About Scott Kowalski — Pittsburgh Artist & Muralist
I’m Scott Kowalski, a Pittsburgh-based contemporary artist and muralist creating original paintings, public art, and commissioned work.
My art lives somewhere between order and chaos. I’m drawn to bold color, texture, movement, simple forms, and the moment when something controlled begins to become unpredictable.
Most of my studio work is created with acrylic on canvas. I build paintings through layers, palette-knife marks, instinct, revision, and experimentation. Some pieces are quiet and minimal. Others are loud, physical, and full of energy. They all begin with the same impulse: turning something felt into something visible.
Beyond the studio, I create murals, installations, and community-centered public artwork throughout Pittsburgh. Whether I’m working on a canvas, a building, or an unexpected public surface, I want the finished work to feel alive in its surroundings.
Explore my original artwork or view my murals and public art.
My Approach to Art: Between Order and Chaos
Most of what I make comes from trying to understand the tension between calm and chaos in myself. I’m not interested in resolving that tension as much as sitting inside it and seeing what it reveals.
My work moves between minimalism and abstract expressionism. I use both as a way to hold that push and pull. Bold forms, ambiguous shapes, heavy texture, open space, and saturated color become fragments of an experience rather than a literal explanation of it.
I rarely begin with a complete picture of what a painting should become. The work develops through action and response: adding a mark, stepping back, covering part of it, changing direction, and allowing unexpected relationships to emerge.
I’m chasing moments of stillness, but not by avoiding the noise. The complexity, emotion, and mess of it all are the material. The work is my way of staying with it long enough to see what appears.
Original Paintings and Studio Work
My studio practice centers on acrylic painting, abstract expressionism, and experimentation.
Rather than illustrating a fixed story, I build each work through color, surface, movement, and intuition. Scraped passages sit beside solid fields. Controlled edges meet loose gestures. Layers reveal parts of the painting’s history while obscuring others.
The result is work that remains open to interpretation. What I experience while creating a painting may be different from what another person finds in it—and that exchange is part of what interests me.
My paintings include intimate studies, larger statement works, commissioned pieces, and bodies of work developed over time.
View available original artwork or explore the complete artwork archive.
Murals and Public Art in Pittsburgh
My work extends beyond canvas into murals, installations, and creative placemaking.
A public surface changes the way a piece is conceived. The architecture, scale, neighborhood, client, and people who will encounter the work all become part of the process. I approach each project as a conversation between the artwork and the place where it will live.
Projects have included exterior murals, commercial and community commissions, collaborative installations, and a painted piano created for Pittsburgh International Airport’s Concourse Concerto and Free the Music program.
Recent work includes the 30-by-30-foot Love Your Wild Neighbor mural created with Humane Action Pennsylvania on the Wholey’s building in Pittsburgh’s Strip District. The mural uses the image of a mother bear and her cubs to communicate family, protection, and compassion for wildlife.
For me, public art is an opportunity to take something personal and place it in a shared environment. The work becomes part of someone’s commute, neighborhood, workplace, or everyday experience.
Explore my Pittsburgh murals and public art or contact me about a mural or commissioned project.
Art, Community, and Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh’s creative community has shaped both my work and the way I think about the role of an artist.
I have participated in Art All Night as an exhibiting artist since 2012 and have also contributed as an organizer. Its open, unjuried, community-driven character reflects values that are central to my own practice: accessibility, experimentation, participation, and the belief that art belongs to everyone.
I’m also a member of the Shiftworks Artist Corps, a Pittsburgh initiative that brings artists into community-centered civic and public-space work.
My community involvement has extended beyond conventional exhibitions. I have organized city cycling events, including the Pittsburgh Underwear Bike Ride and Pedal for the Pantry, which uses a community ride to collect food for Wilkinsburg Community Ministry. I have also completed a three-year term as president of a Pittsburgh nonprofit, managing daily operations, coordinating more than 30 volunteers, and helping bring large projects to life.
These experiences continue to influence how I approach public art. A successful community project is not simply placed in a neighborhood. It grows through listening, collaboration, and respect for the people who already understand that place.
