Warhol Bridge "Yarn Bombing" Project Gets Underway
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- One of the largest beautification projects of its kind is underway in Pittsburgh this weekend.
By late Sunday, the Andy Warhol Bridge - spanning from the North Shore to Downtown Pittsburgh - will be draped in quilts in a new art form called "yarn bombing."
Sally Johnston is one of dozens of volunteers working on the Knit the Bridge Project. It's an ambitious plan that will cover the bridge in colorful quilts, all knitted or crocheted by hand.
"We're covering each of these rectangular-shaped panels and the railings with black yarn borders all the way across both sides," said Amanda Gross, the project coordinator.
The two bridge towers will also be covered with material made on a knitting machine. For months, more than 1,800 artists have produced over 600 blankets.
The project is a gigantic collaboration involving people from just about every community in Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, along with volunteers from Butler and Washington counties.
"I think it's really about celebrating our history our region and our diversity and all the different communities that make up Pittsburgh," said Gross.
Of all the bridges in the City of Bridges, the group chose to "yarn bomb" the Andy Warhol Bridge.
"It's one of the only, if not the only bridge, in the U.S. named for a visual artist - the Warhol Bridge," said Gross. "So I thought it would be appropriate."
Check out more photos of the "yarn bombing" here!
"I would also like it to be a little tongue and cheek that it is the Warhol Bridge, so I think Mr. Warhol would enjoy it," added Johnston.
Watch a time lapse video of the installation:
The project will be finished by Sunday and the bridge will remain covered in yarn until early September.
And like the structure itself, the yarn is water resistant. Once the quilts are removed they will be cleaned and donated to the homeless.
"It's a wonderful public service for art, for fabric art, and also awareness for those who are less fortunate," said Johnston.
RELATED LINKS:
Allegheny Co. Council Approves "Yarn Bombing" Of Warhol Bridge (6/19/13)
Andy Warhol Bridge About To Be Yarn Bombed (8/7/13)
More Reports by Bob Allen
