Sara Eve Rivera (left) poses with students from the Sto-Rox Mural Club beneath their work on display at Father Ryan Arts Center.
“It’s a really nice way to leave your mark.”
That’s a telling statement from a McKees Rocks tattoo artist who is giving Sto-Rox Jr./Sr. High School students an artistic outlet.
Sara Eve Rivera, owner of PMA Tattoo on Broadway Ave. in McKees Rocks, is helping lead the Sto-Rox Mural Club. She was at Father Ryan Arts Center on Friday night, as a mural done by students hung next to other pieces of community art as part a Black History Month exhibit with a theme of local works.
“I know Sto-Rox and even the neighborhood has had an awesome, long history of murals being done,” said Rivera, a Brooklyn native whose tattooing brought her to McKees Rocks after growing up in central Pennsylvania.
“I wanted to help add to that.”
The piece in question features ‘One Way Out,’ the lifestyle brand started by Sto-Rox senior Zay Davis. The wordmark is flanked by symbols for love, and the whole work is done in colors of the Pan-African Flag, which symbolizes the unity of African people.
“They wanted to choose a student that they admire and help promote their brand,” said Rivera, “but also show the good things that students around here are doing and creating, that don’t get pointed out quite as much.”
This is far from the only work the students in Mural Club have done. They have produced several more pieces, some as large as 8-feet by 12-feet.
“It’s a big monarch butterfly wing and you can stand in front of it, and it says ‘Sto-Rox Strong,’” explained Rivera. “It’s very impressive how large these works are - that the students are creating after school just one day a week.”
The group fluctuates from as few as two students to more than a dozen, depending on the week. For Rivera, it’s all about catering to the students’ needs, allowing them to work at their own pace and express themselves.
“Sometimes in Mural Club it’s a little loud, we get a little crazy– but you have to let that energy out when you’re painting a memorial that brings up a lot of feelings.”
The memorial mural in question is one that commemorates classmates who have been lost over the years.
“The students have the ability to choose what they want to paint, what they want to leave behind, so that can range between joyful things and some upsetting things, some emotional things,” said Rivera. “It’s just nice to know you can let that energy out.”
As for the future of the Mural Club, Rivera and the Father Ryan Arts Center are discussing options to show off more of the students’ works. It’s something to look forward to and look back upon after they’ve graduated.
“Going back to my school,” said Rivera, whose high school - the Delta Program in State College - had a strong mural program, “It’s like ‘I made that!’”
It’s a feeling she’s making sure these students don’t miss out on, one brush stroke at a time.