STATE COLLEGE — Robert Placky, who retired after 40 years of teaching art at State College Area Senior High School, is sharing his talent at Foxdale Village.
Foxdale is known in the area for not only providing housing options for seniors, but for enriching their lives as well. The staff and management of Foxdale bring to its residents — and often the public — lectures, art shows, musical acts and more.
Placky’s art show, “Unfinished Works – Finished,” runs through Tuesday, Nov. 28, and is open to the public. The show is housed on the second floor of Foxdale, 500 E. Marylyn Ave. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
“At the opening reception, I saw many former colleagues. It was like homecoming,” Placky said. “Some of the people knew me back when I first began teaching.”
Dot Cecil and Nancy Toepfer oversee gallery spaces at Foxdale. Cecil takes charge of the second-floor gallery and Toepfer selects pictures for the walls in the halls and display cases.
“There are over 600 paintings in the halls of Foxdale,” said Toepfer.
The residents are fortunate to also have an art studio at their disposal. Betty Walker is at the helm there. Residents can come to paint or have a lesson on Tuesdays.
The space in the second-floor gallery is large and light, and is perfect for an art gallery. The Art Alliance is involved with many shows at Foxdale. Placky is secretary of the Art Alliance and on its board.
Placky has called his show “Unfinished Works – Finished” for obvious reasons. In his years as an art teacher, he often started a picture employing a specific technique to use as a teaching tool. Other works are ones he started for personal reasons, but life did not allow the luxury of large chunks of time to finish them. Now was the time, he decided, to show the finished paintings, as well as the 14 works he has done in 2017.
One of Placky’s small pictures has an interesting story behind it. The work depicts a Keal case, a hinged metal box, that he found at a garage sale. It was covered with stickers that he turned into a collage work. Although he picked up the box for his son, Jesse, it turned into the subject of an intriguing 6-inch-by-6-inch painting.
It takes an artist’s eye to see beauty and possibilities in mundane objects, but hearing the stories adds to the interest when non-artists view art.
Placky’s works include many on acrylic and mixed media on canvas, acrylic on birch panels and other media expressions.
Placky was born in Franklin Boro, near Johnstown, and graduated from Connemaugh Valley High School. His mother, the youngest of nine children, had a sister who was a favorite aunt of Placky’s.
“She lived in Brooklyn and both loved and collected art,” said Placky. “Her apartment fascinated me, and I loved to visit there and go to Greenwich Village.
“My goal was to play football in college, but I suffered an injury my senior year, so that ended that dream,” said Placky. “Up to that time, I was a ‘closet’ painter.’
Placky graduated from Penn State in three years during a time when trimesters were in place. “I signed up for the School of Art Education, not really realizing that I was heading for teaching. It was a good fit, however, as I was married and had children to raise.”
