May/June 2012

THE
GALLERY
THE SOUTHERN ALLEGHENIES MUSEUM OF ART NEWSLETTER
MAY/JUNE 2012 – Issue XVIII
DIRECTOR’S DESK ... WITH G. GARY MOYER
GARDEN PARTY SET TO BLOOM
When it comes to not-for-profit organizations, it’s
not always about the money, although the dollars you
contribute do help keep the lights on and the doors
open. Remember, many of the Museum’s exhibitions
and programs remain free of charge to the general
public. We need our friends and family members to
contribute at a level at which they are comfortable
because membership dollars contributed through
the General Operating Campaign (GOC) are critical
to maintaining museum operations and sustaining
SAMA programs.
Recently, somebody asked me, in addition to their annual GOC contribution,
what more could they do to help the Museum? SAMA’s various departments and
each of the SAMA museums have their respective wish lists. Of course, there are
always opportunities to volunteer one’s time, effort, and/or services at the Museum.
Your attendance at one or more SAMA functions also helps. Advocating for the
arts can help maintain government funding programs that impact the Museum.
As we approach the season for key SAMA fundraising events such as the Garden
Party (SAMA-Ligonier Valley), Gala (SAMA-Loretto), and the Art of Wine and
Fashion (SAMA-Altoona), it is not too early to be scouting about and/or soliciting
for auction items for these important events. These Museum fundraisers are critical
to SAMA’s financial viability! In fact, these three fundraising programs represent
over 10% of SAMA’s operating budget at the bottom line.
We would ask SAMA membership to remain alert throughout the year to
opportunities to secure auction items that could benefit the Museum’s silent
auctions, or perhaps a live auction. In this regard, four or five key auction items
suitable for a live auction could be the difference between a good program and an
outstanding outcome.
Perhaps you or someone you know is at that stage in life where they are
downsizing and they have things available that would be a welcome addition to
our slate of auction items (e.g. furniture, oriental rugs, grand piano, etc.). Maybe
you or someone you know is looking to get rid of one of those “boy toys” (e.g.
motorcycle, sports car, boat, ATV, collectibles, etc.) that would add to our auction.
Could an estate have something (e.g. antiques, paintings, jewelry, a house, etc.)
that would benefit the Museum? If that summer condo or the time share in the
Caribbean is going to be available, you or someone you know might consider
donating it to SAMA for the auction. And remember, these donations to the
Museum are tax deductible.
For example, were it not for a handful of live auction items donated to the 2011
Gala, SAMA would not have met its program goal. An improved bottom line calls
for a few auction item donations (e.g. car, boat, motorcycle, recreational vehicle,
oriental rugs, silverware, jewelry, vacation packages, artwork, antiques, etc.) for
a live auction. Since there is no requisite reserve, these donations to SAMA can
result in significant dollars to the Museum. And if done properly, a live auction
among interested parties bidding on attractive auction items can add energy and
enthusiasm to the evening’s festivities. Who can forget the spirited bidding for a
race horse at a previous Gala?
We count on our event auctions to add to the bottom line and we count on our
membership to tune into these opportunities for the Museum. If the opportunity
presents itself today for an auction item that could benefit the Museum tomorrow,
we should do what we can to acquire it and store it for the event. We are looking
for silent and live auction items now. Again, your actions in this arena can add to
the success of SAMA’s fundraisers.
Guests at this year’s Garden Party are going to be in for “Some Enchanted Evening.”
Over the years, the Garden Party has offered the Ligonier Valley community an
elegant and electric affair. But this year, the event, scheduled for Saturday June 2,
will feature a fresh, new feel thanks to the sights and sounds of the tropics.
“As we were planning this year’s event,
we thought a tropical theme might spice
things up a bit,” said SAMA-Ligonier
Valley Coordinator Sommer Toffle.
“Our chairs and the entire Garden Party
Committee have done a fabulous job
organizing a Garden Party that will be one
to remember. This is our signature event at
SAMA-Ligonier Valley, and I couldn’t be
Chairs Carolyn Turner and
more excited for it.”
