IMMORTALS GATHER!

Who are these “Immortals” anyway? They are PAA members who have joined the Permanent Collection, thereby ensuring their Immortal status in the PAA. The Permanent Collection was founded in 2008 to give members the opportunity to include the PAA in their estate plans in the belief that their visionary generosity would have a lasting impact on the future of this fabulous organization. Now, 12 years later, the original 18 “Founding Treasures” have been joined by other like-minded PAA members to bring the total PC membership to 46 members. These Immortals are listed every year in the back of the Roster and also are introduced and thanked every year at the Annual Meeting. Each spring, the Immortals are treated to a festive soiree which brings this special group together to celebrate ART (what else?).

This year the PC met on April 15th for a delightful virtual evening. Judy Penner and Sonia Singla offered a gracious welcome and toast. Clare Tayback welcomed the five generous new Immortals:  Jennifer Baxter, Marsha Bohr, Katy Champ, Sara Pelton, and Gretel Stephens. Ann Barrett then introduced the fabulous featured guest, our own PAE WHITE, a PAA member since 2009 and a loyal supporter of our Art Auctions. Pae, an international multi-media star, regaled us with descriptions of her many projects all over the world — some completed, some planned, and some not yet brought to life. Close to home (and worth a visit!) are a public art project on the waterfront North Embarcadero in San Diego featuring an engaging series of unique pavilions she calls “working sculptures,” including a most stylish public restroom; a massive floating sphere made up of 12,000 colorful silk-screened, electroplated hexagonal disks entitled “Noisy Blushes” in the atrium of the San Jose Museum of Art; and two colorful large-scale installations — “Day for Night for Day” in neon, and “Moonsets for a Sunrise” in ceramic tile — on the glass-enclosed public-facing escalators at the Beverly Center. You can see these while driving by . . . especially at night.  But it was Pae’s very personal and articulate explanation of how she creates, how she thinks, how she experiments, and how she conquers a wide variety of materials and processes that absolutely enthralled us.  THANK YOU, PAE, from your Immortal sisters!