The onetime “Steel Center of the World” that is Homestead has refreshed and rehung an epic version of a beloved hometown steelmaking painting.
A billboard version memorably hung on the side of the former Chiodo’s Tavern at the gateway into town at that end of what’s now the Homestead Grays Bridge for a time during Homestead’s centennial in 1992. That’s the occasion for which the painting, “Made With Homestead Steel” by Robert Qualters, was commissioned by a bank that’s now First Commonwealth Bank. The much smaller original still hangs in that branch at what’s now The Waterfront shopping mall on the site of U.S. Steel’s Homestead Steel Works.
After Chiodo’s was torn down in 2005, fans of the image made a 30-by-20-foot vinyl version for Steel Valley High School, where it hung until the weather-faded thing was taken down in fall 2022.
But friends hung on to that older vinyl “canvas,” if you will, and they had it repainted by Qualters’ protege Paulina Braverman — in a space donated by the Waterfront. The painting wound up at Golden Age Beer Co. on Eighth Avenue, where, earlier this week, the refreshed and resealed “mural” was mounted on a brick wall in the brewpub’s side beer garden.
Golden Age co-owner Pete Kurzweg and his colleague Bonnie Merchant had worked with their friend Mark Fallon, a onetime steelworker and retired Steel Valley High School teacher who is the unofficial historian, to raise money for and lead the restoration and rehanging. That included a pop-up event this summer where Golden Age reprised some of Chiodo’s bar food menu, including its iconic Mystery Sandwich.
Chiodo’s is one of the visual flourishes added to this version of the artwork, which also sports some new colors, as well as a correction to some text at the bottom where Qualters noted some things that were made with Homestead steel.
The hanging of this giant piece, which spent time in the upstairs bowling alley at Golden Age, was planned and executed by sign maker Andrew Paul with Jeff Lang of Olde Lang Signs and Jarrod DiGiorgi.
“It worked out well,” says Fallon. “It really fell into place.”
He enjoyed it with dinner Wednesday night at Golden Age, where he was joined by the painter herself, who took a bus from Detroit just to see it. Reached after she traveled back to Detroit, Braverman texted, “It was amazing to see the mural hung up! When I was painting it, it was laid out on the ground, so this was my first opportunity to finally see the mural straight on— and I’m so happy with it! My goal was to honor Mr. Qualters’ work by restoring his vibrant color palette and allowing the magic of his composition to come through (though he gave me permission to put my spin on it) and I think that we did just that! I also think it looks wonderful in the space, at Golden Age. I’m really excited to look at it with Mr. Qualters” at some future point.
Meanwhile, a new vinyl version of the original painting, donated by Lamar Advertising’s Jim Vlasach, was rehung on Steel Valley High School last month, so that’s two places the public can see it.
One reason that the “Made With Homestead Steel” image is burned into the memories of so many people in this part of the Mon Valley is that, in 1992, the bank printed copies and gave them away, Fallon points out. “Everyone had one in their basement, or their family room, signed by Bob.” Qualters, a native of Clairton, autographed countless copies. Fallon still has several of them.
Fallon says they are having the refreshed painting professionally photographed, and they may sell copies of that photo as a fundraiser at some point.
Kurzweg says Golden Age probably will do some kind of official unveiling event next week for the painting and said it’s “truly an honor for us to be its steward.”
Golden Age is located at 337 E. Eighth Ave. in Homestead; learn more at https://www.goldenagebeer.com.
Bob, a feature writer and editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is currently on strike and serving as interim editor of the Pittsburgh Union Progress. Contact him at bbatz@unionprogress.com.
