"Three Scores in Blue" Light Show
Allegheny County, with support from Shiftworks Community + Public Arts, commissioned Pittsburgh-based artist Shikeith to highlight the iconic Roberto Clemente, Andy Warhol, and Rachel Carson Bridges with a light show during this year's holiday season.
Three Scores in Blue illuminates the county's Sister Bridges in dynamic hues of blue, with each bridge acting like a line of music and creating the appearance of a melody flowing across the Allegheny River. The bridges pulse and change in rhythm and tone, displaying a visual conversation on the river that reflects the improvisational style of jazz.
The architectural lighting design s rooted in Pittsburgh’s long-standing connection to jazz. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, steamboats traveled between Pittsburgh and New Orleans, carrying musicians who helped spread the sounds of jazz. Three Scores in Blue pays homage to the city’s influential role, especially in the Hill District, in shaping the spirit and story of jazz. It also honors legendary local musicians like Mary Lou Williams, Billy Strayhorn, Art Blakey, and Ahmad Jamal.
For artist Shikeith, the color blue also carries personal and cultural significance. It serves as a form of protection and a spiritual compass, drawing on traditions like the Gullah Geechee practice of painting homes in Haint blue, a pale blue-green color, to ward off malevolent spirits. Blue also symbolizes the emotional richness found in African American music, literature, and art.
Three Scores in Blue turns history into living art and casts new light on the important roles of the Pittsburgh rivers in Black history and the legacy of jazz.
Meet the Artist
Shikeith is a Pittsburgh-based artist and filmmaker whose multidisciplinary practice examines the psychological effects of sociopolitical structures on Black men and other marginalized communities. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally, including presentations at Locust Projects (Miami), the Mattress Factory (Pittsburgh), and Performa Biennial (New York). It's also displayed in the permanent collections at Phillips Collection (Washington, D.C.), the Hammer Museum (Los Angeles), Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh), Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. He has received several honors, including the 2019 Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant, and 2022 Pittsburgh Foundation Exposure Artist Award.