Friends, family paint portrait of a kind, talented artist during celebration of life for O'Hara woman

Rendered in soft oil pastel textures and vibrant hues, the landscapes of Southwestern Pennsylvania, Martha’s Vineyard, New Mexico, Italy, Spain, Singapore and more filled the walls of the North Hills Art Center, where friends and family gathered July 12 to celebrate and remember local artist Patricia “Patty” Mae Young of O’Hara, who passed away Jan. 5 at the age of 84.

Young’s son, Lee Stember, said they decided to hold the event because, in accordance with Young’s wishes, they didn’t have a funeral service.

“We didn’t know exactly how many artist groups she was a member of and we wanted to give them closure as well, and this was the best way we were able to do so,” Stember said.

According to Kim Freithaler, executive director of the North Hills Arts Center, Young was a member of numerous local art leagues, including the Cranberry Artists Network, West Hills Art League, North Hills Art Center and Pittsburgh Pastel Artists League (PPAL).

Freithaler, who knew Young for close to 20 years, described Young as a prolific plein air artist, an artist who works outdoors. Young painted primarily landscapes in pastels.

“She was very prolific and very active in the plein air community,” Freithaler said. “She was just a delight to talk to because she was so knowledgeable of the pastel medium, so proficient.”

The North Hills Art Center worked with Young’s family to fill the main gallery space with her artwork. Friends and family were allowed to take home pieces to remember her by.

At one point during the exhibition, attendees gathered together to hear friends and family members share their memories of Young with the larger group.

Leo Stember, Young’s first husband, shared how Young began her career in art with Tam O’Shanter art classes at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Oakland in her teen years and, after she graduated from high school, continued with commercial art classes at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

After they married, Young took more classes at the Carnegie Museum. At one point, she was tasked with an assignment to fit three themes into one artwork.

“The day before it was due, she had no idea what she was going to do,” Stember said. “Nothing was coming to mind. So I said, ‘Patty, relax. Don’t think about it. Have a glass of wine and just sit down for a while.’ It was the most creative thing I ever saw. She had all three themes — rural, suburban, city — in a piece of canvas that was about 10 inches wide and about 20 inches tall.”

One of Young’s daughters, Becky Maung, recalled how her mother loved to visit Maung and her husband’s home in New Mexico. Her last visit was in December, during which she painted a subject new to her — a cardinal kachina doll that Maung recently had acquired.

“I like to think of my mom as an artist known for her landscape or plein air paintings that often have a lot of purple in them,” Maung said. “Her kachina painting is uncharacteristic of her style because it is not a landscape and has no purple in it. I kept the cardinal kachina painting because it is my favorite painting of hers. I think it was a stretch for her. She was trying something different and new, and I believe she was leaving a vessel.”

Maung provided cardinal keychains for guests to bring home, to remember her mother and her “cardinal spirit message — live, laugh, love.”

Marian Sallade, a fellow member of PPAL, described Young as “like a sister to me, and she was my mentor, my friend.”

“She had a sweet, gentle spirit and was kind to everybody, and not only was she an extremely talented artist, she was a positive instructor. And she was also an excellent seamstress, and she helped the church to sew backpacks for the Light of Life (Rescue) Mission and other projects,” Sallade said.

Dianne Bauman, a West Hills Art League member with whom Young painted for many years, recounted how surprised she was when, one day, Young and Sallade attended an oil painting class taught by Bauman.

“I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, what are they doing here? They’re so good. What are they going to learn from me?’ And that made me realize that Patty and Marian both feel like they can learn from everybody,” Bauman said.