MORGANTOWN — Lorraine Streiby, the Los Angeles-based artist and author who often incorporates images and themes of her native Morgantown in her works, read from her “Molly McMole” children’s book series and gave a drawing lesson Friday morning at Skyview Elementary School.
The latest offering, “Why is a Spy Called a Mole?” details the exploits of Christopher McMole, her master spy character whom she imagines linking up with George Washington in Morgan Town — a Colonial collection of cabins on the banks of the Monongahela River that became the Morgantown we know today.
Streiby, who puts meticulously researched historical facts in the series, will also give a talk and book-signing from 5:30-8 p.m. Sept. 15 at the Monongalia Arts Center on High Street.
She grew up in Morgantown and attended WVU before moving to Los Angeles as a young newlywed in 1958. The avowed sports fan of the Mountaineers still remembers Jerry West scorching the nets of the old Stansbury Field House on Beechurst Avenue.
Streiby became an artist in L.A., where her whimsical, mixed-media works garnered acclaim in galleries and among people who just wanted an interesting piece of art on their living room wall.
She has been commissioned to do the official Los Angeles city calendar over the years.
Streiby is also credited as the original concept artist and marketing force behind the West Virginia-themed, WVU Hospital, Children’s float that appeared in the New Year’s Day Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif., in 2016.
“I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate West Virginia,” she told The Dominion Post previously.
“I’ve always been a Mountaineer, and I’m always going to be one.”
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