Bonnie Hoffman
The eleventh annual Garden Party is
being chaired by Bonnie Hoffman and Carolyn Turner. The event begins at 4
p.m. with a champagne reception in the gallery celebrating the exhibition, People,
Places and Things: Works by William DeBernardi. The artist will be in attendance to
greet visitors. Following the reception, guests will proceed to the Museum lawn for
cocktails and signature gourmet cuisine by Ernie Vallozzi. Adding to the ambience
will be the music of the Tropical Sands Steel Band. The three-man steel drum
ensemble from Pittsburgh is renowned for capturing the sounds of the Caribbean
and helping to deliver the atmosphere of “paradise” to any event.
While on the lawn, guests will have an
opportunity to bid on numerous items in the
silent auction. In recent years, the auction
has featured a wide assortment of antiques,
artwork, jewelry, garden accessories, gift
baskets, and vacation packages.
Cost for the Garden Party is $75 per
person. Reservations are required by May 22
and can be made by calling the Museum at
Tropical Sands Steel Band
(724) 238-6015.
Colleen Browning:
The Enchantment of Realism
By Dr. Philip Eliasoph
e book on the life
and career of Magic Realist
painter, Colleen Browning”
Available now!
Hardcover • 180 pages • $60
Call SAMA at
(814) 472-3920 to order
2
SAMA NEWS
IN THE NEWS
MONUMENTS & MASTERPIECES FOCUS: HEROES SQUARE
•SAMA received a Heritage Preservation Grant to conduct a collections and
facilities assessment. Successful completion of the assessment can pave the way
for a future conservation grant.
•The Museum received approval on a grant of $25,000 for the Museum/
Healthcare Partnership Program from an anonymous foundation.
•SAMA received four laptop computers through the CTC computer recycling
program; the computers were provided to staff at the Altoona, Ligonier Valley
and Loretto museums.
This year’s Monuments & Masterpieces trip will offer patrons an opportunity
to visit a number of rich, historical sites. One such location is Hősök tere, or
Heroes Square. The site is one of the major squares in Budapest and has deep
historical and political connotation. The iconic statue complex, the Millennium
Memorial, was completed in 1900, the same year the square was officially named.
The Memorial is at the center of the square and includes statues of the leaders
of the seven tribes that founded Hungary in the ninth century, as well as other
outstanding figures of Hungarian
history.
Surrounding Heroes
Square are some of the country’s
finest museums, including the
Museum of Fine Arts and the
Palace of Art.
The 2012 Monuments &
Masterpieces trip to Prague and
Budapest is scheduled for October
20 through 28. Please call the
Museum at (814) 472-3920 or
visit www.sama-art.org for more
Heroes Square, Budapest
information.
•SAMA’s A Brush with Magic exhibition tour of Colleen Browning works travels
to the National Academy of Design in New York City for the summer. The
exhibition tour moves to SAMA for a unique simultaneous exhibition at all
four museum facilities later in the summer. Opening receptions will be held
August 23 at SAMA-Johnstown, August 24 at SAMA-Ligonier Valley, August 25
at SAMA-Loretto, and August 27 at SAMA-Altoona.
•SAMA is working with Pride Philanthropy, headquartered in Atlanta, to put
together a development and capacity building workshop for the SAMA Board of
Trustees. The workshop is scheduled for June 14 at the Loretto Museum.
• The Edward Glannon family presented the Museum with Glannon’s oil
painting, Small Boat Upon Land. SAMA is pleased to add this painting into the
permanent collection, where it joins numerous other Glannon works.
•SAMA received a $2,500 Education Incentive Tax Credit (EITC) grant through
Davis Vision for the 2012 Arts-in-Education program.
•SAMA’s Garden Party and Gala are in need of auction items, such as antiques,
artwork, boats, cars, collectibles, motorcycles, etc. Contact the Ligonier Valley or
Loretto museums today regarding your tax deductible donation.
Forest Hills School District teachers
Lucille Honkus (left) and Carol Cecere
assemble a sculpture during a hands-on
activity at an artist/teacher workshop
at SAMA-Johnstown in March. The
program featured presentations by
local artists Norman Ed and Martha
Murphy, as well as a gallery tour by
SAMA Curator for Visual Arts, Scott
Dimond.
SUMMER ART CAMPS RETURN
This summer, SAMA’s Altoona and Ligonier Valley museums will
continue their tradition of offering a summer arts camp to local children.
