Fetterman’s larger-than-life charisma may have played a part in repelling the borough council, but he’s been able to magnetize a small group of impassioned people to his cause. One of them, Jeb Feldman, is a Carnegie Mellon graduate who recently went to work for Allegheny County in an urban planning job. Before that, he worked as a bartender while in graduate school and spent the remainder of his waking hours working with Fetterman. The two have salvaged abandoned homes with their own hands, laboring to make the property’s inherent usefulness and value visible to an outsider. “It’s filthy work,” says Feldman, who seems too cerebral for any project that requires the use of the pickup truck he drives. With Fetterman’s help, Feldman bought and refurbished a vacant school. The property now houses an arts center called Unsmoke.

Inside, there are galleries and large studios with abundant natural light where eight artists currently work—rent free. “We ask them to pick up a share of the utilities. It costs a lot to heat this place,” notes Feldman as he proudly shows off the rehabbed space. That “we” keeps surfacing as he explains his role in Braddock; though the sweat equity, planning, and management of Unsmoke is clearly Feldman’s, he is constantly sharing credit with Fetterman. Feldman speaks of the mayor in a reverent tone of voice: “John is the pivotal person. … John is the key to what is happening here in Braddock. … John is the hub of the wheel.”

One of Unsmoked’s artists-in-residence is photographer LaToya Ruby Frazier. A Braddock native, Frazier recalls the ravages on the ’80s, the relentless erosion of the collective quality of life due to the crack cocaine epidemic and its attendant increase in poverty and crime. In fact, this is often the subject of her work. She is by any measure a successful artist; she is represented by Higher Pictures gallery in New York City and has exhibited around the world, but she maintains close ties to her town by working here.

“I’ve never had my own studio until now,” says Frazier. “Not even in graduate school.” Though one of her best-known photos is of her mother using drugs, her most recent project, a collaboration with 88-year-old artist and fellow Braddock native Victoria Hruska, focuses on Frazier’s grandmother, who was friends with Hruska during the town’s halcyon era. The installation, called 1921 Braddock Summoning 1982, juxtaposes their experiences of Braddock by interweaving mementos and artifacts from the two artists’ childhoods. The project came about because Fetterman introduced the two women. “He knew it would be a great idea,” says Frazier with gratitude. “John is intrigued by human complexity.”

The arts community is a cornerstone of Fetterman’s vision for Braddock. It’s an unorthodox approach to small-town leadership, but the strategy has been effective at drawing in new residents. “With so many empty spaces, so many people gone, it’s important to bring new people in to have growth,” says Fetterman. He knows that the cost of acquiring a home (sometimes for as little as $2,000) and a studio space (often free) in Braddock is alluring. With such low overhead, artists can pursue their work full-time with few of the financial stressors that can sabotage artistic efforts elsewhere. One artist, according to Feldman, settled in Braddock after being priced out of a total of eight neighborhoods around the country that were once artist-budget-friendly.

Fetterman is quick to point out that what is happening is not gentrification, which elbows poor residents out of their longtime communities. “There is all this space and nobody here to be pushed aside. We need people to come,” says Fetterman. The nascent arts community he has almost singlehandedly built is small but close-knit. They gather at Unsmoke for impromptu salons or around the recently built outdoor brick oven for pizza and beer. And newcomers often follow Fetterman’s lead in terms of community service. Transformazium, an arts collective that has moved to Braddock from New York City, has held fundraisers for the town and launched community arts projects.

The attention Fetterman has brought to Braddock has made him a target for some who believe he is more interested in cultivating his own celebrity than erasing local blight. “When I was reelected last year, the Post-Gazette called it the nastiest campaign on record in Allegheny County,” says the mayor. “But you know what, when the votes were tallied, I won by a 2-to-1 margin. That was validating.” The tensions between Fetterman and the city council are ongoing, and he no longer attends meetings. Members wouldn’t return calls requesting interviews for this article. Someone who answered the phone in the borough office called Fetterman “nothing more than a glorified ribbon cutter” before refusing to provide his phone number and slamming down the phone.