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Photos Courtesy of the Mattress Factory

Some artists shell out massive amounts of money to buy expensive materials for their work. Victoria Hruska isn’t one of them.

Hruska, an 88-year-old Braddock resident, can come out of an art supply store with $10 worth of goods in her basket and use them for a host of different projects. She also tries to reclaim and repurpose as many materials as possible. “We frequent the flea markets,” she says, adding that she also receives materials, such as bottles and greeting cards, from friends. “It’s just like seeing things in a different way, giving things a second chance.

“Sometimes when you recycle, it becomes better.”

In creating art that takes the idea of mixed media to the extreme, Hruska makes use of a host of used items, from egg shells to costume jewelry to compact discs. She also likes to experiment with a wide variety of paper products, such as prismatic paper, cardstock, and wallpaper.

“If I find a little item, I can decorate it and have fun with it,” she says.

Hruska’s work captured the attention of Braddock Mayor John Fetterman, who met her while he was campaigning for his first election. Later, when the Mattress Factory asked him to help develop an installation for an exhibit of small site-specific works by Pittsburgh-area artists and natives, Fetterman thought of Hruska.

It’s not surprising that Hruska’s home, in which many of her creations are on display, intrigued Fetterman. “When Katherine [Talcott, the Gestures exhibit curator] came to the house,” says Hruska, “she said ‘Every room is an installation.’”

In the Mattress Factory work, “1921 Braddock Summoning 1982,” Hruska collaborated with LaToya Ruby Frazier, a 27-year-old Braddock native, who grew up just a few houses away from Hruska’s home on Holland Avenue.

The two women developed a unique intergenerational installation that explored both their divergent and shared experiences of life in the former steel town.

In addition to showcasing Hruska’s work, the installation included Frazier’s tribute to her deceased grandmother, Ruby, as well as photography that reflected her own perceptions of Braddock.

The seventh of eight children in her family, Hruska had to come up with ways to occupy herself, and that’s when her interest in art began to develop. Some eight decades later, her passion for art endures. Pieces of her work that are some 30 years old still adorn the walls of her home.

Hruska has a number of staple items in her collection. For example, she designs small women’s shoes that are created from old greeting cards or some other sort of sturdy paper. Her uniquely designed pins are also quite popular.

Sometimes Hruska stumbles upon an opportunity to work with a new medium, such as the inexpensive lot of 100 cigar boxes she found at a flea market. She added a number of embellishments to give the boxes her own touch. She also recently bought an outdated desk calendar and turned the pictures on its pages into bookmarks.

Hruska, who noted that she used to entertain frequently, is also a fan of putting together table décor, from centerpieces to placemats to favors. For centerpieces, she recycles used bottles, covers them with glitter paints, and adds appliqués appropriate to the celebration at hand.

Having taught a number of local crafts classes for seniors and intergenerational groups, Hruska has been able to share her talents with many. Her creative spirit is not limited to visual arts, either. “Painting and decorating is not the only art,” she says. “Everything about us is art. It’s all about life.”

Hruska also participated in the Nickettes, a defunct Pittsburgh senior citizen dance troupe that performed at some 200 locations during its existence. Of course, she designed many of their costumes as well.

She also is an active volunteer with the Steel Valley Arts Council and has been involved with many groups, such as Polish Arts League of Pittsburgh Women’s International Club, Steel Valley Arts Council, University of Pittsburgh Generations Together Program and the Rankin Christian Center. “No matter what, I’ve always been doing something,” she says.

In using everyday household items, Hruska is able to create works of art that are both accessible and inexpensive. She sells most items for less than $10 or $15.

Her approach to her work can also serve as an inspiration to aspiring artists of modest means. “You work with what you have,” she says.

Anyone interested in Hruska’s work may catch her at one of the numerous area craft shows she attends or visit her Mattress Factory installation, which ends in January 2010.

1921 Braddock Summoning 1982 (2009), mixed media