January 4, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, please contact:

G. Gary Moyer, Executive Director

(814) 472-3920

SAMA, NATIONAL ACADEMY NAMED RECIPIENTS OF GEOFFREY WAGNER ESTATE

            Loretto – Eleanor Jackson Piel, the Executor of the Estate of Geoffrey Wagner, announced today that the National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts (National Academy) in New York City and the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art (SAMA) in Loretto, Pennsylvania, are the primary recipients of the largesse of Mr. Wagner’s Estate. 

            Ms. Piel stated, “It has been an honor and a privilege to serve the Wagner estate. Geoffrey, who was a noted author and teacher, and his wife Colleen Browning Wagner, who predeceased him and was a talented artist, were outstanding individuals and their love of the arts and culture will continue on through this bequest. In the execution of my duties, it has been a pleasure to work with William Meek, Director-Owner of the Harmon-Meek Gallery of Naples, Florida, with G. Gary Moyer, SAMA’s Executive Director, and various attorneys, accountants and financial advisors. We are confident that the National Academy and the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art are committed to promoting, preserving and protecting works of art and making available to the public education about art. These were the goals of the Wagners.”

            The Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art is a community art museum founded in 1976. It is the largest repository of Colleen Browning paintings in the country. SAMA successfully operates four museum facilities in the southwestern Pennsylvania cities of Altoona, Johnstown, Ligonier, and Loretto. It has the unusual mandate of not only showing works of art but of educating the community with regard to art. To that end, it has both exhibits and programs for adults and children of the community.

            According to G. Gary Moyer, SAMA’s Executive Director, “This generous gift from the Estate of Geoffrey Wagner will help the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art to establish a cultural legacy for generations to come. As the largest repository of Colleen Browning paintings, SAMA is proud to honor an artist of Browning’s talent and stature. Our mission to preserve, exhibit, and advance American art complements the wishes of the Wagner Estate. The Estate funds will enable us to recognize the artistic vision of Colleen Browning (1929-2003) and to introduce others from across the country and around the world to the mastery of this American artist. She has been recognized as a major American realist painter of the latter half of the twentieth century. SAMA is excited for the opportunity to initiate a number of projects that will serve to reintroduce Colleen Browning to the art world. During her lifetime, her realism was a brush against a strong current of abstract art. At another time, in another place, Colleen Browning would most certainly have received instant acclaim for her artistic talent and her rich body of work. We intend to bring her work to the fore at this time, which is a period more friendly to her style and uniqueness. SAMA plans to develop a major monographic book about Colleen Browning and her work, and offer scholarly expertise for a curatorial project honoring her multifaceted career and artistic legacy.”

The National Academy in New York City, which opened its doors in 1825, is the other beneficiary of Mr. Wagner’s estate. The National Academy houses one of the largest collections of 19^th and 20^th century American art in the country. Colleen Browning had a significant career in New York with many exhibitions and shows at galleries, such as the Kennedy Gallery, and museums. Browning’s work was included in the National Academy’s yearly exhibitions. She had the honor of being elected a National Academician in 1966 and then served as an officer of the Academy. 

            Carmine Branagan, Director National Academy stated, “In addition to being an accomplished artist, Colleen Browning was an active National Academician.  Thanks in large measure to its artist members such as Colleen Browning, the National Academy houses one of the largest American art collections in the country. The distribution of funds from Geoffrey’s (Wagner) estate to the National Academy comes at an opportune moment in its long history. Under new leadership for the first time in over a decade, the staff and artist members are identifying bold new directions and mapping out sound strategies for the future. One project in particular dovetails elegantly with Geoffrey’s wishes: our reinvestment in and re-imagination of the institution’s relationship with its remarkable collection of American art. The receipt of funds from the estate of Geoffrey Wagner will play a leading role in reinvigorating the institution Colleen Browning so cherished.”