O&A: Westmoreland Society purchases paintings

Two abstract Impressionist paintings have been chosen for the permanent collection of The Westmoreland Museum of American Art, thanks to the largesse of the Westmoreland Society.

The works are “Untitled,” a 1951 oil on canvas by the late John Grillo, and “Bluffs,” a 2016 oil and acrylic on canvas by Pittsburgh artist Scott Hunter. Both are intended for the museum's post-1950s gallery.

Members of the society, a museum affiliate founded in 1986 with a special interest in supporting the permanent collection and recognizing special people in the arts, met Dec. 1 in the Greensburg facility for its annual dinner.

Typically, society members will vote to purchase one work per year from two or three recommended by Judith O'Toole, the museum's Richard M. Scaife director/CEO, and chief curator Barbara Jones. While the Hunter work received more votes, funds were sufficient to purchase both.

During dinner, Dr. Michael L. Nieland was honored as a distinguished collector with the presentation by Jones of the society's gold medal. Recently, Nieland donated 50 important 19th- and early 20th-century bronze sculptures to The Westmoreland.

Jones noted that, to date, 1,409 works of art had been given to the museum as gifts, with 38 of those coming from the Westmoreland Society.

Jones and O'Toole are previous gold medal recipients. Others at dinner included Charles Gibbons, Diana Jannetta and Graham Shearing, along with the Katherine Mabis McKenna Foundation, represented by Linda Boxx, and the Committee for the Westmoreland, represented by Amy Faith.

Also seen: Lilli Nieland, Bruce and Sheryl Wolf, Chuck and Sally Loughran, Patti Gibbons, Robert and Arlene Kendra, Kitty Hricenak, Richard and Sande Hendricks, Kevin O'Toole, Linda Assard, Terry Graft and Linda Brown, Richard Lopretto and Phyllis Bertok, Susan Ciarimboli and Joseph Jamison, Ellen Swank, Anita Manoli, Linda Blum, Margaret DiVirgilio and Linda Earnest.

— Shirley McMarlin