Thousands of people turn out to see Pittsburgh's giant Rubber Duck
They ditched work early, charged their cameras and rounded up the kids, jamming the Allegheny River shores to see a bathtub plaything turned gargantuan.
But for all their shared curiosity, the thousands of people who gawked and hollered on Friday evening at a four-story-tall Rubber Duck couldn't agree whether the spectacle orchestrated by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust amounts to art.
“It's there to make people happy and to bring a city and community together,” said Amelia Shuppy, 25, of Squirrel Hill, who tagged the giant inflatable as art. “I think it's beneficial to get families out to see art as a family event. I think that's important.”
Glenn Lechner, 41, of Ross ran from the South Side to a North Shore lawn to watch a tugboat haul the installation piece, produced by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, up from the Ohio River to the Roberto Clemente Bridge. Yet he wouldn't call it art. His interest was simple.
“A 40-foot duck — I want to see how it looks when it gets in front of me. I want to see how it truly looks,” Lechner said.
Whatever their take on artistic value, that basic wonder was a common theme among the throngs who packed the walkways around PNC Park and in Point State Park, many keeping pace with the duck as it chugged upriver to a welcome party on the bridge. Pittsburgh is its first stop in the United States after having appeared in cities overseas since 2007.
The duck will remain on display through Oct. 20 near Point State Park, where observers said the piece stirs childhood nostalgia, civic pride, community unity and uncomplicated fun.
“It's hard not to be a little bit happier knowing there's a giant duck in the rivers of Pittsburgh,” said Greg Toumey, 58, of McCandless, who snapped photos. “It shows Pittsburgh is open to new ideas. It's a fresh, young idea that makes a city feel fresher and younger.”
The crowds stunned organizers with their sheer size, forcing visitors to walk shoulder to shoulder on some walkways between PNC Park and the Allegheny River.
One man who scaled the bridge and startled onlookers was not part of the official activities, said Paul Organisak, a vice president at the Cultural Trust.
Regardless, supporters said the duck's arrival served notice of the blue-collar city's rising profile in arts and culture. Among other Downtown attractions on Friday: “The Lion King” musical, which sold out the Benedum Center. Yo-Yo Ma opened the Pittsburgh Symphony's season to a sold-out audience at Heinz Hall. And Pittsburgh Public Theater's first weekend at the O'Reilly Theater began with its production of “Our Town.”
“You're getting a mixture in the crowd here,” said Cheryl Mooney, 46, of Natrona Heights, awaiting the duck near the bridge. “You see the guy who's looking like he just came from the mill. You see the Cultural District people. You see the people like us, who are somewhere in between.”
She and her husband, Jim Mooney, 43, agreed: The duck is art.
“I think anything that's attention-grabbing is art in its own way,” Jim Mooney said.
Adam Smeltz is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-380-5676 or asmeltz@tribweb.com.
