PSU December 1, 2015

ESAL Exhibit Coming to Gallery at New Kensington Dec. 1

The multimedia works of the East Suburban Artists League will be on display until Dec. 29 at the Penn State New Kensington art gallery. An artists' reception is set for 6 p.m. Dec. 4 in the gallery. Image by Bill Woodard

Artists’ reception set for Dec. 4

UPPER BURRELL, Pa. — Artwork by members of the East Suburban Artists League (ESAL) will be on display Dec. 1 through Dec. 29 in the art gallery at Penn State New Kensington.

The annual multimedia show features more than 80 paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, intarsia, quilts and paper crafts, many of which are for sale at prices ranging from $50 to $1,200. An artists’ reception will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 4, in the gallery. The reception and exhibit are free to the public.

ESAL is a nonprofit organization that fosters arts and crafts, and provides inspiration and encouragement to art practitioners and patrons in the eastern Pittsburgh suburbs. The league was founded in 1965 in the home of Pittsburgh-area artist Mary Ann Clarke. Members hail from the greater Pittsburgh region. Meetings are held at 7 p.m. on the first Thursday of each month at Christ’s Lutheran Church in Murrysville.

Larry Klukaszewski, a sports artist, and Dave Milanak, an art teacher at Kiski Area High School, are coordinating the exhibit. Klukaszewski previously exhibited at the campus in 2009. Painting in acrylic and drawing in graphite and charcoal, Klukaszewski’s body of work is heavily influenced by Pittsburgh sports, especially the Pittsburgh Steelers. He painted a football commemorating Super Bowl XL and presented it to former Steelers’ president Dan Rooney. The Steelers’ fifth Super Bowl victory, a 21-10 win over the Seattle Seahawks, was Rooney’s first as the head of the Steelers organization. The ball is on display at the FedEx Great Hall at Heinz Field. The 45-year-old Klukaszewski, an elementary school teacher at Kiski Area, works out of his studio, Larry Klu Sports Art, in Lower Burrell.

The art gallery and the ESAL exhibit will be open through the holiday break except for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. Hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

For information on the ESAL, contact Klukaszewski at larryklu@yahoo.com or Milanak at davidmilanak@yahoo.com.

For photos of the exhibit (beginning Dec. 2), visit http://psnk.smugmug.com.