SAMA-Ligonier marks 20 years of showing contemporary, historic art
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
When Michael Strueber and a group of local residents met a quarter-century ago to explore the possibility of opening a museum in Ligonier, they could only begin to envision the imposing regional asset it would become.
Next week, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier Valley will launch a celebration of its 20th anniversary that will include the dedication of a new sculpture garden in September.
Mr. Strueber was then director of SAMA, which is on the campus of St. Francis College in Loretto, Cambria County. Ligonier was the third satellite gallery after Altoona in 1979 and Johnstown in 1980.
The Ligonier museum has presented more than 50 exhibitions and hosted more than 100,000 visitors. It programs receptions, artist talks, workshops and other cultural events.
Stitched together from four historic log cabins, the museum visually references the reconstructed 18th-century Fort Ligonier nearby and is surrounded by verdant beds of flowering plants.
Mr. Strueber, now director emeritus, is also an artist and will be represented in each of two exhibitions opening Aug. 18 — “Two Decades’ Delights: Highlights from 20 Years of Exhibitions at SAMA-Ligonier Valley” and “Art From the Heart: A Celebration of SAMA-Ligonier Valley’s Founders.”
Artists represented in “Two Decades’ Delights” range from those well-known regionally, such as Jaime Cooper, Ron Donoughe, Helen Gorsuch, Kevin Kutz, Donald Robinson and Paul Sirofchuck, to those with national reputations including John Buxton, Chas Fagan, Robert Griffing and Henry L. Hillman.
“Art From the Heart” includes works by persons instrumental in the founding of the museum, including original steering committee members B.G. Galey Alexander, Paulette Nikel and Connie Pilz.
The Walter Carlyle Shaw Collection of 183 historic and contemporary paperweights, a highlight of the museum’s collection, is on permanent display.
The exhibitions continue through Nov. 5 at One Boucher Lane and Route 711 South in Ligonier. Hours:10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 1-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free. Information: 724-238-6015 or www.samaart.org.