Bethel Park artist’s work featured in Schoolhouse Arts and History Center exhibit
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Lynn Angelelli stands near her self-portrait “Painter of Moments In Time” during the opening for her exhibit at the Schoolhouse Arts and History Center in Bethel Park.
Lynn Angelelli's grandchildren Josie Whitcraft and Santiago Angelelli greet guests for the opening of "Art By Lynn" at the Schoolhouse Arts and History Center in Bethel Park.
Lynn Angelelli and daughter-in-law Katie Angelelli take a look around the exhibit.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Family members gathered for the exhibit opening are, from left, David Angelelli, Mike Angelelli, Katie Angelelli, Susie Angelelli, Josie Whitcraft, Josh Whitcraft, Dr. Roger Angelelli, Lynn Angelelli, Isabela Angelelli, Santiago Angelelli and Joe Angelelli.
Lynn and Roger Angelelli have been married for nearly 55 years.
Harry Funk/The Almanac
“Carousel Stampede” won the McMurray Art League Best of Show in 2011.
"R U Talking to Me?" depicts young Santiago Angelelli, Lynn's grandson.
"Africa," accompanied by a 1969 photo of Roger and Lynn Angelelli, won first prize at the Allegheny County Fair that year.
"Chief Indian," oil
"A Tribute to the Coal Miner" won first place in the 2014 Pittsburgh Watercolor Society Member Show and received the juror's award from the McMurray Art League the same year.
"Una Bella Ragazza Italiana" was presented with a McMurray Art League Juror Award in Spring 2014.
The display for "Newport Waterfront Fisherman" includes sketches and Lynn Angelelli's hand-written notes about the painting.
"Sunday Baseball 1922"
"Just Sitting," watercolor on wood
Her master’s degree is in information science, and she worked for more than two decades as a systems analyst in Pittsburgh’s corporate world.
But Lynn Angelelli of Bethel Park is best known for her creative side.
Examples of her artwork in a variety of media – including oils, silks, copper tooling and watercolor on wood – are on display at the Schoolhouse Arts and History Center for an exhibit that launched with a well-attended reception on Oct. 20.
“We wanted to celebrate her life of art and 55 years of creative activity,” her son Joe explained. “So we’ve gathered 80 of her paintings and another 120 digital images on a slideshow.”
He approached the Bethel Park Historical Society several months ago about the possibility of showing his mother’s creations in the arts and history center, which has undergone substantial renovation in the past three years and where she painted as an artist.
“This is really our first major art exhibit, and it’s wonderful that it’s Lynn’s work,” Bill Haberthur, secretary of the society’s executive board, said.
She has been a member of numerous art organizations, including the Pittsburgh Watercolor Society, Pittsburgh Society of Artists, South Hills Art League, McMurray Art League and Artists’ Co-Op in Washington. Among her commissioned works is a mural of Pittsburgh in the executive board meeting room at Duquesne University.
A graduate of Bentworth High School and California University of Pennsylvania – that’s where she met Roger, her husband of nearly 55 years, as cast members in a college play – Lynn now resides at Artis Senior Living of South Hills in Bethel Park.
“She does not paint anymore,” her daughter, Susie, said. “The first painting that she did is here, and her very last painting, too.”
Susie explained that her grandmother Alberta George had an influence on Lynn’s eventual avocation.
“Her mother was an artist, and there’s actually a painting here by her mother,” Susie, who did much of the work in preparing for the exhibit, said. “And then my mom did a painting of her mother, and that’s next to it.”
All three of Lynn and Roger’s children – Mike is the other one – are Bethel Park High School graduates.
“What she told everyone is that she felt nothing but joy while she was creating her art,” Mike said.
According to Lynn’s profile on the Pittsburgh Artist Registry: “I paint contemporary watercolors of ‘feelings’ of words, experiences, daydreaming, situations, etc. I use my own thoughts as reference and memories. I have been told by viewers of my pieces that the work of art they are looking at is calling their name.”