Greensburg Show Provides Canvas for Community Art

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

Julia Sefcheck, alumni engagement officer at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, has early memories of her aunt, an artist, who set her up with a palette and paper before the wind had other ideas.

“It blew up and went into my hair and I could smell that oil paint,” Sefcheck recalled.

It didn’t deter Sefcheck, who has been painting for years and coordinates the Art Show @ Pitt–Greensburg, an event that’s part of the regional campus’ annual Blue & Gold Celebration. Now in its third year, the art show offers students, faculty, staff and alumni of the University, along with local artists from the community, the opportunity to show their work.

“It’s really intended to celebrate the creativity of not only the Pitt–Greensburg family, but also the community surrounding it,” said Sefcheck at a reception on Friday, Oct. 4 in Millstein Library.

This year, the show registered 49 artists and 126 works; 91 were submitted for judging in the mixed media, drawing, photography and painting categories. The three highest-rated works in each category received certificates of recognition, and first place winners also received a gift card.

Additionally, all pieces were eligible for fan-favorite voting, with votes received from anyone who visited the exhibit.

Contact:

Will Entrekin will.entrekin@pitt.edu (412) 648-4493
Category:
Academics
Tags: Pitt-Greensburg Millstein Library art Year of Creativity
  • Amber McAlister, assistant professor of history of art and architecture, received third place for her photos, "Not Enough Gargoyles for Our Tears." McAlister snapped the photos during a trip to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, which was supported by a John G. Bowman Grant from the Nationality Rooms. "I’d studied abroad in college in Paris, and you weren’t able to go up the towers," she said, which made watching the Cathedral burn in an April 2019 fire that much more devastating. (Amber McAlister/University of Pittsburgh)
  • Visitors to the art show voted this painting of PNC Park by Jacqueline Drazdzinski — a sophomore studying health care management and arts entrepreneurship at Pitt–Greensburg — the overall fan favorite. (Will Entrekin/University of Pittsburgh)
  • Julia Sefcheck, alumni engagement officer at Pitt–Greensburg, with her painting of a boat's wheel. "Painting is just one of those things I've always just done," Sefcheck said. (Will Entrekin/University of Pittsburgh)
  • Board of Trustees Chair Eva Tansky Blum viewed examples of the mixed media form. “From portraits of music and movie stars to cityscapes, it was great to see all the ways people in the Pitt–Greensburg community show their creativity. Their artwork was so beautiful and exciting!” she said. (Will Entrekin/University of Pittsburgh)
  • Though he usually works in fluid art and resin, Kevin Zimmerman, financial account coordinator at the Hillman Cancer Center's Cancer Institute, created this view of the Pittsburgh skyline by splattering paint over the canvas; he likened the method to Jackson Pollock’s. “I love coming home from a long day at work and seeing what new thing I can create,” he said. (Will Entrekin/University of Pittsburgh)