Made Local with Ron Donoughe

For over thirty years, Western Pennsylvanian painter Ron Donoughe has been trying to capture the look and feel of a landscape, at different times of the day and through all four seasons. Starting with iron, brass, tin, and glass production, the river towns of the Pittsburgh region – from Brownsville to Braddock – ultimately helped make the city the one-time steelmaking capital of the world. With this industrial legacy in mind, Donoughe set out to document the small towns in this region, one painting at a time.

Brownsville to Braddock provides key insight on a forty-mile stretch of river towns. The post-industrial economy led to a decline in manufacturing, and with it, substantial job losses. These towns face many significant challenges, yet there is still beauty to be found. Donoughe finds it as he paints the human spirit through the mills, factories, parks, and homes. The people he meets share their stories of family joy and sorrows, along with a genuine love for the area they call the “Mon Valley.”

Ron Donoughe’s paintings can be found in the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, the Heinz History Center, the Duquesne Club, the Pennsylvania Convention Center, and numerous corporate and private collections. He has taught painting at LaRoche College, the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, and at workshops throughout the United States and France. His previous books include 90 Pittsburgh Neighborhoods and Essence of Pittsburgh.