Painting
Object number2023.3.3
Artist
Jim Fedasz
(died 2021)
Date1944
OriginMcKeesport, PA
MediumPaint; Plastic
Credit LineGift of Anna Fedasz
DescriptionPainting (silk screen?) on rectangular clear plastic substrate. American Southwest scene featuring four donkeys or burros, two gray and two brown, in the foreground; one burro is loaded with gray sack and another has red and gray saddle. Background has two black figures wearing sombreros. Blue cacti in the viewer's right background. Bottom of foreground has colorful pile of supplies. Beige ground, central horizon line, and blue sky. All scene's elements are outlined and detailed in black. Reverse shows only painted fields and no black outlining or detailing.DimensionsHeight x Width x Depth: 10.563 x 14.375 x 0.375 in. (26.8 x 36.5 x 1 cm)Historical NotesJim Fedasz had a neon shop on Walnut Street in McKeesport, Pennsylvania for over 50 years. He took commissions to fabricate predesigned signs for various local businesses as well as designed his own signs. Fedasz created neon artwork, wood carvings, plastic and bronze sculptures, and paintings for his own amusement, often referring to his Catholicism, animals, WWII, and the American southwest as themes. Some of his more well-known neon commissions are the “O” Original Hot Dog Shop, the green “M" on the Mellon building downtown, an American flag commissioned by Marlboro on parkway West, the McKeesport High School cafeteria and tiger mascot, and possibly the pouring ketchup neon sign that now hangs at the Heinz History Center Jim was a lifelong McKeesport resident and attended Carnegie Tech. He served in WWII and afterwards used the GI Bill to further his education at the North West School of Neon (now the Oregon Polytechnic Institute). He returned to McKeesport after school and opened his shop. Fedasz passed in 2021 at the age of 94,
Related institution
Carnegie Mellon University
Related institution
Oregon Polytechnic Institute
Related institution
Jim Fedasz Signs
Related institution
Women's National Institute
Related institution
McKeesport High School
Related institution
McKeesport Vocational School
Related person
F. Weigle
Related person
J. E. Ference
Related institution
United States Army
On View
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Jim Fedasz
Jim Fedasz
