photo by Dominique Hildebrand
Market Square Public Art is currently hosting “A Winter Landscape Cradling Bits of Sparkle” by artist Jennifer Wen Ma. The small forest set against the city landscape will be on display through April 12. Visitors are encouraged to visit multiple times to contemplate the changing seasons while walking along a pathway among trees painted black with Chinese ink.

When looking into Market Square on March 28, not only will people see a small forest growing out of the ground, but they will also see a group of artists painting an intricate urban forest scene.

A Winter Landscape painting workshop, which will lead participants in using watercolor to paint the art displayed in Market Square, will be held from 10 a.m.-12 p.m., and will cost $10 and online registration in advance. Those interested can register on the Pittsburgh Arts Council website.

“I just like to share what I’ve experienced with people who want to learn the process,” Pittsburgh artist and leader of the workshop Robert Kluz said in an interview a week before the event.

“A Winter Landscape Cradling Bits of Sparkle” is a modern artwork created by Chinese-American artist Jennifer Wen Ma, and it is the subject of the painting workshop. It is composed primarily of different types of plants and trees each painted with black Chinese ink, according to the event’s description card. It is presented by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, Office of Public Art and the City of Pittsburgh.

The display will remain in Market Square until April 12, so the plants can make the full transition from winter to spring.

Kluz was also brought on board by the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership and the Office of Public Art to help people create their own interpretations of the artwork in Market Square.

“The Office of Public Art planned a couple of activities to help people enjoy the installation, such as this workshop,” educational programs manager for the Office Laura Zorch of Public Art said.

Participants will get a tour and explanation of the artwork before settling in to do their painting on site. Materials such as canvas, watercolor paints and paintbrushes will be provided for participants.

“It’s about the process, not the product,” said Kluz, who is prepared to be teaching people who may be inexperienced in the medium of watercolor. 

He mainly works in watercolor painting and has experience teaching where he taught for 36 years at a high school level. 

Kluz also said that while doing research for the workshop, he found watercolor is considered to be the bottom of the barrel in regard to artistic mediums. Despite this, he hopes to help the participants learn and experience the medium without frustration.

“It’s a difficult medium, but I love it because it’s spontaneous and always a work in progress,” Kluz said.

Since the installation of the forest art piece, it has gotten attention from onlookers.

“It’s really interesting to see the plants all painted black, but it looks so funny in the middle of Market Square,” said Taylor Erickson, a student at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

“I’m really interested to see it transform over the season,” Laurie McKeel, a homicide detective from Upper St. Clair and Point Park graduate, said.

A botanical illustration workshop, also hosted by the Office of Public Art, took place March 21 in Market Square, where participants made their own illustrations on bamboo displayed in the exhibit.

Near the end of the exhibit’s time in Market Square, the Office of Public Art will also be hosting a writing workshop centered around the artwork, according to Zorch.