At SAMA-Altoona, students will have an opportunity to become better
artists at Drawing 101: The Artful Adventure in the Secrets of Drawing and
Shading. Led by SAMA-Altoona staffer and Penn State-Altoona faculty
Stan Snyder, the camp will teach children different professional drawing
tips and techniques, with students creating their own “masterpiece” that
will be displayed in the Museum. The camp is designed for ages 8 through
14 and will run from 12:30 to 3 p.m. July 30 through August 10. Cost is
$125 per child.
SAMA-Ligonier Valley returns the
popular camp, The Art of Puppet
Theatre. With the guidance of
professional puppeteer Laura
Opshinsky, children will have the
opportunity to create puppets
and design scenery, costumes
and sets for the show, “Year of
WISH LIST
the Dragon.” The campers will
Sommer Toffle, SAMA-Ligonier Valley Coordinator
stage the production for friends
and family on the final day of
Need: Bush Somerset 71” L-Desk, Hansen Cherry Finish ($240), Bush
camp. The camp is designed for
Somerset 71” Hutch, Hansen Cherry Finish ($150), and Bush
ages 5 through 13 and runs from
Somerset Lateral File, Hansen Cherry Finish ($170)
noon to 3 p.m. July 16 through
Cost: $560
Students display some of the puppets created 27. Cost is $175 per child.
during last year’s puppet theatre camp.
I am in need of new office furniture. I believe my desk and filing cabinet are the
original furniture pieces that were purchased when the Museum was built. They
have done a great job for fifteen years, but they are on their last leg. One of the SAMA-Loretto was rocking on March 14 with the sounds of noted
desk drawers no longer shuts and the front broke off several months ago. My filing guitarist Paolo Schianchi, renowned saxophonist Davey Yarborough,
and the talented students of
cabinet no longer shuts, which makes it top heavy and it often falls over, leaving me
Paolo’s class in Parma, Italy, and
with hours of clean-up time.
the Duke Ellington School for the
Performing Arts in Washington,
GENERAL OPERATING CAMPAIGN 2012
D.C. Paolo is considered by
$175,000 Help SAMA reach its goal of $175,000 in 2012 by
many as one of the top guitarists
$150,000
in the world, and Yarborough has
contributing to the General Operating Campaign.
$125,000
performed for presidents Clinton,
Donations
offset
the
costs
of
our
exhibitions
$100,000
George Herbert Walker Bush, and
and programming, and allow us to keep all four
$75,000
George W. Bush. More than 300
museum sites open to the public free of charge.
attended the Dressed Up for Jazz
$50,000
performance, sponsored by Saint
For information on how to donate, stop by your
Francis University.
local SAMA museum or call (814) 472-3920.
3
THE ARTS
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
Thomas Sully
(American, 1783-1872)
By Scott Dimond
Thomas Sully was
arguably the most
famous portraitist in
America following
the death of Gilbert
Stuart in 1828. For
some 70 years, he
painted likenesses
of the wealthy
and distinguished,
including
John
Quincy
Adams, Thomas Sully, Portrait of Lord
Andrew Jackson, and David Montague Erskine (17761855), 1830
even Queen Victoria.
Sully’s paintings were notable for their sense of
vitality, and with their rosy hues and free brushwork,
they stood in marked contrast to the overly cold and
formal portraits of the colonial era. As an artist, Sully
helped to define the “look” of romantic painting in
the U.S.
Early in his career, Sully became the student of
several artists who specialized in miniature portraits.
One of these was his brother, Lawrence, with whom
he partnered in Norfolk, Virginia from 1801 until
Lawrence’s death in 1804. Around that time,
Sully acquired his first important patron, theatre
impresario Thomas Abthorpe Cooper. Cooper took
an active interest in the young artist’s career, and
connected him with a number of influential friends
in New York and Boston. In Boston, Sully received
an impromptu lesson from Gilbert Stuart, who
allowed him to watch as he worked on a portrait in
his studio.
In 1808, Sully moved to Philadelphia, and
later England, where he trained with Sir Thomas
Lawrence, London’s leading exponent of romanticstyle portraiture. Back in the United States by 1810,
Sully settled permanently in Philadelphia, where
his application of Lawrence’s teaching brought him
immediate and almost continuous success.
