Steel Fitness Mural


before	after
See images from the Steel Fitness Ribbon Cutting Ceremony July 18th,2006

In conjunction with the Steel Fitness Gym, I wanted to throw together this website for all of the people that were curious about the story behind this work, as well as the many who wondered how it was done. Hope you enjoy your stay.

Sometimes these murals take on a life of their own. When tied to a town with the history and significance of Bethlehem, Pa., it's almost expected. There has been a lot of buzz surrounding this work but only a few have actually seen it as Steel Fitness just opened July 15th. Although I'm typically lazy in photographing or documenting my finished pieces, I'm even less likely to show you my process - not because there are any secrets, but because it's not all that exciting, frankly.

The Steel Fitness Mural was different though: During my time in Bethlehem, I met so many wonderful people and even though only a few saw me in the process, they all had a story to tell - a memory to share. From the folks at the Historical Society, to ex-steel workers and their families as well as the press people, they all had a connection to the famed Bethlehem Steel Mill and this painting was an affirmation for them. I remember saying to a guy from the local tv, "you know, in Philly - where I'm from - we have the Liberty Bell. Now it doesn't ring anymore but it still inspires...to me, this is your Liberty Bell. It's not functioning anymore but it still inspires". Words to that effect.

I think it's true.

The Steel Fitness Concept

Having contracted back in the day up in Bethlehem, the mill always fascinated me. So much character, so much historical importance, and yet, it stands almost helpless as the elements slowly destroy it. Indeed the mill was the life-blood of Bethlehem. Like Pittsburgh, Bethlehem suffered with the closing of the mill: Not just monetarily but emotionally and culturally.

A company called Ashley Development together with Leo DeLong, wanted to do something about that. And so did a guy from West Chester, Pa. , named Tom Fenstermacher. As most people in that area know, Ashley Development and Leo DeLong are actively involved in trying to restore old mill buildings into viable, user-friendly places that not only bring jobs into the town and add class and style, but also pay tribute to the Bethlehem Steel Mill and it's legacy. The Lehigh Riverport project is a shining example. Converted from the former Johnson Machinery Building on Second Street, Lehigh RiverPort is a 180,000 square foot, upscale facility containing over 180 condominiums, a 25,000 square foot Restaurant/Bar called, Starters Riverport, and the nicest gym to ever hit the Lehigh Valley - Steel Fitness.

Owner, Tom Fenstermacher became involved when a family member told him about the opportunity at Lehigh Riverport. Tom, raised around Bethlehem, ended up graduating from West Chester University and is now a successful gym owner 4 times over. He saw a unique opportunity and to his credit, he sought not to just make a business but to make a statement.

It was in April of this year, when Tom called me. He had seen some work I had done at the Bethlehem Brew Works about 8 years ago. Along with my friend and now famous Virginia artist, Bill Harris, we pumped out several murals at the Brew Works- one of them being part of the steel mill buildings. Tom contacted Bill who put him in touch with me. I was immediately interested in the project.

I met with Tom at his sprawling 15,000 square foot gym and we discussed his vision. Thankfully, Tom is a straight-shooter and he's got a great eye for design (he picked all the treatments and color schemes for the inside of the gym and all fitting so nicely into the 'mill' theme). He didn't want muscle-men pouring steel or something obvious for a gym atmosphere. What he did want was something grandiose in scope; a tribute to the essence of the mill - the structure. Tom fanned his arms out as he showed me the size of the project - over 2,000 square feet of blank walls, 20 feet high. All I could think was, "this is going to cost a fortune, he'll never see it through".

After a couple weeks researching, taking pics, doing comps, drawings and study paintings, I showed Tom my concept - a realistic, but painterly rendering featuring the #1 blast furnace along with the oldest building on the site (the foundry standing from around 1896). This was to be supported by a monochromatic treatment of the 5 blast furnaces in that famous row. It would all be done in cool colors and pick up on color patterns he'd already made in the gym. Complete Photoshop renderings made it easy to see what he was paying for.

He loved it. The price? He didn't love that so much. But to his credit, he didn't ask me to scale it down, he didn't shake my hand and thank me for the effort : No, he said he'd get back to me and try to make the numbers work. A little give here and there and we made an accord. As an aside, I know Tom had trepidations about getting into this project but I really think it was something he felt he had to do - for his business, for the town of Bethlehem and for his family. I'm not being hokey; Tom genuinely loves the area.

