2-D art, including murals, mosaic, photography, etc.
Community engagement and social justice
Pittsburgh Creative Corps Artist Directory
Rona Chang
OTTO FINN
Primary Discipline
Artistic Practice
Textile/fabric/weaving
Assemblage, including found objects, multimedia
Site-specificity determines materials used
everyBODY, 2021, photography. Participatory street-style portrait project featuring OTTO FINN jackets and jewelry by Maia Leppo.
Kids Creative Collage Workshop, 2024, fiber scraps from OTTO Finn studio, Mod Podge, canvas. Program supported by the Grow in Fiber Grant.
National Craft Shows, 2022-ongoing, installation.
Nuǎn lián (暖簾), 2026, thread, avocado dyed cotton fabric, 43″ x 45.” Integrates the artist’s father’s calligraphy to explore themes of thresholds, memory, and connection.
About the Artist
I am the founder and creative director of OTTO FINN, a Pittsburgh-based studio practice rooted in textiles, repair, and community engagement. For the past 13 years, I have worked with vintage and repurposed materials, transforming kantha quilts and discarded textiles into wearable and functional pieces that explore color, movement, and human connection. Before founding OTTO FINN, I exhibited photography in galleries, and my current work continues that sensitivity to light, composition, and storytelling through fiber-based forms.
My practice increasingly centers participation and collective experience. Through projects like everyBODY, a participatory street-style portrait series created with jewelry designer Maia Leppo, I invite members of the public to activate the work through wear and self-presentation. I also host Mend & Meal, a monthly community gathering focused on textile repair, shared skills, and communal care.
At OTTO FINN, I lead a team of six contractors, collaborating on production, displays, workshops, and public engagement. Together, we continually adapt our work in response to the people who interact with it. Across photography, textiles, workshops, and community-based programming, my practice explores how material, light, color, and participation can create spaces of connection, visibility, and shared authorship.
Photo by Maia Leppo
Web
Provides Fabrication Services to Other Artists
No
Teaching Artist
Yes, ages 6 and up
Joined the Directory
July 2026
Related
PROJECT
Pittsburgh Creative Corps
Designed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pittsburgh Creative Corps initiative engages artists and creative workers to activate the public realm while providing economic opportunity.
“Public art is about shared experience, and I’m interested in creating spaces where meaning is shaped collectively through community presence and interaction.”
Rona Chang
Contact the Artist
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Related
PROJECT
Pittsburgh Creative Corps
Designed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Pittsburgh Creative Corps initiative engages artists and creative workers to activate the public realm while providing economic opportunity.
