Local News

Follansbee artist made career painting athletes

STEUBENVILLE -- Displayed through the end of the month at the Steubenville Visitor Center will be an exhibit of art by George Katich. Made up of paintings and sculptures, the display portrays parts of the Ohio River steel mills, something Katich said had a profound impact on his development as a young boy living in Follansbee.

"The theme of my pieces is the steel industry, which once ruled the valley," Katich said. "It's what I grew up with in the 1950s and 1960s, surrounded by the mills. It seemed all the businesses in the valley depended on the mills to survive."

A professional artist, Katich created some paintings based on old photos he'd taken, and some based on memories. Growing up, Katich was primarily exposed to the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel mills, though he said his paintings were inspired by the steel industry from up and down the Ohio River.

Katich, whose father and many uncles worked in the mills, grew up in Coketown, a now-defunct section of housing on state Route 2 that was owned by Wheeling Steel for its employees. Although they were all constructed uniformly, Katich recalled, each house was a different color, and his was colored pink.

Katich was passionate about sports and enjoyed playing sandlot baseball as a child. His first experience with art was at 10 years old, when he started drawing athletes depcited in his father's Sports Illustrated magazine.

In 11th grade, Katich would take his first art class at Follansbee High School, and he would later decide to pursue art as a career. He attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, where he trained in multiple mediums.

While attending art school, Katich got the big break that determined his career's next 40 years. In 1966, Katich brought some of his artwork to the Pittsburgh Steelers' ticket office, after which employees hung the pieces in their office window.

Those pieces were spotted by Dan Rooney, who was director of personnel for the Steelers at the time and would become the team's owner in 1988. Rooney got in contact with Katich and gave him permission to approach individual players and see if they'd be interested in commissioning portraits of themselves.

That connection got Katich his start creating artwork for athletes, whether for their own possession or to give away. His reach spread to more and more players across the country in the MLB, NFL, NHL and NBA. Katich recalled how he would approach players during training sessions or in the locker room -- a strategy that wouldn't be possible now given current security standards.

"I would just show. I would just go there in the morning before practice and talk to players and leave. I could come and go as I pleased."

Getting to interface with players, especially future Hall of Fame inductees, was an "awesome" experience for Katich, who was always a "sports-crazy kid." Among those he got to meet were Craig Biggio, Jeff Bagwell, Roberto Clemente and Johnny Unitas.

As for his artwork, Katich said of his style: "I tried to be realistic but also capture the speed of the game."

Katich created the cover for the 1974 MLB All-Star Game's program. In another year, he made a painting the Pittsburgh Pirates used for billboards to advertise the upcoming season.

"That year, they had a lot of good hitters," Katich recalled. "Their slogan was 'The Lumber Company.' So below the painting, in big bold letters, it said, 'The Lumber Company' ... (as) their promotion."

Creating art for athletes was a combination of his passions for art and sports, Katich said, adding, "Meeting the athletes and doing the artwork was very enjoyable, and I got to travel quite a bit, but it was all business-related."

Katich continued in that line of work until around two decades ago, when an experience of hiking and camping in the Grand Canyon inspired him to paint landscapes instead and sell them, which he has been doing ever since.

Katich had moved to Pittsburgh from Follansbee in 1970. Before moving, he had been a part of various local art associations. He moved back to Follansbee about five years ago and now lives between there and Denver, where he has had a home since 2001.

Just last year, Katich reached out to the Steubenville Art Association to become involved in local art again and fraternize with fellow artists. The association has given him an opportunity to showcase his abilities at the Visitor Center, where the organization hosts monthly art exhibits. Katich's art pieces, many of which are for sale, will be viewable continually during the center's open hours through the end of the month.

As Katich continues to reconnect with the community he grew up in, he will still be creating landscape paintings, though he admitted he's felt the draw to resume painting athletes now and then.