Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Shaun Slifer is an artist, writer, self-taught historian, and museum professional based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His work investigates dominant historical narratives in relation to the lived environment. He has a particular interest in history from below, ecology, and surreptitious signage. Shaun regularly works in collaboration with other artists, non-artists, and in collectively structured groups including the now-disbanded Street Art Workers and the Howling Mob Society, and currently Justseeds Artists' Cooperative (of which he is a founding member) and the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum (where he is the creative director and exhibition designer). Shaun has exhibited internationally in a variety of museums, galleries, and nonprofit spaces, as well as non-authorized public settings. He has presented on history, creative practice, and grassroots media at numerous universities and conferences in the United States and Europe. He received a BFA with a concentration in sculpture from Watkins College of Art in Nashville in 2003. He has run the Justseeds online store with member/owner Bec Young since 2010.
Other Media
This spring I hammered out a fun and fairly experimental print, one where I wouldn’t actually draw much of anything and mostly relied on dried flowers and leaves to create…
As part of their monthly “Artists in the Library” series, the folks at the Braddock branch of the Carnegie Library in southwest Pennsylvania (near Pittsburgh) have put up the Celebrate…
Here’s Artnoose, friend of Justseeds and tireless, self-identified over-achiever letterpress whiz. Artnoose worked part-time in the Pittsburgh-based Justseeds office from 2011 through 2014, when she moved back to her native…
[.45 ACP bullet casing, from Thompson submachine gun, recovered from Crooked Creek Gap area of Blair Mountain battlefield, collection of Kenny King] Since early 2014, I’ve worked closely with a small,…
I’ve been scheming with my longtime friend and cohort Stuart Anderson to build a penny smashing machine since some time back in 2007 or 08. At that time, we’d just completed…
Back in 2011, DIYDPW #4 highlighted an unauthorized sign installed at an egregious Pittsburgh intersection (above). That sign was intended to alert drivers that traffic patterns had been changed, even…
This summer, right on the heels of the public opening of the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum, Zach Furness (author: One Less Car, editor: Punkademics) set up a long-form email interview with…
We’re moving forward with the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum over in Matewan, WV. This community-driven, people’s history museum opens to the public on May 16 (in the midst of…
For a couple weeks in November, I hammered out a four by eight foot version of my “Teach History From Below” print (from our Liberating Learning Portfolio) for the Sidewall…
Since this past spring, I’ve been honored to be working with a group of folks down in Southern West Virginia to launch an exciting people’s history project: The West…
This past Saturday, Stuart Anderson and I dragged the penny smasher prototype out into public for the first time for a “soft” debut before the Flood Tide screening at the…
Burgettstown, PA, USA – story here. (Thanks, Becca!) DIYDPW is a (semi)weekly blog post highlighting global examples of Do It Yourself Department of Public Works projects. These are defined as…
Pittsburgh, PA, USA These are known as “sharrows”, a type of lane-sharing marking that cities often use on streets where bike lanes won’t fit (or for other mysterious municipal reasons)….
Campbell Hall, NY (Thanks to Kevin, who says this sign was “Installed on a newly tar and chipped road upstate. Super dangerous conditions for motorcycle riding, I was thankful someone…
W.A.G.E. (Working Artists and the Greater Economy) is proud to announce the launch of W.A.G.E. Certification, a paradigm-shifting model for the remuneration of artistic labor. Initiated and operated by W.A.G.E.,…
This fall, I’ve been working with long time cohort Stuart O. Anderson to develop a customized souvenir penny smashing machine (also known as a penny crusher, penny press, or…