‘The Fence’ Community Art Project - Artist Delli Speers
24th Street & Wrights Way, Pittsburgh, PA 15203
10 am - 4 pm
Wheelchair Accessible Entrance: NO
Wheelchair Accessible Restrooms: NO
Public Restrooms: NO
Photography Allowed: YES
YOUR EXPERIENCE
Meet the matriarch and creative genius behind this ever-evolving community art project, Delli Speers! Items on ‘The Fence’ have contained multiple techniques & materials over the years: knitting, crochet, tatting, beading, drawings, silk screen, wood, hula hoops, bird netting, plastics, Tyvek, snack & dog food bags, flowers, sweater & hat planters, adorned stuffed animals, fashionable flamingos, trees, flags, table settings, holiday celebrations, solar lights, etc. The fence is an ever evolving canvas. An adorned gas meter, a few downspouts, light & parking poles are included.
ABOUT THIS BUILDING
The 80 foot fence that enclosed the rear of a Goodwill parking lot situated in the 2400 block of Wrights Way was severly rusted, leaning precariously. At the end of 2007, a written request for a replacement was submitted and a new fence was installed the following year.
In 2012, as a practicing fiber artist, Delli Speers requested use of the fence as an additional “canvas” on which to play with non-gallery projects. Permission was given. To date, fiber friends and many anonymous persons have attached items to this fence... some using only string or masking tape, some leaving pieces in Delli’s mailbox or on her doorstep. These pieces were transferred onto simple backgrounds – to allow proper presentation and longevity through years of multiple seasons. Towards the end of the pandemic, the new owner of the lot installed a green privacy screen covering on the parking side of the fence, and they regularly trim the embankment, enhancing this portion of the street. This transformed the fence into the equivalent of a gallery wall, blocking the sun, enhancing whatever was attached.