Artist Nikk Alcaraz, Who’s Done Design Work For Disney, Brings Holiday Cheer to Brownsville

Nikk Alcaraz’s life is like a Hallmark Christmas movie.

Last year, the 31-year-old artist, author and content creator left California with his partner, Weston Reindl, and moved into an old fixer-upper in Brownsville that they purchased online.

The couple had never been to the Fayette County borough, located about 40 miles south of Pittsburgh, but instantly fell in love with its rustbelt charm.

Through a series of serendipitous circumstances, Alcaraz, a native of Santa Fe, N.M., used his expertise as a set designer to transform the boarded-up business district into a holiday wonderland, complete with cheerful window displays that harken back to the town’s heyday in the early 1900s.

Welcome to Charlie Brownsville.

Hollywood also appreciates the gritty aesthetic. After restoring about a dozen facades in and around the historic Union Station building, director Mark Waters used it as the backdrop for his Milton Hershey biopic “HERSHEY.” Starring Finn Wittrock and Alexandra Daddario, the film about the famous chocolatier is slated for a 2026 release.

When production wrapped in August, crews took the props but left the refurbished Market Street storefronts intact. In a Facebook post, Mayor Ross H. Swords Jr. asked if anyone would want to repurpose them.

Alcaraz jumped at the chance to parlay his professional passion into a hometown project. With his own money along with donations from residents, he scoured Facebook Marketplace and hit every thrift shop in the Mon Valley to find period-specific pieces that would make each window a masterpiece. He even rifled through the attic of the Brownsville VFD and found vintage tinsel garlands and lanterns that beautified the business district during the 1950s.

With support from the Greater Brownsville Chamber of Commerce, local business owners and volunteers Brandy Zahand, Janine Zahand, Britany Remington, Paige Remington, Kelly Edger and Cody Edger, Alcaraz created a whimsical portal to the past — just in time for Brownsville’s annual Light Up Night celebration on Nov. 28.

There’s a Victorian-era toy store, a candy company and a bookshop. A handmade, life-sized Santa Claus now takes up residence in one space, while a local family’s heirloom Christmas village occupies another.

Tru-Tone, a Chicago-based company that makes vintage-style LED Christmas bulbs, saw Alcaraz’s TikTok posts (as did millions of others across the globe) and donated lights to the cause.

It’s a festive feast for the eyes — one that will change with the seasons.

After decades in decline due to the closure of area steel mills and coal mines and other economic factors, Swords believes Brownsville is on the brink of a resurgence.

“The response has been wonderful,” says the mayor, who was born and raised in Brownsville. “We’ve received so many comments and new followers — too many to keep track of. I even received a call from a guy in Florida looking to retire here.”

The thought of a reverse snowbird made him chuckle.

The borough, founded in 1785, has already secured multi-million-dollar grants to revive old buildings and demolish ones that are beyond repair. Officials are using technology to digitally recreate the town so future generations can experience what the place was like during its shipbuilding boom.

Alcaraz and Reindl plan to open a bookstore and cafe in town. They hope the viral videos of Market Street’s holiday revival will attract more business owners and tourists to Brownsville.

“At first you’d walk around and it’s drab, but you can see all the beauty behind the dust,” Alcaraz says. “I used to work in Disneyland and Universal Studios, so I have experience in world-building. That’s why this opportunity in Brownsville sang to me. I don’t have Disney money, but I wanted to make it look a little more jolly and to make people feel hopeful about the renaissance of this town.”

Just call him St. Nikk.