'Portals' poster invites viewers to identify, explore landmark Westmoreland sites
Oct. 23—Since the 1970s, the Irish Tourist Board has had an iconic poster to help promote Ireland's capital city.
"The Doors of Dublin" depicts multiple entrances to the city's Georgian homes.
Now, Westmoreland County has a "Portals of Westmoreland" poster, helping to celebrate the county's 250th anniversary this year.
Unveiled Friday during an Art on Tap event at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, the poster combines photos of doors and windows from 25 landmark structures across the county.
"The variety is what's really fascinating about it," said Dawn Lamuth of Discover Westmoreland, an organization that has helped to promote yearlong 250th anniversary activities. She said the poster is "really illustrative of how large and diverse our county is, when you see all those windows and doors. They come from all over; some are modern, some are from the 1960s and one is a Revolutionary War location."
The poster has multiple purposes as Lamuth noted it can serve as a fun exercise in architectural recognition, challenging those who view it to match each image to the building or site where the photo was taken.
The posters will come with a QR code that can be scanned with to link to an online key that will reveal the location shown in each of the photos.
Also, proceeds from sales of the $14.99 poster will provide some extra income for the site where it is purchased.
"Discover Westmoreland produced and printed the posters, and we're making them available to heritage partners, to sell in their gift shops," said Lamuth, who also is director of culture and community connections at the Go Laurel Highlands tourist bureau.
In addition to the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, other locations expected to stock the posters include Historic Hanna's Town, Fort Ligonier, the Westmoreland Land Trust and the New Kensington Arts Center.
The poster features images captured by East Huntingdon photographer Alex Newill.
"It fit into what I was doing in my own free time," said Newill. "I enjoy photographing architecture."
He began the project in May and visited the 25 featured sites over the course of two months.
Though the locations in some of the images will be apparent at first glance, Newill "tried to keep it as ambiguous as possible, to spark some mystery."
The poster also may inspire viewers to discover some Westmoreland locations that were unfamiliar to them.
"It's cool that people will get to learn more about the area and the things in it," said Newill.
Discover Westmoreland drew upon county funding for the 250th anniversary to foot the $1,500 bill for printing 1,500 posters.
Officials with the Smart Growth Partnership of Westmoreland County conceived the project, selected the locations to photograph and enlisted Newill.
The poster was a spin-off from another 250th anniversary effort led by the Smart Growth Partnership: creation of an interactive online map that highlights and provides information about various assets located throughout Westmoreland County. Among the locations shown on the map are parks, schools, churches, nonprofits, historic sites and entertainment venues.
"We've reached our goal of 250 assets shown on the map, but it's still open for more," said John Turack, Smart Growth Partnership executive director. Suggestions for additional asset listings — including a site or organization's street address and a description of its significance — may be submitted to Turack at jdt15@psu.edu.
Visit discoverwestmoreland.com/westmoreland-250-calendar to learn more about the poster project and to view the asset map.
Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jeff by email at jhimler@triblive.com or via Twitter .
