accessibility consultation by Tess Dally and Allison Popieski, and narration by Kelsey Robinson.

Made of painted aluminum in 1982, North Light by David von  was originally located in front of One Oxford Centre facing Grant Street in downtown Pittsburgh. North Light was designed to flow up and over traffic. The sculpture was relocated to the Carol R. Brown Sculpture Garden in 2017 and remains connected to the rhythm and movement of cars.

Notice the curve?

Imagine the curve of the aluminum structure as a soft wave rising and falling, like ocean water lapping against a boat’s hull. Picture its smooth, cool surface reflecting light as if it were a sail catching the wind.

North Light demonstrates von Schlegell’s knowledge of boat building and engineering, however, he preferred the interpretation of his work to be left to the viewer’s imagination.

Von Schlegell received his education in art after working as an aeronautical engineer and serving in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. He painted full time until 1960 when he turned to sculpture. Von Schlegell said, “I wanted to make things. Paint is not resistant enough. You throw it on a canvas and that’s it. I wanted something that would fight back.” Like many other artists who have works in the Carol R. Brown Sculpture Garden, he was a teacher and exhibited in the 1964 and 1970 Carnegie Internationals at the Carnegie Museum of Art.

Made of weathering steel in 1982, Cloudt by Ron Bennett explores his idea of what he called “nature forms.”

Cloudt is like many of Bennett’s other works which were inspired by landscapes and nature. Notice Cloudt’s curved lines and how it seems weightless.

Also notice the difference between the sculpture’s organic round shapes and its geometric cube form. Feel the weightless curves of the steel in your mind—soft arcs that seem to float, despite their heaviness. Imagine the gentle rustling of wind through clouds, pairing the sculpture’s fluid form with nature’s movements.

Bennett commented on his use of weathering steel by saying, “I like using a hard material to express a soft idea.”

Bennett was one of the first artists to have their sculpture placed at Hartwood Acres Park. He commented on the park by saying, “I like the mark of human hands and the idea of using material usually thought of in industrial terms.”

Think about your initial feelings when you arrived at this work.

Bennett stated, “if it evokes a response from the viewer, even negative, then I’m happy.”

After receiving his master’s degree from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1968, Bennett experimented with sculpture while stationed in Key West, Florida with the United States Navy. He was also a former commercial foundry worker. The process of casting molten metal inspired his future sculpture career.

Bennett was heavily involved in Pittsburgh’s artistic community. He was a beloved professor at Carnegie Mellon University for over three decades. Additionally, he was a member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, exhibited at the Three Rivers Arts Festival, and won a commission in 1980 for a monumental aluminum sculpture titled Renascence at what is now the Pittsburgh International Airport.

Lila Katzen’s Coronet:Homage to David Smith, created in 1978, is made from weathering steel, a material known for its durability and resistance to the elements.

The sculpture features large, open spaces and sweeping lines that create a sense of movement from the folded and rolled steel. The metal’s natural patina allows the surface to age and change, adding to the sculpture’s evolving nature.

Coronet: Homage to David Smith references David Smith, a prominent sculptor from the 1950s, known for leaving large negative spaces between the forms of his sculptures. Notice how Katzen used this technique in Coronet: Homage to David Smith.

The sculpture consists of negative spaces that frame the park’s surroundings.

Imagine yourself moving through the negative spaces of this sculpture, where the open areas frame the park like windows. Think of the smooth folds of steel as flowing fabric catching the sunlight and radiating warmth.

Katzen was born in Brooklyn, to Russian immigrants in 1932. Her grandfather was a court painter for the Tsar in St. Petersburg, Russia, and inspired her to become an artist. Katzen studied painting at Cooper Union in New York City and eventually transitioned to sculpture in the 1960s following encouragement from artist George Segal. Her first exhibition displaying curved steel forms was called Liquid and Solid at the Max Hutchinson Gallery in New York City. The public sculptures she would go on to create were site-specific and designed in response to a place’s environment and people. Katzen’s connection to Pittsburgh began in 1975 when the Carnegie Museum of Art commissioned her to create several works that were later exhibited.

She also challenged the notion that a great sculptor needed to be physically strong because it excluded women. Katzen said that “throughout history the great sculptors had helpers, assistants, students. This is a myth that has been put on women to keep them out.”

Consider other myths in our culture that suggest limitations for some and not others. What kind of power do myths have?

This is Mobius Trip X, by Peter Forakis, completed between 1966 and 1983. The sculpture is made of blue-painted steel and its name references a mathematical form with only one side called a Möbius strip.

Mobius Trip X loops back into itself to form an endless cycle. Notice how the sculpture’s shape changes based on your position.

Imagine tracing the endless loop of the Möbius strip with your fingertips, its surface continuous and smooth like a satin ribbon.

Forakis was deeply interested in cubes and hypercubes. A hypercube is a geometric form that extends the concept of the cube beyond a three-dimensional object. Forakis’ fascination with mathematical forms began in the 1950s and continued to influence his sculptures, like Mobius Trip X.

Forakis was born in Wyoming to Greek immigrants in 1927. He spent his childhood in Modesto and Oakland, California. As a young adult he was a freelance painter and, after taking up work with the United States Merchant Marine, traveled overseas.

After serving in the military, Forakis enrolled at the California School of Fine Arts and graduated in 1957. He then relocated to New York City. During his early years in New York, Forakis relied on discarded building materials to make art. He eventually went on to become a co-founder of Park Place Gallery, the first large-scale artists’ cooperative in New York City. Other co-founders included notable sculptors Mark di Suvero, Dean Flemming, and Carol R. Brown Sculpture Garden artist Charles Ginnever.

Lyman Kipp’s Manly was among the first group of sculptures installed here at Hartwood Acres Park.

Made of painted steel in 1980, Kipp’s Manly was part of a group of works he called his Trinity series. These artworks had three intersecting flat surfaces called planes. Manly’s two blue planes converge on an upright red plane. The bright colors of the planes emphasize the sculpture’s power and stability. Move back and feel the boldness of the primary colors radiating towards you. Imagine clinking metal as the red and blue planes meet, forming a sleek rhythm that feels stable yet energetic.

Kipp’s work was described as Minimalist, which is a type of art that focuses on things such as simplicity, geometric shapes, and limited color. However, Kipp did not care for this description, and referred to his work as simple structures in primary colors.

In the 1970s, Kipp began working with large metal planes that could be joined together with nuts and bolts. This made his work portable and – coupled with the commercial fabrication of his artworks – made him a popular choice for public sculpture commissions. Kipp, along with another artist exhibited here in the sculpture garden, Charles Ginnever, belonged to a gallery called Construct. Construct gallery was designed to create fair wages for artists by helping them seek out their own commissions.

Kipp also taught at various colleges and exhibited in the 1961 Carnegie International at the Carnegie Museum of Art.

This is Totem, Lamina, Limbus made by Jack Youngerman in 1979 from painted steel. Totem is the blue sculpture, Lamina is the white sculpture, and Limbus is the red sculpture.

Fabricated by Tygart Steel in Donora, Pennsylvania, the sculptures were commissioned by New York City’s Public Art Fund and exhibited in Central Park before being gifted to Allegheny County and installed in Hartwood Acres Park in 1981. Youngerman had many connections to Pittsburgh. He exhibited in several Carnegie Internationals at the Carnegie Museum of Art and received his first fiberglass sculpture commission for the Three Rivers Arts Festival, where he produced the work The Ohio in 1979.

You are invited to move through the sculptures on the platform. The platform is slightly raised. This work is often called a sculpture grove because of how the sculptures are placed next to each other; however, each sculpture can be a standalone artwork.

Notice how the shapes of each sculpture seem flat as you move around them.

Think about the relationship between the sculptures and how your position affects your experience of the artwork. As you explore, I’ll share more about Youngerman and this work.

Born in 1926, Youngerman began his artistic career as a painter at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France, under the GI Bill, following his service in the United States Navy during World War II.

After his first exhibitions in Paris, Youngerman moved to New York City, where he was represented by The Betty Parsons Gallery. He lived in Lower Manhattan’s Coenties Slip neighborhood and painted during the era of Abstract Expressionism—a style characterized by abstract shapes, uneven paint application, and large sections of color.

Youngerman was not an abstract expressionist. He described his paintings as having brightly colored “hard-edge” forms and shapes with ragged-edge brushwork.

Youngerman eventually transitioned from painting to sculpture because he learned how to make the forms in his paintings become three-dimensional objects. These sculptures also reference Youngerman’s interest in Japanese design, by resembling kirigami, the Japanese art of cutting and folding paper to make three-dimensional designs.

The forms and shapes in Youngerman’s work are frequently associated with nature, but Youngerman preferred their meaning to remain ambiguous. He explained that “they are not abstracts or shapes of specific things, but they have obvious references. It is impossible to have a form which doesn’t make the viewer think of something he’s seen before.”

Is the sculpture truly ambiguous? How many connections can you make between Totem, Lamina, Limbus, and other ideas?

Here we have Stretch created by Charles Ginnever between 1980 and 1981. It is a long, tall, and narrow weathering steel sculpture. Stretch was fabricated by Tygart Steel in Donora, Pennsylvania.

Notice the rustiness of the sculpture. Weathering steel develops a rust-like layer that protects the steel from corrosion. This layer also eliminates the need for paint. At one point in time and for unknown reasons, Stretch was painted black and gray. During conservation in 2020, the sculpture was restored to its original gold-brown patina.

As a boy, Ginnever spent time on San Francisco’s Peninsula, observing how fog distorted the surrounding landscape. His interest in illusion and perception heavily influenced his work, as did origami. We encourage you to cautiously explore the sculpture’s illusion because there is a steep drop off behind the sculpture. The artwork seems to be either two-dimensional or three-dimensional depending on a person’s position. Imagine the sculpture elongating as you move around it, its sharp edges casting long, angular shadows.

In the 1970s, Ginnever recognized stylistic patterns within his work, eventually creating four distinct categories for his sculptures: flat illusion, historic, linear, and planar. Stretch, for example, fits within his flat illusion category. While the three other categories are not explicitly described as illusions, each one of his pieces somehow defies natural laws.

How does Stretch challenge your idea of sculpture?

This audio tour was commissioned by the Allegheny County Parks Foundation, in partnership with Allegheny County, and developed by Shiftworks Community + Public Arts. We would like to thank the Richard King Mellon Foundation for funding this project. To learn more about the Carol R. Brown Sculpture Garden or to experience the entire audio tour, please visit: acsculpturegardentour.org

Clement Meadmore’s Hence, created in 1973, is a hollow sculpture made from aluminum.

Meadmore painted the curvy sculpture matte black to resemble rubber. The artist described his work, “like jazz, which is improvised on a strict set of chords for each tune, my own work is improvised using a strictly geometric set of quarter-circle and straight elements.” Meadmore didn’t use computers to create algorithms for his curved shapes, preferring instead to do his own calculations.

Meadmore, an avid drummer, was also passionate about sound and acoustics. He wrote a book about tips and tricks to improve the sound quality of a stereo system. Could Meadmore’s hollow sculptures be acting as giant speakers? I invite you to test out the acoustic qualities of Hence.

Does your voice sound different if you are in the sculpture’s center?

Meadmore was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia. Initially planning to become an aircraft designer, Meadmore became an artist and craftsman instead, first making furniture and bronze sculptures before transitioning to working with steel.

In 1963 Meadmore moved to New York City and would eventually take part in the Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Meadmore’s art career flourished after politician Nelson Rockefeller purchased one of his sculptures.

Meadmore also has another sculpture in downtown Pittsburgh’s Firstside Park called Up Up and Away. He was commissioned to make the work as part of the 1977 Three Rivers Arts Festival’s Sculpturescape program.

Tillie Speyer’s Large Snail, created in 1965, is carved from Carrara marble.

Speyer was inspired by rhythms in natural materials and organisms; especially marine forms and fossil remains. Rhythm is a common term in music, but it is also a term used to describe art. It refers to a repeated shape, element, or color. Speyer described herself as being, “obsessed with rhythm,” especially the rhythm she observed in nature, such as the spiral.

Notice how Speyer played with rhythm by contrasting the carved and polished surfaces with the rough, natural texture of the marble. She was inspired by the look of unfinished sculptures because of Michelangelo’s work called Slaves. Part of a larger commission, Michelangelo’s Slaves are unfinished works, where the figures seem to emerge from the rough stone. Imagine the difference between cold, polished marble under your hands, and the rough natural texture of the uncarved stone.

Large Snail was based on a smaller design Speyer exhibited at the Rodin Museum in Paris, France in 1965. She liked her sculpture so much that she decided to enlarge it. Speyer flew to Carrara, Italy, and picked out marble for Large Snail. The sculpture weighs 3,000 pounds and a 50-ton crane was needed to place the sculpture in Speyer’s home garden before it was gifted to Hartwood Acres Park.

