Rivers of Steel artist details how graffiti transforms urban spaces

Scott Brozovich presented a graffiti arts workshop at the Carnegie Free Library in McKeesport.

Graffiti artist Scott Brozovich is shown at the Carnegie Free Library. Photo by Colette Funches

The Carnegie Free Library of McKeesport recently hosted a graffiti arts workshop led by Scott Brozovich, a graffiti arts coordinator at Rivers of Steel. He is also a muralist and a graffiti artist.

Rivers of Steel is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the region’s steel-making history. Its headquarters are in the historic Bost Building in Homestead.

One of the main attractions is the Carrie Blast Furnace, which was originally built in 1906 and is now a national historic landmark. After the furnace closed in 1982, it quickly became the backdrop for graffiti art and guerrilla urban art. Rivers of Steel began giving tours to the public in 2009.

Evolving out of Rivers of Steel’s interpretation of the post-industrial history of the Carrie Blast Furnaces, the nonprofit organization has developed a range of programs to engage youth in creative placemaking, both in and out of school.

Rivers of Steel collaborates with classroom teachers, administrators, students and even outside partners to bring colorful murals to school and community spaces.

Rivers of Steel and the Graffiti Arts program has also partnered with various organizations across southwestern Pennsylvania to create new public murals. Artists are hand-selected to ensure high quality works. They range from local talent to national and international visiting artists.

“It became a home to teach people about the iron mills, the industrial era of the world and how iron and steel were made,” Brozovich said. “Most people think it was a steel mill.”

The furnace, having one of the first 48-feet plate machines, supplied iron and pig iron to the steel mills in Homestead and Braddock that Andrew Carnegie owned. All the major bridges and buildings were made at the furnace.

“America was built out of Carrie Furnace,” Brozovich said. “Graffiti is the expression of people’s feelings. I believe since the dawn of time, people have wanted to leave their mark on the world. People have scratched their names on cave walls or drew hieroglyphics inside of the pyramids. People have always wanted to express themselves. It says this is me! This is where I was! I’m here and I belong. It’s not some formally trained artist.”

Graffiti is an urban art form that originated in Phil- adelphia and New York City in the 1960s and is comprised of different cultures and subcultures.

“Some paint on walls, others paint on freight trains,” Brozovich said. “Freight trains travel around the country — and so a name gets to be seen by everyone.”

Artists began making their own homemade markers that were bigger and started painting the outside of trains with spray paint.

“It birthed the whole culture,” he said. “You were considered a star in New York if your work appeared on the train lines that traveled through all five boroughs. You were shunned if you painted or wrote over top of another artist’s work. Graffiti is regional with its style.”

Gigantic, stylized tags are popular in Philadelphia, where graffiti is passed down from generation to generation. Many people will not teach an outsider the art. In New York, artists use bars to build out their letters to create a three-dimensional effect. Pittsburgh uses piecing, a time-consuming process to form very stylized letters to form their name.

While artists see the beauty in graffiti, others see it as vandalism.

“It’s kind of a weird culture,” Brozovich said. “Civilians have chased or harmed graffiti artists. Some have viewed it as vandalism. But it’s starting to grow, so people are opening up to it. Because it comes out of a can, you don’t need traditional art training. You can teach yourself to make nice letters.

“Graffiti is a lawless form of art with unwritten rules. Learn the history of the area you live in. It’s good to have a mentor.”

Mary Rose Bendel, program coordinator for the library, found Brozovich’s presentation interesting.

“I thought it was informative and fun. I didn’t know much about graffiti arts, and now I know a little bit more,” she said.

Rivers of Steel offers a variety of arts and preservation workshops for all ages. Contact Director of Education Susie Bloom at sbloom@riversofsteel. com for more information.

“I like to encourage kids. If you can print or draw boxes, bars or rectangles around the line of the letters, you can probably do graffiti,” Brozovich said.