PITTSTON —Brian Matyjevich had a dream to see art on every corner in the city a. His dream is slowly becoming a reality.
Thanks to the Arts on Fire initiative, city fire hydrants have been bursting with color and new life since the project began last October.
Matyjevich said the process began when the Inspiration Mural was completed.
“After seeing the new Inspiration Mural coming to completion, we wanted to continue the momentum and contacted city officials to investigate,” he said. “With the cooperation of the Redevelopment Authority, city management and Chief James Rooney of the fire department, the project was launched. Often fire hydrants are overlooked, or are an eyesore, and since we are becoming such a great art city, we wanted to change that.”
Since the project began, approximately 34 of the city’s 105 hydrants have been painted with 17 being painted since this past July.
According to Matyjevich, each hydrant costs $150 to sponsor with 100 percent of money going directly to the artist as a commissioned piece of art work to add to the City of Pittston.
Preparations for the hydrants include cleaning, sanding and priming.
Matyjevich, his wife Jillian and local artist Kristen Rinaldi are responsible for most of hydrants being completed.
Rinaldi displayed her skills by assisting with the Inspiration Mural, prompting Matyjevich to seek her help in the Arts on Fire initiative.
“I was at Tomato Bar & Bistro on a break from painting the mural with Michael Pilato and Brian came over, introduced himself, told me about the project and said he wanted me to head up the project and start the process,” Rinaldi said. “I was, of course, intrigued because it was a new challenge painting on metal and an uneven surface.”
Rinaldi said she’s painted nine hydrants since the project began and has two more ready to be painted.
Her work on the hydrants includes a Legend of Zelda themed one, a dedicated one for the Pittston City Fire Department, Paint Pittston Pink, Peculiar Culinary Co. and more.
Matyjevich said each fire hydrant has a different theme.
“Themes for the 34 hydrants completed so far have been in honor of family members, originations, non-profits and popular icons such as R2-D2, Zelda, Baseball and heritage flags,” he said.
Other artists who helped over the last year include Heidi Marie, Jeff Evans, Nick Molasto, Leigh Pawling, Liz Revit and Brooklyn Graffiti.
As part of a way to help the Arts on Fire initiative, the newly formed Pittston Arts Council donated a signed poster of the first 28 completed hydrants to the Pittston City Fire Department.
Posters are for sale at Art on Main at 71 S. Main St.
“They, after all, are where this project started with their blessing and encouragement,” Matyjevich said.
The Pittston Arts Council is a newly formed group still in development, but its purpose will be to assist with future city art projects.
“We have plans to catalog the art in Pittston and even develop tours of the artwork, perhaps as a part of Second Fridays,” Matyjevich said. “As we become more cohesive and established, we will be more visible as a city program, but as we are still in flux, we are pretty low-profile group for now.
Currently, there is no exact time frame for the completion of Arts on Fire.
“I have no time line because each hydrant involves giving a lot of people time to think about it,” Matyjevich said. “Every hydrant has a memory or recognition and we’re enjoying stretching this out. I can see this going for another year.”
