Born in 1929 in Pittsburgh , PA. Frank Demma attended Forbes Avenue Grade School and Fifth Avenue High School. He excelled in his artistic ability and was encouraged at an early age by various teachers to enter art competitions. His teachers recommended him to attend Tam ‘O Shanter classes at the Carnegie Museum . He was also given the opportunity to work at the Carnegie Bedford Avenue Library in the Hill District and the Carnegie Library in Oakland .
Frank also excelled in all around gymnastics, swimming and high dive. He was a candidate for the Olympics when he was drafted into the Marines in 1948. He served three years in the Korean Conflict.
Additional education included night classes at Ad-Art, Art Institute of Pittsburgh for graphic design and commercial art. He majored in sculpturing at Carnegie Institute of Technology (Carnegie Mellon) under the GI Bill.
He worked for Gardner Display designing and building show exhibits for such companies as Alcoa , U. S. Steel, Eljer, Westinghouse,etc. He also worked for Orringer and Hardy & Hayes as an illustrator for advertising publications. He later worked for Wasser, Kay & Phillips where he did graphic design. Frank left there to teach at Art Institute of Pittsburgh where he taught commercial art, graphic design, interior design, life class, architecture, mechanical drawing, sculpture and industrial design.
Frank left the Art Institute in 1976 to take a job with the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission. His first assignment was as Curator at the William Penn Museum in Harrisburg , PA. While there, he designed a Museum on Wheels, which traveled throughout the Commonwealth teaching about the exhibits to schools and nursing homes. He next became Administrator of the 500-acre site at Daniel Boone Homestead in Birdsboro , PA. Later he became chief designer of all Historic Sites in Pennsylvania . In 1984, Frank took early retirement from the State and returned to Pittsburgh where he resumed teaching at Art Institute of Pittsburgh. While at Art Institute, Frank was instrumental in setting up the Art Department at LaRoche College . He continued to teach at both locations until he retired in 1991 after completing 31 years of teaching. Frank is unique in that his talents cover all medias of art namely, oils, pastels, watercolor, pen & ink, sculpture and restoration. He also has an extensive knowledge of landscaping and botanical gardens having learned this from Mr. Curto at Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . |