Supporting living artists is a powerful statement about what we value as a society. There are many talented artists working in Pittsburgh eager to share their work—it’s just a matter of knowing where to look. Engaging with living artists signals a commitment to fostering creativity and recognizing the benefits of art in our daily lives. It’s an affirmation that we value the voices and visions of those who interpret and document contemporary issues. By purchasing their art, attending their exhibitions, and engaging with their projects, we directly support their artistic practices. Here are four contemporary artists living and working in Allegheny County whose practices you can help nourish.
4 Local, Living Pittsburgh Artists Whose Work You Can Support
Ashley Jones
Ashley Jones maintains a studio at Radiant Hall’s Homewood location. In addition to being a working artist, Ashley is also an art educator. Currently she serves as an art faculty member at St. Edmund’s Academy in Pittsburgh and she previously served as Assistant Professor of Fine Arts and Gallery Director at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Ashley’s work is an exploration into the histories and contemporary challenges of Black identity in America, which she has pursued across several projects. The body of work she may be most recognized for is Colorism: Looking Outside the Brown Paper Bag, through which she has created 3,192 portraits on wooden panels, cardboard boxes, and brown paper bags. This body of work has been Ashley’s effort to confront the history and present-day practice of colorism among African American women. The body of work consists of three sub-series, Hair Identity, Stop Putting Me in a Box, and The Brown Paper Bag Test.
Through her collective body of work, and by creating portraits of individuals she has met through her career as an artist, Ashley aims to honor and tell the stories of people who have often been ignored and marginalized, while also offering a different visual perspective of Black life.
Parker Donaldson
Educated as a portrait sculptor, Parker Donaldson’s practice evolved to include physical and multi-sensory conceptual media installations. His current body of work includes a series of six hand-formed busts of individuals that Parker met while visiting a local senior living facility. The series will expand to include another six.
A through-line in Parker’s conceptual work is his exploration of ideas rooted in the social and cultural past, juxtaposed in context to the present moment. Parker is curious about how our access and ability to re-experience moments from the past affects our sense of temporality and whether nostalgia creates dislocation within time.
Originally from Pittsburgh, Parker moved to South Africa and obtained his BFA in sculpture from the University of Cape Town in 2020. While attending the University of Cape Town, Parker also met his wife, fellow artist Akudzwe Elsie Chiwa. Parker has also spent time living and working in Atlanta and Nashville.
Darian Johnson
Darian Johnson is a painter, sculptor, and illustrator. He demonstrated a propensity for creative expression since childhood. In 2017, Darian began working with VaultArt Studio, where he received guidance and mentorship to further develop his artistry.
It was after working with VaultArt Studio that Darian developed his unique identity as a painter, which includes recreating iconic Pittsburgh cityscapes and renderings of 80s and 90s pop culture painted through the lens of nostalgia and surrealism. A vivid color palette also unites Darian’s bodies of work.
Darian’s work is routinely on display as part of Unblurred, a monthly art crawl hosted along the Penn Avenue Arts and Business District. He also was part of a group exhibition this year at 820 Gallery, which coincided with the Three Rivers Arts Festival. Through these exhibitions, Darian has cultivated a devout group of collectors, both locally and internationally.
La Vispera
La Vispera is an artist collective consisting of Kelly Jimenez and Alejandro Franco. The collective was born through their shared affinity and passion to create works that examine and address the global ecological crisis. Originally from Colombia, in addition to Pennsylvania, Kelly and Alejandro have lived in Florida and Missouri.
La Vispera‘s current body of work centers around single-use plastics, which they use to compose figurative and abstracted compositions reminiscent of stained glass. Their process was born out of necessity, combined with curiosity, after they moved from Miami to St. Louis without any studio equipment or art supplies. They noticed that packaging material of all sorts was abundant and began intercepting materials that were otherwise en route to the landfill. The artists took these transient and problematic materials and decided to give them new significance. By spending time and effort to recover an undervalued material through labor, La Vispera hopes to make an allegory of the efforts we need to make to preserve a healthy ecosystem.
La Vispera is currently participating in an artist residency program administered by the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, which will culminate in the creation and installation of an interactive museum experience.
Story by Patrick Fisher, CEO, Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council
Photography by Laura Petrilla
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