��������Ƶ

GREENSBURG, PA- Mentors can leave an impact on their students even long after they have passed. Josefa Filkosky, the late professor of art at ��������Ƶ College, helped Victor Sciacca ’79 decide on his life’s work as a goldsmith. Several of Filkosky’s sculptures are featured throughout the ��������Ƶ College campus. In addition, “Soaring Forms in Red” was installed in May 1999 in the permanent collection of “Pyramid Sculpture Park,” in Hamilton, Ohio. Filkosky’s was the first woman’s sculpture to be featured in the collection. Also, her work, “Red-Winged,” a sheet aluminum interior wall relief, was purchased by ALCOA for its Merwin Research Center and her sculpture titled “Pipe Dream IV” was on “semi-permanent display” in Pittsburgh’s Gateway Center for a number of years. Filkosky’s was the first outdoor work to receive such status. Filkosky’s “Pipe Dream IV,” also known as The Pittsburgh Paper Clip, now sits on a Penn Avenue median in Gateway Center with thick patches of rust and spots of mismatched orange color where it had been touched-up. Upon hearing about the state of disrepair of her sculpture, Sciacca felt this was an opportunity to give back to his mentor. Sciacca knew that he and several other alumni who Filkosky mentored would be able to restore the work to its original splendor in the fashion she would have wanted. “I helped Jospefa to finish and install quite a few of her pieces,” Sciacca said. “By renovating her piece in Downtown Pittsburgh, I feel it will finally be a way for me to give back to her.” While the City of Pittsburgh has granted permission to Sciacca and his associates to refurnish the sculpture, they applied one stipulation. The group wasn’t to be paid for material or labor. In addition, the City of Pittsburgh is asking that the renovations be complete in time for the Three Rivers Arts Festival in June. The group is still without a contact from the City. Without one the job could be turned over to another contractor who may not do the quality refurbishing that the sculpture requires or, worse yet, the sculpture may have to be removed as an eyesore. “We cannot afford to cover the costs of the all materials,” Sciacca said, noting they would need to raise roughly $2,300 for the materials needed to properly complete the job. “Everyone is willing to do the work without getting paid for labor, but we’ll need time to raise the money. I just don’t see how we’ll be able to do everything in this short of a time span.” The Pittsburgh Marble Company has donated a granite cornerstone to support the existing plaque at the base of the sculpture as part of the renovations. Sciacca and the other former students are collecting donations to help cover the cost of the materials. To make a donation, or for more information, please contact Victor Sciacca at 724-684-3729. “I think this would be a wonderful tribute to a person who inspired so many students in her lifetime to go on and become the people they are today,” Sciacca said. “People who care enough to honor her memory in some small way.”