Shepard Fairey isn't the only one jazzing up Pittsburgh's landscape these days with murals and messages.

Colorful murals and whimsical construction debris art by 100 local youths are adding color to the construction site of the new Penguins arena in Uptown.

The exhibit, "Construction as Canvas," was installed in mid-October on the fences surrounding the Consol Energy Center and will be on display for one year.

"Public art has been a big part of all the public buildings the Sports and Exhibition Authority has developed," said Mary Conturo, the sports authority's executive director. "Early on with the Pittsburgh Penguins and the help of the Urban Redevelopment Authority, we all looked at developing a public art plan for the arena."

Largely funded by the Heinz Endowments, "Construction as Canvas" is the first display for the arena. Other exhibits, "Garden Passage" and "Activation," still are in the works.

The Office of Public Art -- a public-private partnership between the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council and the Department of City Planning -- managed the display and called for applications last spring from summer camps and local artists.

Bedford Hill apartments, Schenley Heights Community Development Program and the Centre Avenue YMCA were selected among the eight organizations that applied to incorporate the art project into their summer programs.

I wanted "to give the [kids] something positive to do for the summer months and something they could be proud of," said Deborah Holt, resource coordinator for Bedford Hill apartments in the nearby Hill District.

Representatives from the three summer camps helped evaluate the portfolios of the 10 local artists who submitted proposals.

"We wanted to pick artists who really demonstrated the ability and desire to work with different age groups of kids," said Renee Piechocki, director of the Office of Public Art.

Artists Ashley Hodder, Gregory Anderson and Leslie Ansley were selected and given three weeks to come up with a theme for an art project and an educational curriculum to supplement it.

"It wasn't a coloring book kind of project where the artists come up with the ideas and the kids just fill it in. It was really a collaboration," Ms. Piechocki said.

At Schenley Heights Community Development Program, 25 students, aged 11 to 15, used their imaginations to turn construction materials donated by local companies into everything from a glow-in-the-dark insect to the Stanley Cup, said Ms. Hodder, who worked with them.

The kids "saw stuff in the materials that was really like, 'OK, I'll go with that.' I couldn't really see it at first, but that was really the fun part of the project -- waiting to see what they came up with," she said.

Their project -- "Building a Greener Hill" -- included a trip to Phipps Conservatory and lessons in recycling, LEED building certifications and green living.

Ms. Ansley's group of 10- to 18-year-olds from Bedford Hill apartments created a photographic fabric mural called "Remembering Our Future." The history of the Hill District was the focus of the camp and mural and the students learned about such figures as playwright August Wilson and photographer Charles "Teenie" Harris through writing, reading poetry and role playing.

The Centre Avenue YMCA project by Mr. Anderson's 6- to 8-year-olds called "Changing Shape" featured 24 panels of colorful construction characters.

For Mr. Anderson, the camp was "not only about the curriculum, but about how do I send [the children] back to school next year stronger and more confident."

Participants gathered at the Mellon Arena last month to celebrate the project's installation. When the artwork is removed next fall, it will be returned to the organizations to display.

The rapidly rising number of murals and other art displays popping up around Pittsburgh led the city to hire in 2007 its first full-time art manager.

Morton Brown, the current manager, was hired earlier this year.

A muralist himself, he is charged with coordinating efforts to add pizazz to public spaces. He endorsed the recent idea to place around the city murals by Shepard Fairey, whose politically charged art is on display at the Warhol Museum.

"Public art is about connecting the people in our neighborhoods to their rich historical fabric and improving their quality of life," Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said last week. "We are aggressively preserving the city's public art collection -- protecting veteran's memorials and statues -- while investing in exciting neighborhood public art projects."

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.