Friday, March 27, 2009
Film documents Stephen Pace’s return to Indiana
 “Stephen Pace: Indiana Painter,” a 30-minute documentary produced by Richard Kane and Melody Lewis-Kane ’73, will air at 9:30 p.m. Monday, April 13, and 9:30 p.m. Sunday, April 26 on WNIN-PBS9. The film premiered at the opening of USI’s Kenneth P. McCutchan Art Center/Palmina F. and Stephen S. Pace Galleries in September.Raised in Posey County, Stephen Pace became a prominent member of the New York Abstract Expressionists. “Pace was probably the youngest of that group of abstract artists like Willem DeKooning, Franz Kline, Jackson Pollack, and Hans Hoffman, who became a teacher of his,” Kane said. “Throughout the ‘50s he was invited to be in every one of the Whitney Annuals, and was quite well-recognized as being a young, up-and-coming abstract expressionist of the time.” When he met Pace in 1977, Kane to himself, “‘One day I want to make a film about Stephen and his art,’ and 30 years later here I am doing it.” Pace and his wife Pam are generous friends of the University. A portion of their $1.5 million gift established the Pace Galleries in the McCutchan Art Center. Pace’s paintings can be found in the University Center, Liberal Arts Center, and McCutchan Art Center/Pace Galleries at USI. The Paces retired to Indiana from homes in New York and Maine in 2007. Like Pace, Kane and Lewis-Kane have roots in Indiana. Lewis-Kane has a bachelor’s degree in art from USI and taught here and in the Mt. Vernon schools, and Kane was a producer/director at WNIN. They live in Maine and have two companies: Kane Lewis Productions and Clay Forms Pottery. The film documents the Paces’ move from Maine and New York back to Indiana. Kane filmed the Paces as they prepared to leave their Maine home. “Every morning Stephen would take a walk to the lily pond near his house and it would be like a Zen exercise to clear his mind in preparation for his painting for the day,” Kane said. On the last day in Maine, Pace led Kane on a final walk to his favorite spot. “Walking out, Stephen said, ‘No more lily pond, but here we come to the cornfields and soybeans.’ He was looking forward to painting new subjects.” Since his return to Indiana, Pace has worked with USI art students in the classroom and the studio. “It’s wonderful to offer students the opportunity to have their work critiqued by a master. It’s good for students and also for Stephen, to continue to contribute to young artists. He really has a love for what he does and a joy for the process of painting. His paintings are about the goodness of the world – they are not dark. They are light and joyous and wonderful.” In addition to the documentary’s debut on WNIN, a screening of the documentary will also be shown at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 31, at the Evansville Museum of Arts, History, and Science. Wendy Knipe Bredhold News & Information Services 812/461-5259 or wkbredhold@usi.edu |
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