17.02.1957–?
Vidmantas Plečkaitis
Vidmantas Plečkaitis (born 1957) was born in Klaipėda and trained as a mechanical engineer. He paints seascapes and has belonged to the Samogitian Artists' Union since 2006. Alongside this he worked in Klaipėda's municipal politics: from 2000 to 2007 he was deputy mayor, then secretary of the city council.
Biography
Vidmantas Plečkaitis's first profession had nothing to do with painting. In 1983 he graduated from the Kaunas Polytechnic Institute with a degree in mechanical engineering.
He was born on 17 February 1957 in Klaipėda, then in the Lithuanian SSR, a port city on the Baltic. The sea later became the main subject of his paintings, although the documents show no direct link between his childhood and his choice of subjects, and here I can only speculate. His path to art ran through business and politics. In 1993 he joined the Liberal Union of Lithuania. In 1997 Plečkaitis became director of the Klaipėda branch of the Suslavičius food company. In 2003 he became a member of the Klaipėda branch of the Liberal and Centre Union and deputy chairman of the branch, and in 2006 he was elected its chairman. From 2000 to 2003 and then from 2003 to 2007 Plečkaitis was deputy mayor of Klaipėda. In 2007 he became secretary of the city council. He remained a council member through several terms: 2000–2003, 2003–2007, 2007–2011 and from 2011.
Painting and politics ran side by side for him. Since 2006 he has belonged to the Samogitian Artists' Union, a regional association, and paints mainly seascapes and marine subjects. He supports sailing and sea tourism and works to bring more sailing regattas to the port of Klaipėda, which is meant to make the city better known.
His interests extend beyond the brush. Plečkaitis wrote plays for the theatre and was one of the co-authors of the script of the television series “Neighbours” (“Kaimynai”).
Profile notes