Although primarily a portraitist, Sully essayed a
few large-scale historical compositions, including a
version of Washington crossing the Delaware. In
1837, he made a second trip to England, where he
painted the newly-crowned Queen Victoria. At the
height of his career, he attracted a number of pupils
and earned a reputation as a warm and generous
instructor. Some of his students, including Jacob
Eicholtz and Charles Robert Leslie, went on to
achieve considerable success in their own right. At
the time of Sully’s death in 1872, he was considered
among the most venerable artists in the country. His
legacy is not only preserved in museums, but is a
part of our everyday life, as evinced by his portrait
of Andrew Jackson, the engraved likeness of which
appears on the U.S. twenty-dollar bill.
EXHIBITIONS
ALTOONA
Daniel Burke: Repurposed (May 11 through September 8)
Burke is an installation artist whose work displays a meticulous attention
to detail while also being renowned for its introspective and diverse quality.
The artist looks to colors, shapes, rhythms, and patterns that guide him to
concerns of fragility, improbability, imagination, abstraction, and change.
Burke is Professor of Art and Chair of the Art Department at Mercyhurst
College in Erie.
Death to Life: The Paintings of Jacob D. Metzger (Through May 26)
Metzger offers a unique interpretation of death in this exhibition by
juxtaposing the human skull with vibrant color, animated texture, and
bold line. Typically associated with negativity, lifelessness and darkness, the
subject of death has reversely been brought to life in a fresh, new way.
Daniel Burke, Habitat with Birds,
n.d.
William H. Rau: Panorama Portraits of Travel (June 1 through June 23)
The 30 photographs in this exhibition capture the harmony of nature and
the industrial landscape along the Pennsylvania Railroad from Philadelphia to
Pittsburgh. Rau was the official photographer of the PRR at the turn of the
20th century.
JOHNSTOWN
The Art of Healing Exhibition: Reflections 2012 (May 4 through August 10)
This exhibition will showcase some of the artwork created by patients during
SAMA’s Museum/Healthcare Partnership Program residencies. Approximately
twenty works will be featured, including drawings, paintings, collage,
and woodcarvings. Since its inception in 2003, the Museum/Healthcare
Partnership Program has benefited more than 500 individuals suffering from
physical pain and discomfort.
Carol Yoder, Untitled, 2012
LIGONIER VALLEY
People, Places and Things: Works by William DeBernardi
(Through August 12)
DeBernardi’s work highlights a single subject and explores social norms
through body language and non-verbal communication, creating significance
in ordinary objects and people in everyday situations. The artist has a gift
for turning mundane subjects into something impressive and introspective,
and his work is executed in rich, realistic detail with special attention paid
to form and expression. The exhibition features 136 oil paintings featuring
DeBernardi’s signature subjects: portraits, still lifes, and nocturnal landscapes.
LORETTO
Flights of Fantasy: Visions of the Strange and Wonderful (Through June 16)
This exhibition focuses on fantastic, surreal, and whimsical objects from the
SAMA permanent collection. Featured items include Magic Realist works by
Colleen Browning and Brian Connelly, as well as paintings and
sculpture by area favorites Jory Albright, Helen Gorsuch, Robin
Grass, and others.
William DeBernardi,
An American Festival #8, 2011
With Old World Eyes: European Photographers from the
Permanent Collection (Through May 12)
This exhibition highlights the work of European-born
photographers in the SAMA permanent collection. Notable
artists include Ilse Bing, Édouard Boubat and André Kertész.
Seeing and Believing: Art Encounters Faith (May 18
John Hultberg, Mexican, 1963
through December 8)
Whether devout or tongue-in-cheek, it seems that artists
always have something to say on the subject of faith. In this exhibition, the dialogue between art and
religion comes to life in the Museum’s collection of paintings, drawings, prints, and photographs.
CORRECTION
The dedication page in SAMA’s Annual Review 2011 mistakenly listed Wilma McKenna as Katherine Mabis
McKenna. We apologize for the error. A corrected version of the Annual Review is available for download on
the Museum’s website, www.sama-art.org, in the “Online Publications/Annual Review” section.
4
SAMA NEWS
THE ARTS NEED YOUR HELP
By G. Gary Moyer
Who needs the arts? Art is just a luxury, isn’t it? Why should I care about
what happens to the museum, the symphony, the theatre or the school’s art
program? So what if I never see another painting, read another book, hear
another symphony or watch another play. Would I really be any worse off?
Art is just fluff, isn’t it? The government will find room in the budget for the
arts, won’t they? I am sure somebody else will donate, right?
