Sunday, August 31, 2008
USI’s McCutchan Art Center/Pace Galleries opens September 7
 The University of Southern Indiana’s Kenneth P. McCutchan Art Center/Palmina F. and Stephen S. Pace Galleries will be dedicated September 7 – almost exactly a year after ground was broken for the 4,800 square foot addition to the Liberal Arts Center – with a ribbon cutting ceremony, docent-led tours, a book-signing opportunity with celebrated artist Stephen S. Pace, and a documentary film about the Paces.The public is welcome and encouraged to join the University community in celebration of the new art center at a ribbon cutting ceremony at 1 p.m. with USI President H. Ray Hoops, the Paces, representatives of the McCutchan family, members of the USI Board of Trustees and USI Foundation Board, and other dignitaries. Tours of the McCutchan Art Center/Pace Galleries will be available from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Appropriately, the inaugural exhibition features work from USI’s McCutchan and Pace art collections. Pace will sign copies of Stephen Pace by Martica Sawin. “Stephen Pace: Indiana Painter,” a film produced by Richard Kane and Melody Lewis-Kane ’73, will be shown at 2:30 p.m. in Kleymeyer Hall in the Liberal Arts Center. The McCutchan Art Center/Pace Galleries will provide the space and accommodations for the Student Art Exhibition, student and faculty exhibitions, visiting artist exhibitions, traveling exhibitions, and Senior Art Seminars. Dr. David Glassman, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, said, “Our Department of Art is arguably the best in the state of Indiana in undergraduate excellence and in the professional prestige of its faculty. And now it will have a first-class gallery for exhibition space, a learning environment for our students in curatorial and gallery management studies, and a new outreach connection of cultural impact to Evansville and its surrounding communities." In addition to its educational mission, the McCutchan Art Center/Pace Galleries will assist the University in carrying out one aspect of its mission: contributing to the cultural awareness of southwestern Indiana. The construction of the McCutchan Art Center is due in large part to a generous gift from Kenneth P. McCutchan, who died in 2002. One of the area’s leading historians, he wrote more than a half-dozen local history books. He painted for pleasure and collected the works of Indiana artists. His collection was one of the largest private collections of Hoosier art in Southern Indiana. During his lifetime he gave a large portion of his collection to USI for display and for use as a teaching collection. Stephen S. Pace was a prominent member of the New York Abstract Expressionists. His work has been exhibited in the nation’s most important galleries and museums. The recipient of many honors and recognitions, Pace was awarded an honorary degree from USI in 2002. Pace and his wife Palmina retired to Indiana from homes in New York and Maine. A portion of their $1.5 million gift is establishing the Pace Galleries. The McCutchan Art Center/Pace Galleries was designed by Sarah A. Schuler of VPS Architecture. It will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Wendy Knipe Bredhold News and Information Services wkbredhold@usi.edu 812/461-5259 |
Copyright © 2013 University of Southern Indiana. All rights reserved.