There is a corner in Pittsburgh where it is almost impossible not to smile. At 1501 Arch Street, in the Mexican War Streets neighborhood of the North Side, Randyland bursts into view in hot pink, sunshine yellow, turquoise and purple — a house, a courtyard and a fence transformed into one of America’s most colorful public art landmarks.
Randyland began in 1995, when artist Randy Gilson bought the rundown property and started covering it with murals and found-object art. Gilson, who had arrived in Pittsburgh’s North Side in 1982 and planted hundreds of street gardens across the neighborhood, built the place from things other people threw away: mannequins, plastic dinosaurs, pink flamingos, vintage signs, old telephones and furniture rescued from yard sales and given joyful new lives.
Every wall rewards a closer look. The famous Welcome Wall greets visitors in a riot of color, the Courtyard hides a whimsical outdoor living room complete with vintage furniture and an old television, and the Mirror Wall folds your own reflection into the kaleidoscope, so visitors briefly become part of the art. Dancing, painted neighbors smile from the murals, and every visit reveals details missed the time before.
Randyland sits in good company, alongside the Mattress Factory and City of Asylum, in a pocket of the North Side that art helped bring back to life — and it has become one of the most photographed places in Pittsburgh. Best of all, admission is free, with donations welcome to keep the paint fresh. If Gilson himself is around, say hello: his welcome is part of the artwork.
Photo: Randyland via Wikimedia Commons
