Fred Sings!

I've been together (dating? married?) with Penn State since before I was born. . . .I am pretty sure that I was conceived while my father was a graduate assistant at the Mont Alto branch campus (although my parents still won't give up the real story). One of my earliest memories includes Joe Paterno. When I was wee high, my parents took me and my sister to the annual Blue-White game at Beaver Stadium. It was back in the day when after the game you could go on to the field (gasp!) and take pictures with The Lion and The Coach. I vividly remember the 1982 National Championship team riding down College Avenue on a snowy, cold January Saturday. As a daughter of a professor, me and my siblings really do bleed blue and white.
This piece (and others to follow it) grew out of my childhood memories and my appreciation for the institution that has taken care of my family for many, many years. Fred Lewis Pattee wrote great words in March 1901. The lyrics to the Penn State Alma Mater run through the middle of this piece. Alums and fans sing them proudly. It is an honor to remember them and sing them in my head. Can you hear it in your head, too?
This collage is oil paint on canvas (each canvas in this photo is 24 x 36) with numerous P, S, and Us affixed using glue. Since this first Fred Sings piece created in the autumn of 2005, I have recreated it several times. Most of the pieces have been auctioned off at charity events to raise money for good causes and are hanging in Penn State rooms around the country. One piece is available for viewing at The Fraser Street Deli on . . . hmm. . . . I'll let you figure out which street it is on but right here in State College, PA. Just make sure you come in the door to see it. It is hanging from the ceiling. Thanks to Josh for taking care of it.