Thursday, January 11, 2007
USI Foundation gains Stephen Pace paintings and funding for Pace Galleries
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Over 200 paintings, sketch books, watercolors, and drawings by Stephen S. Pace are part of a recent $1.5 million gift to the USI Foundation from Stephen S. and Palmina F. Pace of New York. Five Pace paintings previously given to the USI Foundation that now hang in University buildings and 25 paintings and other works from this gift will comprise the permanent Stephen S. Pace Collection at the University. A University of Southern Indiana representative, in collaboration with Stephen and Pam Pace, will select the paintings. Another portion of the gift will help establish the Palmina F. and Stephen S. Pace Galleries in the Kenneth P. McCutchan Art Center. The Art Center, which will be constructed along the west side of the Liberal Arts Center, is expected to open in fall 2008. USI President H. Ray Hoops, said, “Current and future generations will experience the power of the Pace paintings through this gift. It is clear that Stephen and Pam are pleased to see the paintings become part of a permanent legacy in southern Indiana. We deeply appreciate the generosity of our good friends, Pam and Stephen Pace.” Pace and his wife Palmina live in New York. The recipient of many honors and recognition, Pace was awarded an honorary degree in 2002 from USI, and in 2004 he was given the Jimmy Ernst Award in Art by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. At age 88, Pace walks to his studio daily where he works from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. He exhibits at galleries in New York and Maine. Art historian Martica Sawin calls Pace an artist who values spontaneity. She said, “The body of work produced by Stephen Pace in its entirety is profoundly connected to the American experience and to its rural-urban duality.” Stephen Pace moved with his family to New Harmony, Indiana, when he was 17. Pace studied art under Evansville artist Robert Lahr in the late 1930s. Beginning in the 1950s, he became a prominent member of the New York group of Abstract Expressionists. A sophisticated use of color and bold compositions are Pace traits. The Paces have been generous USI Foundation donors in the past. They have endowed an art scholarship for USI students. Ten works from the collection will be on public display permanently in common areas of the Liberal Arts Center, the David L. Rice Library, the Science Center, the University Center, and other public areas at USI. |
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