Born on Pittsburgh’s North Side, Speyer discovered her passion for painting at an early age. Her love of art was shaped by visits to what is now the Carnegie Museum of Art and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, where she found inspiration in both the sculpture and fossil collections.

It was not until later in life, and after raising her children, that Speyer turned towards sculpture at the age of 60. She studied with Spanish-American sculptor José de Creeft, and at Carnegie Mellon University. Speyer was also an art collector and well connected to Pittsburgh’s cultural leaders. In 1964, she founded the Alexander C. and Tillie S. Speyer Foundation, which donates money to many local institutions. In fact, the foundation provided support to the Allegheny County Parks Foundation to help restore Speyer’s work.

Dee Briggs’ elegant Margie and Pete, created in 2021, was named after her great-uncle and great-aunt because it reminded her of them dancing. Margie and Pete was Briggs’ first permanent public commission in the region.

The sculpture is made from two 25-foot-long sheets of weathering steel, each folded vertically to a right angle. Margie and Pete represents the coming together of a masculine and feminine side to form a cohesive whole. Notice how each side of the sculpture mirrors the other. Briggs typically creates large-scale sculptures of interconnected, fractured steel rings. Although Margie and Pete is not circular in nature, it has repeated steel forms like Briggs’ other works.

Margie and Pete is the only work in the Carol R. Brown Sculpture Garden that penetrates the ground, like two deeply rooted trees. Take a moment to move between the two sculptures and think about how it feels to be in the middle of the two forms.

Briggs was born in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania and grew up in Wellsburg, West Virginia. She received her bachelor’s degree in architecture from the City College of New York and her master’s degree in architecture from Yale University in 2002. While at graduate school she chose large-scale sculpture as her preferred artistic practice because it was the perfect combination of working with architecture and her love of working with her hands.

As a young artist, Briggs was mentored by fabrication experts Eddie and Bobby Giza at Lippincott, Inc in North Haven, Connecticut. Several of the artists included at the Carol R. Brown Sculpture Garden, such as Jack Youngerman, Clement Meadmore, and Charles Ginnever, employed Lippincott’s services. When the Giza brothers heard about Briggs’ relocation to Pittsburgh for a teaching position at Carnegie Mellon University, they told her, “make sure to find a place called Hartwood Acres.”

Briggs feels an affinity for Hartwood Acres Park and the sculpture garden, stating that, “it is the weaving of architecture, landscape and sculpture – my three favorite things balancing each other.”

Tower Iron, Sculpture No. 5 was created by Joseph Goto between 1967 and 1968. The sculpture measures 10 feet by 8 feet and weighs 16.5 tons, which is 36,376 pounds.

It was named after the Tower Iron Works near Providence, Rhode Island where Goto cut plates of high-tensile, corrosion-resistant steel and welded the sculpture together himself.

To finish the work, Goto’s process involved grinding and filing the metal to apply a lacquer that prevents rusting. Unlike other artists included in this collection, Goto wanted the weathering steel to be resistant to the elements instead of naturally rusting over time.

Tower Iron, Sculpture No. 5 was first unveiled in 1970 at the Fifth Avenue Terrace of WQED-TV in Oakland, a site chosen by Goto himself. The artwork was part of an initiative, led by former Carnegie Museum of Art director Leon Arkus, to extend the museum beyond its institutional walls into the neighborhood.  Goto explained his work for Pittsburgh by saying, “it fits in because there is a ruggedness that I don’t see in any other city.”

Goto was of Japanese descent and originally from Hilo, Hawaii. He was a welder during World War II and repaired tanks and barges after the attack on Pearl Harbor. After the war, Goto studied painting at the Art Institute of Chicago and Roosevelt University. He was associated with the boundary-pushing Chicago artist group Monster Roster.

Goto also worked as a visiting sculpture professor at Carnegie Mellon University in 1968 and took part in the 1958 and 1970 Carnegie Internationals at the Carnegie Museum of Art. In 2020 Tower Iron, Sculpture No. 5 was relocated to Hartwood Acres Park as part of a long-term loan from the Carnegie Museum of Art.

Made of painted steel in 1980, Monumental Holistic Image IV by Betty Gold was fabricated by Tygart Steel in Donora, Pennsylvania.

