An original watercolor by the late David Armstrong, one of America's foremost realist painters, has been donated to Pennsylvania College of Technology. The Armstrong work, "Stump Fence Row," was donated by Charline M. Pulizzi, a member of the Penn College Foundation Board since 1986. Pulizzi was a close friend of Armstrong's.
Currently, "Stump Fence Row" is on display in the Student and Administrative Services Center at Penn College. Eventually, the college plans to display the work in the Roger and Peggy Madigan Library, when that facility is completed in 2006 at the main entrance.
"We are thrilled to receive this beautiful original watercolor by David Armstrong," said Penn College President Davie Jane Gilmour. "Charline Pulizzi has been a great friend and supporter of the college, including nearly 20 years of active service with the Penn College Foundation. We are gratified that she has entrusted us with this fine work of art, which will be enjoyed by students, faculty, staff and visitors to the college."
"David Armstrong was a dear friend, one who deeply believed in education," Pulizzi said. "He would be proud to know my favorite painting of his has a permanent home at Pennsylvania College of Technology."
Armstrong, a Connecticut native, began painting in watercolor at an early age and studied at the Taft School and Bucknell University. After completing graduate work in painting at Indiana University, he returned to his farm in Unityville, Lycoming County. Armstrong's work, known for its unusual luminosity and color, is exhibited in museums and in corporate and private collections across the country. He died in 1998.