First piece in Penn-Trafford gallery commemorates masked Class of 2020

When art teacher Brenda Christeleit attended Greater Latrobe High School, she and other students had a chance to appreciate the district’s Art Conservation Trust.

Established in 1991, the trust is a unique art collection, in that its 200 paintings are chosen by students.

Today, Christeleit teaches in the Penn-Trafford School District, and she adopted a variation on the idea that offers students a chance to fill their school’s gallery with their own creativity.

“I thought, wouldn’t it be great to have our own collection here?” she said. “And I figured, why not have the students create the work and then vote on it?”

Christeleit put a call out to Penn-Trafford seniors for submissions of two-dimensional artwork which will be “chosen to best represent the Class of 2021. The seniors will all vote on what piece best represents them.”

She planned to launch the gallery last year, but the proposal got lost in the shuffle as administrators, staff, students and parents scrambled to continue school amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“We only had one submission last year,” she said of graduate Alan Zuchelli’s self-portrait. “Obviously, he won.”

Zuchelli, who portrayed himself in his cap, gown and medical mask, said the inspiration for his piece was easy.

“Unknowingly, on Friday, March 13, 2020, the senior class walked the halls of Penn-Trafford High School for the last time, unable to experience the memories they have been waiting patiently for since they were young,” he wrote in an artist’s statement. “Seniors will look back at this time and know it defined them. They will be glad they were resilient and they will be the vision of the future.”

Submissions for consideration in this year’s gallery are due by April 15, 2021. For more information, email christeleitb@penntrafford.org.