Hop on The Ruins Train!
Hop on the Ruins train! Help us fund the most ambitious art installation yet at The Ruins Project in Southwestern PA.
Banning#2 coal mine in Whitsett, Fayette County, Pennsylvania was closed in 1946 and has been sitting in obscurity until Fayette County native mosaic artist, Rachel Sager chose to redefine it as an outdoor mosaic museum. The Ruins Project invites artists from all over the world to make their mark on this piece of Pennsylvania history. To date The Ruins Project has had almost 50 independent artists and students from 14 states and 5 different countries participate on its walls. And visitors have come for tours and to view the art from 23 states and almost a dozen different countries.
The Ruins Project is a teaching substrate, an American history lesson and an invitation to adventure. The Ruins sits a stone's throw from The Great Allegheny Passage Bike Trail and invites travelers from all over the world to experience a landscape re-imagined.
Although The Ruins embraces artists, travelers, appreciators, and out of the box thinkers, it holds a soft spot for those who come from coal.
Stevo Sadvary, Pittsburgh mosaic artist, is planning the largest and most ambitious installation to date at The Ruins. Stevo lost his father and grandfather as a result of coal mining accidents and will be honoring their memory with this project. He will lead a mosaic team of volunteers as they build a 50 foot long representation of a Pittsburgh & Lake Erie (P&LE) steam locomotive pulling coal cars.
Funds will be used for stained glass from Youghiogheny glass factory in Connellsville, Pennsylvania and other mixed media. Some portion of funding will be used to support the artists during their many hours of time and talent. Laticrete International has already stepped up with donations for all adhesive materials.
Funds are needed by April 2019.
We often forget where we came from. Donations to this project will help preserve and highlight the rich industrial heritage of Southwestern Pennsylvania's coal history. Help honor and preserve the memories of those who came before us by funding the most ambitious art installation yet.
Rachel Sager, The Ruins Project and Stevo Sadvary greatly appreciate your part in helping them to achieve this ambitious goal.
If we exceed our goal additional funds will be used to directly improve the safety and accessibility of the landscape around The Ruins.
Donations of $75 and above will receive a complementary 2 person tour of The Ruins Project.
Donations of $100 and above will receive a complementary 2 person tour of The Ruins Project as well as having their names installed into the project itself. Your generous donation of $100 means your name will become a permanent and lasting part of The Ruins P&LE Locomotive.
