This afternoon comes another great loss for the arts in San Antonio: Linda Pace died in hospice care. Although I didn’t know Pace personally, her dedication to contemporary art touched all of us involved in the art community in many ways. Her most ambitious project, Artpace, brought San Antonio into a dialogue with the national and international contemporary art world that has changed the way the city as a whole views art. Since 1995, Artpace has been a paragon of arts organizations in San Antonio: the quality of the work, the involvement with the community, and the professionalism of the organization have been consistently impressive. Beyond Artpace, Pace has contributed to the community in innumerable ways, through her own body of artwork as well as her support for other organizations.

I have heard that Pace left her collection to form the basis of a new museum, which will be a lasting legacy to her love of art and of the city of San Antonio. As I learn more about the form this will take, I’ll let you know.

I would encourage those that knew Pace better than I did (and there are a lot of you out there) to leave your thoughts on her life and her work in the comments.

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