Believe it or not, these are important questions. They are important
because the answers define us as a person, a community, and a society.
People are touched by art in their own unique, emotional, and idiosyncratic
way. We might react with awe, disdain, enjoyment, sadness, hope, or some
other emotion, but people do react to art.
Cultural resources create an identity for a community. The community
benefits socially, intellectually, and economically from the cultural resources
that involve participants and attract visitors.
Culture and society are interrelated and interdependent. History has
taught us that culture determines, in large measure, how people and groups
define themselves, how they come to an understanding of a society’s shared
values, and how they contribute to that society.
An anonymous author once wrote, “The voice of the individual artist may
seem perhaps of no more consequence than the whirring of a cricket in the
grass, but the arts do live continuously…they outlive governments and creeds
and societies, even the very civilizations that produced them.”
For some time now, the arts have been under attack and the very survival
of arts programs and institutions are in jeopardy. This is not a battle we can
afford to lose. We are better off as a people, community, and society because
of and not in spite of the arts.
Over 50,000 people annually visit SAMA’s four museums. Their interest
and feedback stands as a testament to the cultural value the Museum offers to
this area of rural Pennsylvania. Despite significant cuts in state budget dollars,
SAMA remains committed to providing a quality arts education program
to thousands of students (K-12) attending area schools. The Museum/
Healthcare Partnership Program continues to help many who suffer from
chronic pain. The art exhibitions and programs we deliver help evoke an
interest in, an understanding of, and an appreciation for the arts. This is not
to say that it hasn’t been a challenge; the Museum has struggled to maintain
operations and sustain programs, but it is a challenge worth the sacrifice and
the effort.
So, the real question is not why should I care about the arts, but rather:
How do I get involved? Volunteer! Donate! Advocate for the arts! Your
participation, support and/or advocacy in this time of our greatest need will
help secure a cultural legacy for the people of this region and for generations
to come. The question I would pose is: If you don’t help the arts, who will?
STUDENT ARTISTS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The artistic talent of the region’s
youth was on view recently in
SAMA’s Artists of the 21st Century
student art exhibitions. On
view at the Ligonier Valley and
Loretto museums, the exhibitions
featured hundreds of studentcreated works. One popular work
was created by Kailey Miller
(pictured), a 12th grade student
of Ed Lasko at Hempfield Area
High School.
GALA LIVE AUCTION SNEAK PEAK
This custom fabricated,
life-size steel horse
sculpture will be one of
the featured live auction
items in this year’s
Gala. The McLanahan
Corporation
and
artisans Alvin Hale and
Paul Snowberger are
to be congratulated on
their beautiful work.
This can be yours!
The Gala will be
held Saturday, July 21
on the campus of Saint
Francis University in Loretto. Serving as Gala Chairs are Sheetz, Strueber, and Jim
Cayce. The Museum’s largest fundraiser of the year, the event features gourmet
foods, casino games, entertainment, auctions, and more. For tickets or additional
information, please call the Loretto Museum.
ART-IN-EDUCATION UPDATE
By Jessica Campbell
SAMA directory artist
Martha Murphy recently
was in residence at Greater
Latrobe High School, where
she worked with a core group
of 30 sophomores, juniors
and seniors. The purpose of
the residency was to teach
the components of color
mixing by using only primary
colors and white, while also
paying special attention to the
Students worked on their own versions of
warm and cool hues of each van Gogh
masterpieces during Murphy’s residency
color. Martha also taught the
students how to stretch and gesso their own canvases. Once students had
a grasp of the mixing process, they were allowed to choose a Vincent
van Gogh artwork and select an area from the chosen painting in order
to replicate its color and composition. While the students were at work,
Martha also created a painting in order to demonstrate different brush
strokes, as well as the use of positive and negative spaces.
Martha had the following to say about the GLHS residency:
Another wonderful and fulfilling residency at Greater Latrobe High School.
This spring I conducted a 10-day painting workshop based on Impressionism
and Expressionism. We follow a similar format where the first two days are
spent on color mixing using primary colors. Students are encouraged to find
an Impressionist print along with a partner to start their own painting ideas.
We talk a lot about the use of color, composition, and brush or line stroke. My
own goal is not to replicate the work but have the students learn through the
processes of mixing paint and painting upside down (not on their heads, of
course!). A series of critiques culminates the 10 days. Lots of fun, work, and
great results!
