Local Philanthropists' Art Purchase

Breaks PAFA Student Exhibition Record

Maguire Foundation purchases sculpture at Annual Student Exhibition for $28,000
 

PHILADELPHIA (August 12, 2014) – Two noted local philanthropists who are fixtures of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts’ renowned Annual Student Exhibition (ASE) have made this year’s show a record-breaker.

At the exhibition this spring, Mr. and Mrs. James J. Maguire purchased recent PAFA alumnus Brendan Keen’s sculpture Recollection Room for $28,000, an ASE record for a single work. The piece is now installed outside the Maguire Enterprises’ headquarters in the main lobby of the Five Tower Bridge office building in West Conshohocken.

The Maguires, co-principals of the Maguire Foundation, an education-focused philanthropic organization, hope Recollection Room inspires individual contemplation among people who work and visit Five Tower Bridge “as it brings recognition to this promising artist and the Academy at which he developed his skills.”

“Art is such an important part of education, life and fulfillment of the whole person that we feel an obligation to support student artists so they can give back to society,” James Maguire said.

Maguire and his wife, Frannie, have collected more than 60 works of art over the years from PAFA-trained artists, from young alumni like Keen to celebrated painters including Milton Avery and Mary Cassatt.

“Looking at this year’s student exhibit, Frannie and I were immediately drawn to Recollection Room because of its unique presence … and over-the-top creativity!” Maguire said. “The ASE this year was as good as it gets.”

The exhibition has been a PAFA tradition for over a century and is the culminating event in the school’s artistic calendar. Each spring, graduating students of the Certificate, BFA and MFA programs mount an exhibition that fills the museum exhibition galleries in the Samuel M.V. Hamilton Building. Well over 10,000 visitors attend the show, which features more than a thousand works in all media.

Keen created the work to be “a place where memories are stored while it provides a personal space for reflection.” The piece is made of hexagonal shapes that evoke for Keen the “natural growth of memories” and is hollow inside, allowing viewer to stand inside.

“Thus, the installation can be appreciated from both the outside, where the strength of the tempered steel legs and the magnitude of the form are paramount,” Keen said, “and from the inside, where the delicate nature of each cell and the warmth and scent of the 1,000 steel-cased cedar cells are most captivating.”

When inside the Recollection Room, viewers are encouraged to summon their own memories and thoughts, making the sculpture a unique experience for each person.

Robert Roesch, Sculpture Department Chair, said his goal is to “give students enough of an orientation toward building, and my best hope is to cut them loose so they develop conceptually.”

Keen, 2013 winner of the prestigious Cresson Memorial Travel Scholarship at PAFA, is a Philadelphia-based artist and a member of the Traction Company, a West Philadelphia collective of more than a dozen PAFA-trained artists.

“Brendan likes to build big. He’s a really good builder and he understands structure intuitively,” says John Grieg, PAFA's Sculpture Shop Manager, who co-founded Traction Company in 2007. “He was under a tight deadline (for the ASE exhibition) and worked seven days a week in the dead of winter. His work ethic is excellent.”

Keen’s work was funded in part by PAFA’s Fine Arts Venture Fund, a new program for Fine Arts students spearheaded by PAFA trustee Anne McCollum. It allows students to engage in a grant-seeking process, in which they develop a unique art project, write a grant proposal, and, for the semi-finalists in the process, present their work to funders. 

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Founded in 1805, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) is America's first School of Fine Arts and Museum. A recipient of the 2005 National Medal of Arts presented by the President of the United States, PAFA is a recognized leader in Fine Arts education. Nearly every major American artist has taught, studied, or exhibited at PAFA. The institution's world-class collection of American art continues to grow and provides what only a few other art institutions in the world offer: the rare combination of an outstanding Museum and an extraordinary faculty known for its commitment to students and for the stature and quality of its artistic work.