Selected Exhibitions, Murals, and Projects
- Humane Action Pennsylvania — Love Your Wild Neighbor Mural, Wholey’s Building, Pittsburgh, 2026
A 30-by-30-foot exterior mural promoting compassion, coexistence, and wildlife protection. - Genesis Collective — Reverb, 2026
A responsive artwork developed from community research, with support from The Heinz Endowments. - Two Frays Brewery — Solo Exhibition, Pittsburgh, 2025
A collection of abstract work exploring urban structure, emotional release, and movement. - Pittsburgh Winery — “Château Kowalski” Artist Label, 2025
One of 12 artists selected to create artwork for a limited-edition wine-label collaboration. - Pittsburgh International Airport — Interactive Piano Installation, 2024
A painted public piano created for the Concourse Concerto and Free the Music program. - Atithi Studios — “Inward Bound: A Journey of Self-Reflection and Creativity,” 2024
A group exhibition curated by James Wodarek exploring introspection and transformation. - Art All Night, 2012–2026
Participating artist and organizer in Pittsburgh’s annual free, open-entry, 24-hour art event.
Interviews and Podcasts
Pittsburgh Creators Podcast
Season 2, Episode 4: Scott Kowalski
Hosted by Alan Fear
Released October 6, 2023
A conversation about my artwork, creative process, and Pittsburgh studio practice.
Listen on the official episode page or through Apple Podcasts and iHeartRadio.
The Slaw Podcast
Episode 21: Scott Kowalski on Pittsburgh’s Underwear Bike Ride
Published by Very Local Pittsburgh
Released March 30, 2020
A conversation about organizing the Pittsburgh Underwear Bike Ride and building community through an unconventional city event.
Listen through Very Local Pittsburgh or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Professional Background
Before art became the center of this website, I spent decades working across graphic design, media, photography, web development, marketing, and digital production.
That experience remains useful in my art practice. It helps me understand composition, visual communication, branding, fabrication, project planning, and the practical demands of carrying a large idea from its first sketch to a finished public installation.
It also allows me to work comfortably with businesses, nonprofit organizations, property owners, designers, photographers, fabricators, and community partners.
That professional background supports the artwork. It does not define it.
Exhibition and Project History
2026
- Genesis Collective — Reverb
- A Holiday Salon by Kofi Collections — MuseumLab
- Humane Action Pennsylvania — Love Your Wild Neighbor mural, Wholey’s Building
- Art All Night
- Slammin Cans - Mural Competition
2025
- Two Frays Brewery — Solo exhibition
- Ketchup City Creative — Group exhibition
- Pittsburgh Winery — “Château Kowalski” artist-label collaboration
- The Castle, McKees Rocks — Shine
- The Castle, McKees Rocks — Horizons
- The Castle, McKees Rocks — Vibrant
- Redfishbowl — Monochrome
- Pittsburgh Fringe Festival
- Öbiryxoed Magazine — Featured artist
- Assemble — 6x6
- Borelli Cellars — Group exhibition
- Art All Night
2024
- Pittsburgh International Airport — Interactive piano installation
- Atithi Studios — Inward Bound: A Journey of Self-Reflection and Creativity
- Tula Organic Salon and Spa — Solo exhibition
- The Big Pop Art Pop Up 2
- Studio 4 — NSFW
- Art All Night
2023
- Borelli Cellars — Group exhibitions
- Two Frays Brewery — Solo exhibition
- Art All Night
2022
- Two Frays Brewery — Exhibition with Pedro Ibarra
- Lawrenceville Gallery Crawl
- Bantha Tea House — Solo exhibition
- Two Frays Brewery — Group exhibition
- Art All Night
2021
- Ketchup City Creative — Charity silent auction benefiting the Women’s Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh
- Gaucho Parrilla Argentina — Ongoing exhibition
- Manos Gallery — New Artist
- Art All Night
2020
- KuratedPGH — Group exhibition
- Art in Res — Guest-curation features
- Manos Gallery — New Artist
- Art All Night
Scheduled exhibitions at Burgr in Zelienople and Espresso a Mano were canceled because of COVID-19.
2019
- The Vault Taproom — Group exhibition
- Azorean Café — Solo exhibition
- Concept Art Gallery — Fundraiser auction
- Lawrenceville Gallery Crawl — Kick Back Pinball Show
- Art All Night
2018
- Blick Art Materials — Group exhibition
- Evangeline / Or, The Whale — Solo exhibition
- Artisan — Group exhibition
- Assemble — Hyper Local
- Art All Night
2017
- Commonplace Coffee, Voluto — Solo exhibition
- Maggie’s Farm Rum Distillery — Exhibition with another artist
- Artisan — Group exhibition
- Assemble — Hyper Local
- Art All Night
2016
- Artisan — Group exhibition
- Assemble — Hyper Local
- Art All Night
Visit My Pittsburgh Studio
My studio is located at:
5530 Penn Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
Studio visits are available by appointment.
Whether you’re interested in an original painting, a mural, a commissioned artwork, an exhibition, or a community project, I’d be glad to hear what you have in mind.