Martha keeps a detailed blog with photos of her residencies at www.
wakingbearstudio.blogspot.com. Be sure to log on and read more about
what she’s been doing.
AROUND THE MUSEUM
ALTOONA
ALTOONA
By Barbara Hollander
We’re Baaaaaaaack! Blue Monday that is. We will
kick off the season on May 14 at 6 p.m. to celebrate
installation artist Daniel Burke and abstract artist
Jacob Metzger. We will be serenaded by Charlie
Leiden and Stormy, with Jim Cayce and Michael
Strueber as our celebrity bartenders. The cost is
$20 per person. Nancy Sheetz is our evening’s
underwriter, with Margaret and Michael Strueber
sponsors for the event. Don’t forget to call with your
reservation.
Our first Lunch a l’Art of the season is June 14 at
noon. Come dressed to thrill for Flag Day and hear
Daniel Burke speak about his amazing artwork.
On a personal note, I will be having an art
opening on the campus of Penn State-Altoona on
June 21 between 5 and 7 p.m. I will be partnering
with my friend and fellow artist, Sandra Halpern.
Please stop by and say hello. Our artwork will be up
until August 10.
It’s not too early to look at the July calendar.
BlueGrass Monday will be on July 9, celebrating the
opening of From Individual to Universal: The Art of
Philip Brulia and Evgeny Krayushkin. Tom McCarty
and Mountain City Grass will be rockin’ the joint.
Brulia and Krayushkin will be guest speakers at a
Lunch a l’Art on July 26.
Finally, our two-week summer camp will be
starting July 30. Drawing 101: The Artful Adventure
in the Secrets of Drawing and Shading will be taught
by our own SAMA staff assistant and part-time
faculty at Penn State-Altoona, Stan Snyder.
With this beautiful weather, don’t forget to bask
in the glory of nature and celebrate life.
JOHNSTOWN
JOHNSTOWN
By Tina Lehman
SAMA-Johnstown is pleased to host its first
exhibition of work created by the patients of the
Arts-for-Healing classes at the John P. Murtha
Neuroscience and Pain Institute. The show will
be on display from May until August, so I invite
you to come up and see what these individuals
have been able to create through their experience
in the Museum/Healthcare Partnership Program.
The Program has helped more than 500 individuals
since it began in 2003, and if you have any questions
about it, I’d be more than happy to discuss it with
you. We’ll also be hosting a reception on July 12
from 4 to 6 p.m. Please call the Johnstown Museum
for more details.
We are currently working to organize a fall
fundraiser and to install a permanent sign on the
outside of the Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center.
The upcoming summer months will be busy for
sure. I hope you’ll take a moment to stop in and
visit us!
LIGONIER VALLEY
LIGONIER VALLEY
By Sommer Toffle
Sommer Toffle de-installs the student art exhibition from SAMA-Ligonier Valley.
Have you ever tried to come to the Ligonier Valley
Museum to find the front door locked and a note on
the door stating that the Museum is closed for the
installation of the next exhibition? It only happens
four times a year here in Ligonier, but I thought it
might be fun to give you a sneak peek into what
happens during those elusive two weeks.
The first week begins with taking the artwork
off the walls and out from underneath the Plexiglas
tops on the pedestals. We wrap the artwork and put
each piece in its original container. We separate the
purchased works and call the new owners for pickup. Chris Stouffer, our Administrative Assistant,
begins removing the nails and didactic panels from
the walls and then spackles the holes. Once that is
complete, we lightly sand down the raised spackle
and paint the walls. The exhibiting artist either comes
to the Museum for their work or we order a truck
to deliver it. We sign all of the loan agreements and
bid the works farewell. This is always a somber day.
It takes years to plan an exhibition from start to
finish, and it’s not easy saying goodbye. I feel lucky to
have developed close relationships with many of the
exhibiting artists and we stay in contact.
During this time, we also are receiving artwork for
the next exhibition. Pedestals may also be delivered, if
we need them for the next show. The loan agreements
and paperwork is filled out and signed and we then
begin unwrapping the new artwork. Once all of the
Bubble Wrap and boxes are stored for safe keeping,
I begin placing the art. This is something I think
about way before any of the work even arrives at
the Museum, but I often end up moving the works
around many times over before the show is hung.
