The preserving Wilkinsburg Art-i-facts project will: 

protect threatened cultural treasures,

foster pride in U.S. heritage;

educate citizens about our nation's cultural legacy;

raise concern for the urgent preservation needs of nationally significant artifacts.

Wilkinsburg history can be seen at the Wilkinsburg Borough Building as you climb the stairs between the second and third floors, where the W.P.A. artist Harold Carpenter has painted the Borough's history entitled "The History of Wilkinsburg".  This 1940 mural depicts a vast panorama of First Nations trappers, Sam Rippy's famous tavern, houses of worship all the way to the Westinghouse bridge, plant, and belching smokestacks of the Carnegie-Illinois plants in Rankin and Braddock in the distance.  There is a layer of dust and dirt on the surface; the varnish has discolored, and there are a number of abrasions that require expert attention.

The artifacts from Major W. G. Lowry Post #548, Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), Wilkinsburg chapter, are also located in the same Borough Building stairwell.  GAR was a Veterans association for the men who served in the Union Army during the Civil War in the 1860s. The GAR posts initially began in 1866 after the Civil War ended and veterans needed an organization to share stories and help one another.