Exclusive with Pittsburgh Artist Kathy Rooney

First, can you let us know you got started in your work?

At the age of four I started drawing in chalk on the slate sidewalks in front of my house on the North Side resulting in my supportive mother noticing that I was an artist.

When you’re a child you just know it – it was the same with my husband who does sculpture. I was fortunate to have a mother who saw I was talented. And coming from a very male-oriented family, I was a fighter and had to establish myself as an artist.

What has inspired you over the years?

I love Pittsburgh history and landscapes and I have discovered that other Pittsburghers love it too. I try to draw pictures that they would enjoy looking at.

My family  – we’re all native Pittsburghers. That’s our identity. I was able to travel a lot over the years and met many people who traveled to the city as well – I could see the city through their eyes and my own and how unique and special the city is. So many were inspired by those 70’s teams as well. As I thought about it, I thought why not start with a series of illustrations that were landscapes of the city. I enhanced those with colors to show how unique the city is.

What have you enjoyed working on most – any favorite projects/works?

I love illustrating pictures that tell a story. I don’t do fine art that starts with a blank canvas – I like to start with guidelines – I like to understand and research the references.  I focus on line art – and my work is all digital. I draw in layers in PhotoShop. Digital allows me to work with clients and make edits along the way.  And illustration just offered more income.

History and old photographs inspire me. I’m not as inspired by sports – I’d rather do an illustration of George Harrison than a sports figure. The subject matter I like is more vintage-oriented. Like from the 1880’s – I like to fall back on the older times. Someone once told me I did vintage work with a modern appeal.

What would be the dream project?

My current project is a dream project which is now in progress. It is an intuition insight card deck consisting of 52 cards based on The Four Intuitions. I was commissioned by New Age author, Kim Chestney, in conjunction with her book, Radical Intuition. The deck is to be a tool and a companion piece for her book.

As a family steeped in the Pittsburgh sports scene, do you feel drawn at all to sports/Steelers related  projects?

No, just Steelers and Pittsburgh sports history from the 1920’s up to the 1970’s which I love because I grew up on stories and photos from my dad and his brother, Art Rooney. They saw it all – the old days of Pittsburgh sports.

I was able to connect with my extended family through the art I was commissioned to do for them. Most of Uncle Art’s children moved out of the city – my family stayed here. My side of the family isn’t the big money side of the family – that’s definitely a dividing line.  But I come from a big family – six brother and sisters – so staying connected with them  has been great.

Any good/memorable experiences working with the Steelers or other sports organizations?

My commission from my cousin Dan Rooney to do a 62 ft. X 13 ft. mural that includes a landscape of Pittsburgh with past and present sports venues. The mural is displayed on the front of the Steelers Practice Facility on the South Side.

It happened when I started doing the landscapes of the city. I reached out to Dan to see if he would want to buy some for the new South Side offices they built for the new practice facility. I knew Dan had a great appreciation for art – he studied architecture in college and collected Pittsburgh art.

Well, I set up a meeting with him and we went to his office.  It was a brand new building and his office was right above the practice field. Behind his desk was a window overlooking the practice field and the Steelers were right there practicing. It was like a movie set.

Well, I had my portfolio with me and opened it up and started showing him my prints to see if he wanted to purchase any for his offices. He closed the portfolio and said “No. I have a project for you.” He took me downstairs and showed me a blank wall and told me he wanted a mural for the wall and asked if I could do that. I had never done anything like that before but I said “Yes!”

He took me back to his office. He had a drawing table there – I guess to keep him connected to his love of architecture. Well, he took out a big piece of paper and drew out his concept.  He said that this was what he wanted – that I should add my thoughts and concepts to it. He also told me I didn’t have the commission yet – that I had to prove to him that I could do this.

So I contacted a friend who had done a mural for a restaurant in Pittsburgh. He actually blew up some of his artwork onto adhesive vinyl for the project. Well, I liked that idea and contacted the supplier to get information on it then showed the idea to Dan. I explained that I could to it all digitally – no need for months of scaffolding. It could be edited throughout the process – and the installation would take just one day.

He said the idea was fabulous. It took nine months to complete it -and six months to get the downpayment from Dan!

This is the site where the mural was installed.

FYI, here is some related artwork by my artist partner/husband Ray Sokolowski:

The family photo of the Hope Harvey Team. My dad Vince is the ball boy in the front.

Tell me about the Hope Harvey Team?

The Hope Harvey Football Club was organized in Pittsburgh  in the early 1920s. The club was the first football team managed  by Art Rooney, and it may be considered the very roots of Pittsburgh football.

The city of Pittsburgh did not field a team in the NFL until 1933, due to the PA state “blue law”. While this  legislation prohibited charging admission to sporting events on Sundays, there were several football clubs who played  sandlot and semi-pro ball on Saturdays. These teams  would pass the hat to collect contributions from fans and split the proceeds among players after paying expenses.

This was the only time Art Rooney and his brothers played football together. And, it marks the very beginning of Art Rooney’s career in  football. In his time he was known as a star baseball player and boxer, with The Hope Harvey Club he also became one  of the biggest stars in sandlot football. And, the Hope Harvey  years stand as the only period when he managed, coached  and played on a team.

The Hope Harvey Team was one of the most successful sandlot  teams of its time and were strong contenders even against the  might of notable players such as Olympic Legend  Jim Thorpe and his Canton Bulldogs.

How did the name come about?

The team’s locker room was housed in Pittsburgh’s Hope Fire House, in the heart of the Northside.  Dr. Harvey, a  local physician, was sponsor and unofficial team doctor.

Why does the Hope Harvey Team hold such fascination for you personally?

I just think it shows what kind of city Pittsburgh was then – there were fight nights and all of the sports were at a sandlot level.  When I did the sculpture and mural it was amazing to see how many descendants of those that played come out of the woodwork to tell us about their family members who played. They had stories passed down to them through their families and it was nice seeing those stories brought back to life.