10. "We Fall Down but We Get Back up" by Kyle Holbrook, 250 Paulson St., Larimer.
Click image above for an enlarged version of the locator map for the murals explored in detailed reports below.
11. 'Gator' mural
A powerful message goes a long way.
"We Fall Down but We Get Back up" is the quote scrawled across the wall on the Paulson Street mural in Larimer.
The designer and lead artist, Kyle Holbrook, doesn't usually use words in his murals because he believes that art speaks for itself. But for this one, he felt the message deserved a voice in the community.
Mr. Holbrook grew up in Wilkinsburg in the 1990s, when the Larimer Avenue-Wilkinsburg (LAW) Gang wreaked havoc in the area.
"It was about this community revitalizing itself," Mr. Holbrook said about the mural. "It's symbolic for future change."
The mural was painted in 2008 in about 21/2 weeks. The faces that surround the mural were community leaders and those who showed up at town meetings to advocate for the mural. Prominent among them was Ora Lee Carroll, the founder of East Liberty Concerned Citizens Corp.
Though Ms. Carroll's family was plagued by drug addiction and domestic violence, more than once she was nominated for the Post-Gazette's Outstanding Citizen Award.
Through this mural, Mr. Holbrook said, her efforts to advocate for the betterment of the community live on, though she died in January.
"She was the driving force behind this mural," Mr. Holbrook said. "She was one tough lady."
Changing a community may take more than a mural, but when a community begins to heal, Mr. Holbrook says, "Public art is one of the first steps."
First Published: August 17, 2013, 8:00 a.m.
