Fox Chapel Area grad creates painting commemorating alma mater’s WPIAL basketball championship
Share this post:
Fox Chapel Area High School’s 2022 championship-winning basketball team has been immortalized not only in the WPIAL history books, but through the artistic talent of an alum.
George Williams, art teacher and boys soccer coach at Seneca Valley High School, crafted a painting based off a team photo following the championship win on March 5.
Fox Chapel stunned top-seeded North Hills at the Petersen Event Center to win its first WPIAL title in 45 years.
The Foxes continued to roll as the team outrebounded Pittsburgh Allderdice on March 12 before falling to Archbishop Wood in the PIAA semifinals on March 19.
The team went 27-2 overall and 10-0 in league play.
Team boosters wanted to ensure there was a masterpiece commemorating the historic run.
They commissioned Williams, a 1988 Fox Chapel Area grad, through Art Madness Action Painting.
Williams, 51, of Mars took acrylic paint to canvas during the team’s banquet March 27 at the Longue Vue Club in Penn Hills.
“When the banquet came around, the senior parents kept telling all of us about a surprise,” said head coach Zach Skrinjar. “The surprise was the painting … (He) completed the painting in front of everyone during dinner.”
The work is about 3 feet high and 4 feet wide.
Williams, a speed painter, said it normally takes between 10 to 15 minutes to complete such a painting. However, he took at least 45 minutes on this one to make it more detailed.
“It has a good visual effect of looking like a good large painting that you can see from far away, but it can fit in most cars,” said Williams. “This is a special painting. You’ve got the faces of the (players) on there. The parents were all there (at the banquet) and I wanted to take care with each face to do a good job there.”
The painting has a red hand print in the upper right corner, which is a nod to the late Denny Dent.
Dent was a prolific American speed painter who would create large portraits of celebrities. He would frantically paint with two brushes and often his bare hands.
School district officials are working to find the right spot in the high school for the painting.
Student Roman Mason made a custom display case for it.
“The painting was a fitting end to an unforgettable season,” Skrinjar said. “I don’t think any of us will ever forget that moment of being crowned WPIAL champions that night, but if we ever do, we won’t have far to look, and to have it captured in art by a Fox Chapel Area graduate was also very special.”
Art for great causes
Williams has been a professional painter for about 20 years and has taught art at Seneca Valley for 27 years.
He developed his talents at Fox Chapel Area under the direction of teachers Patty Norkus and Ron Frank. Williams said they were his two most influential instructors in the district.
Williams earned a degree in communications and graphic design from Bethany College in West Virginia, and a K-12 art teaching certification through Carlow University.
He came back to Fox Chapel Area in the early 1990s to student teach with Norkus before landing a job at Seneca Valley.
William has painted at multiple charity events and private fundraisers including some for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Some of his works feature Pittsburgh Pirates and Steelers.
“I’ve been blessed with the ability to make these paintings,” Williams said. “I love to be able to go to different places, and these charity events, and make my mess and have them turn into something people want to have in the end and raise money for some great causes.”
Cost of the Fox Chapel painting was not released.