A Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native, Porreca bucked family roots, trading the eastern coal mines for an art studio. “At the great behest of my family, I went into the arts and was an art teacher for 30-plus years,” he explains. “I didn’t always have the time to market my own art because when I got home from school, I was Dad to three girls. I’m retired now; I have the time and I’m doing it.” And “doing it,” big – literally, as Triumphal Arch stands 9 feet tall and is constructed of epoxy resin, fiberglass, carbon fiber and some hidden polyvinyl chloride pipe for support. Of the inspiration, Porreca explains,“Maquette after maquette, I just couldn’t let this idea go. I wanted to combine this idea of a Roman triumphal arch and the Greek Winged Victory of Samothrace, also called the Nike. What I’ve brought is my interpretation of these two powerful things that I’ve been fascinated with for some time and how they would look combined. I just had to make this piece.” But then again for this renewed and energetic septuagenarian, making is his lifeline. “I have to make because I breathe. I breathe because I’m making art.”
Triumphal Arch by Robert Porreca
