Marilyn Monroe Statue Visits Pittsburgh, Continuing Trend of Giant Things Coming to Town

The 26-foot-tall sculpture made a quick stop at PPG Plaza en route to New Jersey.

Photo via Christopher Rolinson
 

Some like it hot. Others like it extremely overcast and drizzling ceaselessly. There was something incongruous if not totally surreal about the scene at PPG Plaza today — an enormous bust of Marilyn Monroe sat on the back of a flatbed truck, surrounded by crowds of people taking selfies.

Andy Warhol might have had something poignant to say about vanity, fame and the incurable American condition. Or maybe he just would’ve said, “Seriously, to hell with this rain.”

The 40,000-pound “Forever Marilyn” sculpture made a one-hour pit stop downtown before heading to its final destination: a sculpture park in New Jersey (because nothing says “glamour” quite like the beautiful Garden State).

The statue previously was on display in Chicago and Palm Springs. Created by artist Seward Johnson, it is made of stainless steel and aluminum and shows Monroe in a classic scene from the film “The Seven Year Itch.”
 

With all these gigantic visitors we’ve been having, we’re starting to fear what may come next. We’re stocking up on proton packs just to be safe.

#Props: HuffPo contributor suggests that others visit Pittsburgh in their spare time

With the uptick of grassroots projects — pop-up bars, nontraditional transportation services — we can see why David Landsel said we're "like a little slice of Manhattan" in his piece detailing reasons to visit the Steel City. See what else he called out in the full article.