Steelers Art: The Art Of Coyne’s Auto Center

Just between Erie, Pa and Pittsburgh lies an unassuming auto repair shop on Route 6N called Coyne Auto Center. I’ve been on the road for the last week with a band called A Love Electric and after our show in Erie, we left for our show in Pittsburgh and ended up driving by said auto shop by some weird twist of fate. We took a random exit to get some gas in a rural area of the state and drove by what looked to be a mural of magnificent proportions that had been painted on the side of the building.

Naturally, I yelled at the other dudes in the band to stop the car so I could jump out and take some photos. It’s been a while since I’ve written an “Art Of” post and I knew I wanted it to be a good one when I finally got back to it. It’s great being on this side of the country too, for this very reason. I don’t just run in to stuff like this unless I am in Pittsburgh’s neck of the woods. Every time I come back I want to move out to Pittsburgh. It is these kind of experiences that solidify that feeling.

So, I jumped out of our 15 passenger van and this is what I saw:

This beauty is right on the side of the road where you can’t miss it. When I got out to take some photos, I spoke with a gentleman in a jump suit working on a car at the shop who told me to go ahead and put my $10 on the grill, which was sitting outside the shop, in return for taking all these photos.

I’m pretty sure he was joking.

Needless to say, I asked him who did the mural and he told me that it was “this guy who lives across the street…He’s a total Steeler Nut.” I laughed and thanked him for letting me gawk at this beautiful piece of work that he had on his wall. He apologized for the mural saying it has started to crack a little bit and the paint has peeled off in some places over the years. I didn’t really notice at first, but when I took a closer look I could see that he was right.

So, go see this mural for yourself before the Pennsylvania weather tears through this mural any more than it already has!

Coyne’s Auto Center is located at:
5560 Route 6N
Edinboro, PA 16412

If you make a pilgrimage to see this mural (it’s totally worth it if you are relatively near by), go ahead and leave that $10 Mr. Coyne was asking for. I’m sure a shop like his would really appreciate the gesture.

I must assume I was speaking with Mr. Coyne himself when I was at the shop, so Mr. Coyne, if you read Steelers blogs: Thanks, and sorry I didn’t leave you $10.

Also, if you are the person who did the mural, or you know the person who did it, please send me an email and let me know at adammeckler@gmail.com. I’d love to get in contact with the artist and thank him for his wonderful work, and send him a link to this article.

Until next time…