Monumental Holistic Image IV is one of nine sculptures in her Holistic Series. Gold’s work explored how interrelated parts cannot exist separately.

Let’s relate this concept to the piece in front of you, which is a bright yellow artwork that has many sides going in different directions. There are right angles and curved semi-circles. Does it seem as if this sculpture was made from only one piece of steel? Maybe not, but let’s explore it further. Can you identify the yellow semi-circle?

Can you identify where there is a negative space in the sculpture that has the same shape?

This is an example of how Gold worked. Her process was to cut different shapes from one singular piece of steel. She then repositioned the shapes and welded them together to make her sculptures. If you could, you would be able to detach the sculpture’s different shapes and place them back together to create a flat, simple piece of metal.

Gold has a hands-on approach to fabricating and engaged in the installation of her artworks throughout her career. She enjoys working with weathering steel – either leaving the work with a rusty patina or painting the works with gloss enamel in safety colors yellow, red, blue, white, and black.

Gold continues to explore geometric forms through various mediums such as sculpture, painting, collage, and jewelry. She maintains her studio in California, and has worked in Mallorca, Spain. She has had over 130 solo exhibitions and is a commercial success in Spain. She was honored in 2005 with a retrospective exhibition in Mallorca.

This is Ring Series #5, a painted steel sculpture created in 1983 by Fletcher Benton. The bold, black sculpture with red accents stands out in the surrounding greenery.

Ring Series #5 remains in its original location and was not relocated as part of the redesigned Carol R. Brown Sculpture Garden. However, it did receive a perfect paint touch up. Jim Gwenner, the apprentice who worked with Benton on Ring Series #5 identified the sculpture’s original paint during restoration for a perfect match.

Benton was born in 1931. He opened a sign painting shop at 14 when his hometown’s only two painters left to serve in World War II. After serving in the United States Navy, Benton studied art at Miami University in Ohio. His career flourished in the 1950s and he taught at several institutions. By the 1960s, Benton’s work included abstract and figurative painting, along with kinetic sculpture. He fully transitioned to working making steel sculptures in the 1970s.

Like many of the artists whose work is part of this collection, Benton was fascinated by geometry, especially the ancient Greco-Roman notions of ideal, geometric forms like the circle. Ring Series #5 focuses on the circle. Notice the size of the rings. Imagine the rings spinning slowly, invisibly counterbalanced.

In commenting on similar works, Benton said, “I felt that somewhere within the circle were dynamic forces that I wanted to explore.”

When Ring Series #5 was fabricated, Benton was consulted for its installation. Although not documented, it is significant that his sculpture is the first one you see when arriving at Hartwood Acres Park on Saxonburg Boulevard. It acts as a type of sign for the park, and hints at what you can expect from the Carol R. Brown Sculpture Garden.

Made in 1982 from half inch steel plates coated with Rust-Oleum paint, David Hayes’ black, yellow, red, and blue sculpture Large Escargot contrasts against a horizon of trees. Notice the sweeping yellow curve that comes down from the central pillar.

As you move around the sculpture, notice how the yellow curve gradually disappears to reveal a supportive piece of perpendicular steel.

On top of the pillar is a wavy crest like a rooster’s comb.

Hayes considered light and shadow to be just as important as form. The gaps in between the three flat surfaces, or planes, cast shadows that seem like sculpture.

The planes encourage viewers to experience the work from every possible angle. Hayes especially loved how his sculptures looked during the winter, after a fresh snowfall, unobstructed by foliage or cast shadows.

Hayes welcomed opinions on his work, even negative ones, saying, “forget intellectualization…go with your visceral feelings, your emotive responses.” In his words, art should mean “whatever you like it to mean.”

Hayes was born in 1931 in Hartford, Connecticut. In the 1950s, he studied fine art at the University of Notre Dame and Indiana University. In 1961, Hayes was awarded a postdoctoral Fulbright in Paris, France followed by a Guggenheim Fellowship. He returned to the United States in 1968, settling in Coventry, Connecticut with his wife Julia. In 1979, Julia wrote a cookbook inspired by their time in France called Illustrated French Cooking for People Who Can’t. Hayes said good artwork is like cooking, “You have to let it cook slowly. The French have a word for it. They say mijoter. You have to let it gestate.” Hayes received the commission for Hartwood Acres Park only two years later in 1981, and the sculpture’s title suggests the animal as much as the French culinary delicacy, large escargot.