The Painting

Two more weeks preparing for the job: Buying the 25+ gallons of paint (Tom wanted me to work in latex so he could clean the walls). I only used 5 or 6 colors for the whole thing but as I was going to live up there while I did the job, it made sense to get some extra of each. I took some more photos of the mill and asked my friend, Jim Whelan to join me for the first few days to help me with gridding and rolling the walls. He was gracious enough to do it.

So we packed up and went to Bethlehem where we couldn't find a damn room anywhere. Ended up at the airport hotels about 10 minutes from Steel Fitness. The first night consisted of gridding out the walls. I did this with a laser level and a scissor lift and a construction pencil. Took about 3-4 hours to do it. That seemed like a good time to get some beers and go back to the hotel to grid out the comps I made at my home studio (tip - on large murals, grid the wall first, then the source image).

I draw this stuff by hand, mostly due to being technically deficient in other methods. I don't use projectors (ala Norman Rockwell), I don't use stencils. I do use Photoshop extensively in early stages to marry source photos and concepts into well developed printable images. It saves me a lot of comping work and my clients love 'seeing' what they're getting before they sign a contract. I make the concept to my measurements and hope I got it right. In this case, one of my measurements was off and it required some late night revamping of the main image but no biggie (see the 'tip' thingy above). The next day was filled with Jim rolling out base coats while I layed out the silhouettes. Boring stuff really, but vitally important to the finished product. Although I am prone to do under-paintings, I opted to attack elements individually on this job - at least where the main painting was concerned. In my opinion, it knocked two days off the job and kept me right within my original estimate to the client.

Once the silhouettes were up and the base coats down, we decided to rent a sprayer for the sky treatments. That was a nightmare. We rented this thing from this place called Leesors and it sucked the big one. Of course, since I'm an 'artist' and not a 'painter', I must be an idiot. Leesors put it all on me and some poor sap got to rent that lame thing after me. That cost me 5 hours the next day (trying to clean up the mess I'd made with the sprayer). Doing the sky treatments by hand would add a day to the job and a sore arm but it would be a better result. At this point, I was getting into detail work and realized I would no longer need my buddy Jim's services, so we cut out early (9pm) and had a few beers at a local watering hole. Thanks again Jim.

Lou Pektor, the President of Ashley Development was kind enough to hook me up with an apartment so I didn't have to drive out to the airport anymore (tip of the hat Lou). From there, it was just a daily routine of showing up at 3pm and working until about 2am. Fortunately, Lehigh Pizza was right at the corner and open till midnight. So the 11:00pm break was a welcomed nightly occurrence.

Things moved slow for the next few days. Latex isn't a great rendering paint. It moves differently than oils or acrylics and you have to apply different techniques to get certain effects. That adds time to the job. The other problem is the sheer scope of the piece. Working for 12 hours doesn't always look like much on a painting this size. You have a client that's seeing your work everyday and trust me when I tell you, no one is impressed when your work is in an unfinished state. So here you have a guy that's invested a small fortune and I can see he is not jumping up and down happy. You have to let that slide though. It's part of the process.

Once I got to work on the main blast furnace, things started to take shape. Tom was pleased to see it was starting to look like the treatments I had given him a month earlier. As each day went by, more pieces fell into place. The mill was literally a short walk down the tracks behind the building. I would go in the mornings and sit there quietly. Sometimes I'd draw treatments, sometimes just enjoy the view and take in the hugeness of it all. It's really a great place to just sit and meditate on things.

A couple days later the press showed up and it was driving me nuts because I wasn't done and I didn't want them to see it in that state. But the concept was to generate a buzz by showing the work, "in the process". The press people were cool though and I think it did what it was supposed to do - in the end.

So after 11 days, about 120 hours of actual painting time, a traffic ticket, many Yuenglings and a few new friends, I wrapped up painting at around 1am on Friday, May 5th. The last 6 hours of painting were spent listening to an eardrum breaking alarm that had been set off earlier by some electrical disturbance in the building. No one was around to fix it and I had to keep working. I packed up and left with a headache.

So much for the Hollywood ending.

In the end, I finished the job right on budget, my client was thrilled and it only took me a day longer than I had quoted. Peace.

Guy Stasik is an acclaimed artist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With private commissions from Stockholm, Sweden to Arizona, Guys world appeal is his ability to communicate with his clients to achieve their vision - by way of good design. His ability to work in many mediums and styles, as well as his skill at solving difficult design problems proves him to be a sought after commodity.

To contact Guy click here