Work by Marylou Chibirka to be Artist in Residence at the Gathering Place

DALTON — Marylou Chibirka’s paintings fill her home and studio just off Wilbur Hill Road in Dalton, encompassing a variety of themes including flowers, portraits, nature and family.

Chibirka has known that she was destined to be an artist ever since she won a chocolate Easter bunny in an Easter poster contest as a grade schooler.

This month, the life-long Dalton native will be the artist-in-residence at The Gathering Place in Clarks Summit, displaying over 20 of her oil paintings. She will open during The Gathering Place Second Saturday event on May 14 with a Meet the Artist opportunity at 6 p.m.

The life-long Dalton resident is well acquainted with exhibiting her work in a variety of forums. She is known regionally for her solo exhibitions at the Everhart Museum, Lizza Gallery, Misericordia University, Wyoming County Courthouse and the Federal Building, Scranton. Most recently her portraits were on exhibit at ARTWORKS at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Still, the showing at The Gathering Place brings her work to a local venue, the first time she will be exhibiting since the start of the pandemic. Although well travelled, Chibirka roots have also been firmly planted in the Clarks Summit area. She currently lives on the property where she grew up and where her father ran a dairy farm. The home and studio, which she single-handedly designed, intentionally utilizes light and sun from the outdoors to take advantage of its natural setting.

Chibirka emphasizes that, much like her artwork, she designed every inch of her home, with areas dedicated to specific pieces of artwork. She points out that her living room contains two sets of floor-to-ceiling windows, one on the east and one on the west. That, she said, is so that she can enjoy both sunrises and sunsets.

She also pointed out a painting of one of her three daughters when she was 16, just got her driver’s license and wanted to use the car. Chibirka struck a deal with her daughter — if she sat to be painted, she could borrow the car. That painting now hangs in Chibirka’s living room, a remembrance of a fleeting time in her daughter’s life caught on canvas.

Chibirka paints solely with oil paints. She likes the texture and thickness of the medium, which brings images to life.

Sometimes, she said, she feels she is sculpting the paint on the canvas.

Chibirka has sold many of her paintings, but there are those she knows she will never part with. Some of those “keep forever” paintings are of her family, including one of her first granddaughter that sits near the door of her gallery. But other paintings she will keep forever because they bring back a personal memory of the process of painting them or they remind her of a cherished place or feeling.

Chibirka also teaches several classes at The Gathering Place, including one entitled “Good Grief.” That class, she said, entails students painting a portrait of a loved one that has passed away.

Students not only learn solid painting techniques, but also come together with others who are also grieving. Several weeks into the class, one student remarked to another student that they found that they were crying less when they were at home. The other person agreed that the class helped them deal with grief better. That was Chibirka’s purpose for the class. She remembers painting a portrait of a loved one following his death and how much better that made her feel. Always, on the last day of class, when they are carrying their portraits home with them, students of the class feel better.

Chibirka studied at Indiana University, where she earned degrees in both painting and art history. She continued her artistic studies with various artists at the Arts Student League in New York City, and privately with a number of renowned portrait artists. Since opening the new Chibirka Gallery in 2007, she has been commissioned to paint over 500 portraits and was awarded several grants to paint members of the Northeast Pennsylvania community in her PORTRAITS FROM LIFE projects.

Chibirka is known to approach her portraits with high enthusiasm and excitement and a fresh technique to painting, striving more to capture the essence of a sitter rather than just a likeness. As a result, her paintings are known both for their freshness and the immediacy that characterizes her work.

Those wanting to know about Chibirka’s work can access her website at https://marylouchibirka.art.