By Sean P. Ray | Managing Editor

“Within its broken hills, nooks, dells, and secluded spots, the young can whisper into each other’s ears and can draw pictures of the future without either paint or brush.”

This excerpt from the proclamation made by Thomas M. Marshall for the inauguration of Riverview Park in 1894 has been the guiding principle and nomenclature for “Pictures of the Future,” an art installation by artist collective Sans façon and Steve Gurysh that’s been in the work since 2021 and is nearing completion.

Tristan Surtees, who makes up Sans façon alongside his partner Charles Blanc, said the artists are expecting the project to be wholly complete early next year, with the majority of the work done by the end of 2023.

For example, one major aspect of the art piece — a fallen tree which is being carved into a replica of the columns on the Allegheny Observatory façade — will be completed in September. The column will be placed on its side near the Snowflake trailhead on the northern end of the park, and the forest will be allowed to slowly reclaim the carved wood over time.

“It tells a story itself that this fallen tree that was there over 150 years ago now lays and decays in the forest,” Surtees said.

Check out the September issue of The Northside Chronicle for the full story.