Published: 06/04/2024
Just a short walk off campus and a flash of your Gannon University I.D. unlocks the ability to immerse yourself in the work of a renowned local artist currently on display at the .
In partnership with the Erie Art Museum, located at 20 E. Fifth St., ÂÒÂ×ÊÓƵ students, faculty and staff get free admission to the museum. This is where Erie artist and educator Jospeh Plavcan’s artwork is on exhibition.
Plavcan is known for his abstract landscapes of the 1960s and 1970s. However, according to the Erie Art Museum, this exhibition, “Joseph Plavcan: The Making of an Artist” focuses more on the artist’s earlier career as a student and young professional up to the 1950s.
But, you do not have to go off campus to see the work of Plavcan. In fact, Plavcan’s pieces are hard to miss when you enter both the Palumbo Academic Center and the Center for Business Ingenuity (CBI).
The piece in Palumbo – a building that spans the block between West Eighth and West Ninth Streets – is titled “Erie Press Club Mural.” It originally hung in the Erie Press Club, located on West Eighth Street, and depicts a montage of world scenes and news events, a newsroom of the mid-20th century, and individuals representing many cultures of the world.
Plavcan’s work in the CBI building was originally in the dining room at AHN Saint Vincent. This piece, titled “Bountiful Harvest,” was cut and removed in panels due to obstacles – such as corners and lights - and restored back together into the larger painting you see right as you walk into the doors from 900 State St. The smaller panel that is on your left as you walk into the building was part of the larger mural but had to be re-hung separate due to a pipe in the original space that would create a gap if they were mounted together. This smaller piece would have been placed on the right of the larger mural.
Born in 1908, Plavcan studied art from a young age. His professional career spanned five decades. However, he was not only an artist, but he was also an educator at Erie Technical High School until he retired in the 1970s.
Plavcan’s exhibition, located on the second floor of the Erie Art Museum in the Nicholas Gallery, is on display through the summer and fall, so do not miss your chance to see the pieces while you can or stop and take in the beauty of his work on your next stroll across campus.