‘Bold and bright’: Belle Vernon art teacher uses spray paint to beautify communities
During the school year, you’ll find Chris Galiyas in a classroom, teaching art to elementary school students in the West Mifflin School District.
But when summer rolls around, Galiyas, of Belle Vernon, spends his time in a lift or on a ladder, spray painting murals in and around Pittsburgh.
Since early June, Galiyas has set up shop at the Arc Human Services building on West Pike Street in Canonsburg.
The nonprofit, which serves people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, has enlisted Galiyas to paint a mural on the three-story brick building, which houses an art gallery that highlights exhibits and work from local artists of all abilities.
“I absolutely love doing this. I love bringing someone’s vision to life and creating new things,” said Galiyas, armed with a milk crate filled with spray paints and a sketch of the mural. “I do a lot of interior murals, but exterior ones are so much fun because you get to meet people, and the murals become instant landmarks. Your building almost becomes known for the mural. It gets people talking. It’s fun. It brings color to the community.”
Galiyas aims to complete the mural in time for the borough’s annual Fourth of July celebration.
It’s not the first outdoor artwork Galiyas has tackled in Canonsburg. He recently painted a mural on the exterior of L&M Flower Shop.
The blooms that adorn the front of the building – orange daisies, calla lilies, yellow roses and bird of paradise – have gotten plenty of attention, said L&M owner Harold Smith.
“It’s beautiful. I am so pleased. It was incredibly amazing to see him work on it every day,” said Smith. “He is an incredible, gifted artist and a great person. I told him that people are going to crash their cars when they drive by because everybody looks at it.”
Soon after Galiyas finished the L&M mural, Arc reached out to him.
“I’ve found that once you do a mural in a small town, word gets around and it snowballs into other ones,” Galiyas said.
Galiyas’ murals are known for their vibrant colors and hard, black edges.
“In today’s world, everything is grays and blacks and whites and beige. If someone says I have free range on the palette, I’m going bold and bright,” he said.
Among his favorite artists are Vincent Van Gogh and Pittsburgh’s Andy Warhol, and his left arm bears tattoos of the artists and their works – Campbell’s Soup cans and Marilyn Monroe, and a self-portrait of Van Gogh.
Galiyas, 48, got his start in mural painting in the mid-’90s, when he worked for a house painting company in high school. A client asked his boss if she knew anyone who could paint a dinosaur mural in her son’s bedroom.
“He said, ‘This guy over here could do it,’ and so I did my first mural. There was a brontosaurus, a T-rex, other dinosaurs, a volcano and leaves. Her son was obsessed with dinosaurs. All of a sudden, the neighbor got one and then another neighbor wanted one, and it took off from there,” said Galiyas.
Galiyas thinks it’s important for his students to know that he’s a practicing artist.
“I want them to know and see that I do art. They actually see what I’m doing and that I’m walking that walk,” said Galiyas. “The kids are like, whoa, he knows what he’s talking about.”
He throws his heart and soul into every project, and is committed to bringing a client’s vision to life.
Arc director Darrilyn McCrerey said the nonprofit met with Galiyas to share its mission statement and the vision it had for the mural.
“One reason for having the mural is to share with the community what we do and to show that everyone contributes to the bigger picture of inclusive opportunities,” said McCrerey.
Galiyas hopes his latest mural gets people talking about it as they drive by.
“When you’re creating a piece, people are trusting you to tell their story through paint. It’s so satisfying when they get to see the canvas for the first time, or the painting, and you see their reaction, and it’s like, ‘I did this.'”