MARYSUE FLICK 

"I want to paint the world."

I am an artist working out of McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, who specializes in oversized paintings, pet portraiture, mural work, as well as fero-cement and wire-screen sculpture. I want to paint the world!  Everywhere I look, I see a canvas begging for art: the walls in my studio and home, overgrown concrete walls, wooden fences. They all call to me. It is my great hope that I can use my painting abilities to bring beauty to some of the declining areas of my neighborhood, thereby bringing pride and happiness to my community. Because I work closely with the McKees Rocks Community Development Corporation, I am uniquely positioned to be able to use my creativity to help to lift up our community and to help new businesses get the very best start they can.

I have been working in the Pittsburgh area as a set painter in a variety of theatre settings since 2006, where my work has been seen by many in over 25 Pittsburgh-area children’s and high school musicals. Although my primary contribution to these musicals was set painting, I have also been asked to do quite a bit of specialty costuming and prop work.

During my work on Pine-Richland High School’s 2009 production of Carousel, the set designer decided to build a life-sized, functioning carousel on stage. I was challenged to create wire-screen horses for the carousel to be made out of black aluminum so that when the on-stage carousel was not a part of the set it could essentially “disappear” through the magic of light. This was my first introduction to working with this material and, after creating a proto-type for sizing purposes, I created six full-size carousel horses for the production. Needless to say, I fell in love with this medium and have continued to experiment with it. 

When I paint, my favorite subjects tend to be natural settings, pet portraits, flowers, gardens, and some of the amazing architectural features and buildings around me. McKees Rocks and Pittsburgh are full of them! I am also an avid gardener, and I dabble in fero-cement to add elements of garden art to my surroundings. A great weekend for me is one spent outside digging in the dirt and creating art, then sitting back to enjoy the view.

awards

ALLEGHENY ARTS REVIVAL GRANT (September 2022 - August 2023) I was one of 20 individual artists out of 204 applicants who was honored with this award through the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council. Funds for this grant program were provided by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).

MEMBER

SHIFTWORKS, envisions a region in which the creative practices of artists are fully engaged to collaboratively shape the public realm and catalyze community-led change.

GREATER PITTSBURGH ARTS COUNCIL  builds a more resourced, connected, and informed arts sector, empowering artists and arts organizations throughout Southwestern PA.

RADIANT HALL ALUMNI, McKees Rocks studio - this is an open studio model designed to encourage members to artistically collaborate and to be a place where artists can share knowledge and resources.

NOBLE DESIGN CO., owner/artist of this wonderful space also located in McKees Rocks in an old community social hall, The WBU (Worker's Benevolent Union), better known in our town as the old BoomBoom Room.