Randyland is an

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. Although primarily con ...

located in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. It is widely regarded as one of America's most colorful

public art Public art is art in any media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and physically acce ...

landmarks. Randy Gilson is the creator of this

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

, which dedicates to his

outsider art Outsider art is art made by self-taught or supposedly naïve artists with typically little or no contact with the conventions of the art worlds. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrate ...

. Randyland has played an important role in the cultural rejuvenation of Pittsburgh with its neighbors City of Asylum and

Mattress Factory The Mattress Factory is a contemporary art museum located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It was a pioneer of site-specific installation art and features permanent installations by artists Yayoi Kusama, James Turrell, and Greer Lankton. The museum' ...

. Randyland has received international attention through viral

listicle In journalism and blogging, a listicle is an article that is structured as a list, which is often fleshed out with additional text relating to each item. A typical listicle will prominently feature a cardinal number in its title, with subsequent su ...

s. It is among the most photographed places on Instagram.

History

Randy Gilson was born in

Homestead, Pennsylvania Homestead is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, USA, in the Monongahela River valley southeast of downtown Pittsburgh and directly across the river from the city limit line. The borough is known for the ...

. Early in life he suffered from homelessness and poverty. He moved to Pittsburgh's Northside in 1982, where he was a community activist planting over 800 street gardens and 50 vegetable gardens. His

guerrilla gardening Guerrilla gardening is the act of gardening – raising food, plants, or flowers – on land that the gardeners do not have the legal rights to cultivate, such as abandoned sites, areas that are not being cared for, or private property. It enco ...

spans otherwise vacant lots across

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, the Mexican War Streets, and surrounding neighborhoods. The property that would become Randyland was purchased on a credit card for $10,000 in 1995. Gilson uses

dumpster diving Dumpster diving (also totting, skipping, skip diving or skip salvage) is salvaging from large commercial, residential, industrial and construction containers for unused items discarded by their owners but deemed useful to the picker. It is n ...

and

upcycling Upcycling, also known as creative reuse, is the process of transforming by-products, waste materials, useless, or unwanted products into new materials or products perceived to be of greater quality, such as artistic value or environmental value ...

to fill his home with colorful oddities that include

pink flamingos ''Pink Flamingos'' is a 1972 American film directed, written, produced, narrated, filmed, and edited by John Waters. It is part of what Waters has labelled the "Trash Trilogy", which also includes '' Female Trouble'' (1974) and '' Desperate Liv ...

, mannequins, and plastic dinosaurs. The houses and fences are adorned with murals depicting neighbors dancing and smiling. In late 2016, Gilson's partner Mac McDermott was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. Upon hearing the news, Randyland fans raised over $20,000 and sent Randy and Mac on their first vacation. The couple visited the Grand Canyon and Hollywood. Afterwards, Gilson retired from his restaurant job to spend more time with the ailing McDermott. Following the announcement, Foo Conner joined Randyland as co-director. The neighborhood around the museum experienced explosive growth in 2016-2019. Randyland itself reportedly doubled in attendance. The courtyard was completely overhauled to accommodate the traffic. Under Conner's curation, the facility embraced being a

Selfie Museum A "selfie museum" or "Instagram museum" is a type of art gallery or installation designed to provide a setting for visitors to pose in photographs to be posted on social media sites such as Instagram. Typical features of exhibits in a selfie museu ...

as a vibrant backdrop for photos. David Paul Francis "Mac" McDermott died on January 10, 2019. As Gilson's partner, he was posthumously given the title of co-founder. Journalists noted that McDermott may have downplayed his role when alive but was a backbone of the museum. Later that year, Randyland received the Mayor's Award for Public Art for 2019. Conner left the museum early 2020. Because it is outdoors, Randyland was one of the only art museums opened in Pennsylvania during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Gilson came out of retirement. The Courtyard was changed to a socially distanced playground throughout quarantine. Many of the original murals have been painted over. As of 2022, Randyland is still free and popular tourist attraction.

Exhibits

File:Randyland Courtyard.jpg, File:Randyland Outside Fence Mural.jpg, File:Randyland Welcome Wall.jpg, File:Randyland Mirror Wall.jpg, File:Randyland outdoor living room.jpg, alt=Portrait photo showing outdoor living room exhibit at Randyland. The photo shows outdoor furniture with coffee table, old phones, old TV set., Outdoor Living Room

In popular culture

* The documentary ''The Spirit of Pittsburgh'' features Randy Gilson's gardening alongside

Fred Rogers Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), commonly known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television se ...

. * The documentary ''Pursuing Happiness'' features Randy Gilson as one of the happiest people in America. * When a blizzard postponed

Guster Guster is an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Founding members Adam Gardner, Ryan Miller, and Brian Rosenworcel began practice sessions while attending Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, and ...

's Pittsburgh concert, they instead recorded a viral music video in the alleyway near Randyland. * Randy Gilson succeeded

Rick Sebak Richard "Rick" Sebak (born June 5, 1953) is an American public broadcasting television producer, writer and narrator who lives and works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States. Early life and education Richard Sebak was born on Ju ...

as the Mardi Gras King of Pittsburgh. * A teenager's "Summer Bucket List 2017", which included Randyland as a place to visit, went viral. * '' Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown'' calls Randyland an essential for the "Perfect Day in Pittsburgh".

Awards

*Mayor's Award for Public Art 2019

References

External links

* {{authority control Art museums and galleries in Pennsylvania Art museums established in 1995 Houses in Pittsburgh Modern art museums in the United States Museums devoted to one artist Museums in Pittsburgh Outsider art Visionary environments Tourist attractions in Pittsburgh