Some of the things I consider while placing a show
are color, pattern relationships, size, and proportion.
I view each piece in relation to the others around
it from many angles and from different sides and
distances.
After I am satisfied, Lee Rummel, our Facilities
Manager, begins hammering nails in the wall and
5
hangs each piece. Once the work is on the wall and
the exhibition signs are hung, I place each didactic
panel on the wall. We then place the catalogues on
the front desk and are once again open to the viewing
public. It’s a very busy two weeks, but like a snake
shedding its skin, I look forward to the change and
the excitement that goes along with it.
LORETTO
LORETTO
By Scott Dimond
Philip Eliasoph’s Colleen Browning: The
Enchantment of Realism is among the highlights
of 2012. More than two years in the making, this
lavish color volume was commissioned by SAMA
as part of its series of Browning initiatives. While
the book naturally features many of the Museum’s
own paintings, it also calls attention to a hidden
treasure, namely the artist’s lifetime accumulation of
papers and personal effects. These came to SAMA in
2011 along with the gifts of the artist’s late husband,
Geoffrey Wagner.
Colleen Browning, Looking for Lucy, 1995
The Browning papers consist of scrapbooks,
photograph albums, sketchbooks, and other ephemera.
These provide valuable insights into the artist’s life
and thoughts, and in some cases, have caused what
we know about Colleen Browning to be rewritten.
Eliasoph, for example, discovered Browning’s true
birth date in a forgotten passport; contrary to what
the artist has maintained during her lifetime, the
record shows that she was actually born a number of
years earlier. Whether vanity or marketing strategy
on Browning’s part, this small peccadillo provides an
intriguing clue as to the artist’s life and times.
Browning’s personal effects include many of the
artist’s working tools, notably her palette and dozens
upon dozens of paint brushes. Attesting to Browning’s
great industry as a painter, nearly all of these brushes
show signs of earnest use, and more than a few are
worn to stubs. Also of interest are the artist’s books,
especially the children’s stories and fantastic tales that
she had read as a child. Rich in illustrations of fairies
and other fanciful creatures, one can easily see how
Browning developed her love of magic and mystery.
This love never left the artist; indeed, as she grew
older, it manifested in different ways, as suggested by
the worn pack of tarot cards found among the boxes
of material that came to SAMA after Wagner’s death.
Non-Profit
Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
Altoona, PA
Permit No. 99
Southern Alleghenies Museum Of Art
Saint Francis University Mall
P.O. Box 9
Loretto, Pennsylvania 15940
ALTOONA
JOHNSTOWN
LIGONIER VALLEY
LORETTO
MAY
JUNE
4 The Art of Healing Exhibition: Reflections 2012 opens (JTN)
11 Daniel Burke: Repurposed opens (ALT)
Old World Eyes: European Photographers from the Permanent
12 With
Collection closes (LOR)
14 Blue Monday featuring Stormy (ALT)
18 Seeing and Believing: Art Encounters Faith opens (LOR)
26 Death to Life: The Paintings of Jacob D. Metzger closes (ALT)
1 William H. Rau: Panorama Portraits of Travel opens (ALT)
2 Garden Party (LV)
14 Lunch a l’Art with Daniel Burke (ALT)
of Fantasy: Visions of the Strange and Wonderful
16 Flights
closes (LOR)
23 William H. Rau: Panorama Portraits of Travel closes (ALT)
Southern Light: American Impressionist Women from the Huntsville
of Art opens (LOR); From Individual to Universal: The
29 Museum
Art of Philip Brulia and Evgeny Krayushkin opens (ALT)
SAMA SITES
ALTOONA
1210 11th Avenue
P.O. Box 3061
Altoona, PA 16601
Ph: (814) 946-4464
Fax: (814) 946-3131
[email protected]
JOHNSTOWN
Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center
450 Schoolhouse Road
Johnstown, PA 15904
Ph: (814) 269-7234
Fax: (814) 269-7236
[email protected]
LIGONIER VALLEY
One Boucher Lane
Route 711 South
Ligonier, PA 15658
Ph: (724) 238-6015
Fax: (724) 238-6281
[email protected]
LORETTO
Saint Francis University Mall
P.O. Box 9
Loretto, PA 15940
Ph: (814) 472-3920
Fax: (814) 472-4131
[email protected]