Greensburg Art Center show, activities honor member lost to covid-19
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The Greensburg Art Center lost a piece of its heart and soul with the death in November of longtime member Cathy Rosensteel.
The Greensburg artist is being remembered this week with a retrospective exhibition and activities at the center, 230 Todd School Road, Hempfield.
“We miss her as a person, we miss her talent, her inspiration, and we certainly miss the classes she has taught here throughout the years,” said center member and fellow artist Rosemary Sovyak of Hempfield.
“She brought life to this place. When I joined 20 years ago, it was kind of at a low period; and the minute she walked in, she brought life here,” said artist and friend Nancy Dalverny of Monroeville. “Right away, I could see she was full of wonderful ideas and enthusiasm and passion.”
Those qualities are reflected in her artwork on display today through Sunday, which include paintings, mixed media pieces and jewelry. Also showing are paintings that Rosensteel left unfinished that have been completed by some of her former students.
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The works are for sale, with proceeds going to the art center in Rosensteel’s name.
“Cathy had a bold personality. She had a bold approach to painting,” said her friend, Sherry Anderson of Greensburg. “Everything around her, there never was a soft color. She was bold of spirit, bold of heart, bold of talent.”
Tireless teacher
Rosensteel was a member of many area artist organizations and played an instrumental role in the founding of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Council for the Arts Inc., Sovyak said.
She was a tireless teacher of classes at the Greensburg Art Center, said artist Tom Niggel of Greensburg, who co-taught with her.
“At the very end of her life — of course, we didn’t know that was coming — we were scheduling classes and she committed to three different classes, and I said, ‘It would be nice to have a pastel class,’ and she said, ‘Oh, I’ll teach that,’ ” Niggel said.
Rosensteel’s enthusiasm was not limited to her art activities, her friends said.
“One day someone asked her, ‘How are you today?’, and she said, ‘Joyous,’ ” Sovyak said. “If you had to put an adjective above her, it would be ‘joyous.’ Her outreach to everybody reflected that.”
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Anderson said she met Rosensteel about 50 years ago when both were working in local mental health services.
“We met and we just bonded,” Anderson said. “She asked me to come with her to find out if she was pregnant, and we were in Pittsburgh and we skipped down the hall, we were so excited.
“She had a spark about her. She loved people, she loved her family, her son and her grandchildren,” she added.
“One of the neat things about Cathy was that she wasn’t Catholic, but she volunteered at St. Bruno (Church in South Greensburg) for the fish fry,” Niggel said. “The fish fry is like seven hours on your feet washing dishes, but she loved going there and they loved her there.”
Color wheel
Rosensteel died Nov. 1, 2020, at age 76 of covid-19.
The illness claimed her life in less than a week, Niggel said.
“I keep thinking, did I tell her how much we appreciate her?” he said.
Niggel said Rosensteel would start classes for beginning artists by introducing them to the paintbrush and the color wheel and telling them they would learn together how to use them.
“That was Cathy’s go-to in her training, that you know the color wheel,” he said.
The color wheel so symbolizes Rosensteel in the minds of her friends that they created a permanent tribute incorporating it.
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A color wheel sculpture will be installed in the center’s sculpture garden during a memorial service from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday. The piece comprises a metal frame holding a mosaic color wheel.
The design was developed by artist Ginger Hepler of Vandergrift. She and Sovyak made the mosaic, and the frame was fabricated by Hepler’s husband and fellow artist, Gary.
Pre-registration is recommended for the service.
Activities in Rosensteel’s memory will begin today, with a workshop from 6 to 8 p.m. in which participants will construct a cabochon necklace that will contain a piece of one of Rosensteel’s unfinished paintings. Space is still available, and registration is required. A $10 donation is requested.
A Thursday ink-dyeing activity has filled up, Sovyak said. Limited space is available in a paint-and-sip session from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday. Participants will create their own versions of one of Rosensteel’s paintings. There is no fee, and registration is required.
To register for one of the events, call 724-837-6791. For information on center hours, visit greensburgartcenter.org.