Out & About: SAMA-Ligonier Valley exhibit is all in the family

Shirley McMarlin
Sunday, May 21, 2023 12:01 a.m. | Sunday, May 21, 2023 12:01 a.m.

Shirley McMarlin | Tribune-Review

From left: Artists Paul and Mandy Sirofchuck and their daughter, Clair Maier, at the opening of their family exhibit, “In Our Elements,” May 13 at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier Valley.

Shirley McMarlin | Tribune-Review

Christopher Maier (left) of Ligonier, husband of exhibiting artist Clair Maier, with his parents, Rhonda and Tom Maier of Syracuse, N.Y., at the opening of "In Our Elements," May 13 at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier Valley.

Shirley McMarlin | Tribune-Review

Sandra and Griff Holmes of Greensburg at the opening of the Sirofchuck family exhibit, “In Our Elements,” May 13 at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier Valley.

Shirley McMarlin | Tribune-Review

George and Olive Conte of Ligonier at the opening of the Sirofchuck family exhibit, “In Our Elements,” May 13 at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier Valley.

Shirley McMarlin | Tribune-Review

Jan Fiorina (left) of Murrysville and Alexis Dillon of Hempfield at the opening of the Sirofchuck family exhibit, “In Our Elements,” May 13 at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier Valley.

Shirley McMarlin | Tribune-Review

Andrew and Tania Conte of Mt. Washington at the opening of the Sirofchuck family exhibit, “In Our Elements,” May 13 at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier Valley.

Shirley McMarlin | Tribune-Review

Marielle Gleason and her father, Mike Gleason, both of Upper St. Clair, at the opening of the Sirofchuck family exhibit, “In Our Elements,” May 13 at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier Valley.

It’s a family affair.

“In Our Elements: Works in Wood, Glass and Painting,” the current exhibit at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier Valley, features work by noted local artists Paul and Mandy Sirofchuck and their daughter, Clair Maier.

Paul is an award-winning woodworker for his contemporary furniture and sculpture. Mandy works in stained glass, and visitors to Fort Ligonier’s education center will be familiar with her window portraying Gen. John Forbes.

They are owners of Main Exhibit Gallery & Art Center in Ligonier.

As a 2022 graduate of Saint Vincent College, Clair received an award for academic excellence in studio art and works in mediums including watercolor, colored pencil and oil.

“It’s great to be able to show together as a family,” Paul said at a May 13 opening reception.

Site coordinator Kristin Miller said the trio “worked really, really, really hard for many, many, many months” to prepare the exhibit, which continues through Aug. 6 in the gallery off Route 711 just south of the borough.

Among those at the reception were Clair’s husband, Christopher Maier, and his parents, Tom and Rhonda Maier, who traveled from Syracuse, N.Y., for the event.

Guests Griff and Sandra Holmes of Greensburg said they started off as clients of the artists and then became friends.

Seen at SAMA: Fred and Brenda Haberlen, George and Olive Conte, Alexis Dillon, Jan Fiorina, Richard Stoner, Tom and Beverly Ravida, Annie Urban, Mike Gleason, Marielle Gleason, Stuart and Nora Thompson, Claire Kaczmarek, Andrew and Tania Conte and Brother Norman Hipps.