PEKIN PUBLIC LIBRARY TO HOST LESTER CHACE ART EXHIBIT

The Pekin Public Library is hosting a Lester Chace Art Exhibit throughout the library during May, with a public reception on Thursday, May 11, from 5:30-7:00 p.m. at the Pekin Public Library, to enjoy the artwork and share stories of Chace.

Born in 1925, Lester Chace, a native of Pekin, Illinois, graduated from Columbia College in 1950 and attended the Graduate School of Painting and Sculpture for two years.
As a student in 1949, Chace made a portrait of Columbia College Dean Harry J. Carman, who was soon to retire. The portrait appeared in color in the 1950 Columbian. After graduation, Chace focused on portraiture, and some of his works were commissioned for and donated to the University. Chace was commissioned by Marcellus Hartley Dodge to paint a portrait of Lou Gehrig (1954), which hung over the Hartley Hall fireplace. A year later, Chace's copy of John Trumbull's portrait of Alexander Hamilton hung in the Columbia College Admissions Office. In addition to these works, the Columbia College Art Department also holds many of Chace's portraits, including Clement Clarke Moore, Frederick A.P. Barnard, and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Outside of Columbia, Chace painted portraits of the Malcolm Forbes family, presidents John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, and first ladies Betty Ford and Jacqueline Kennedy, which once hung at the White House. Chace died in 2005.

Anyone with artwork from Lester Chace is invited to loan their piece to the Pekin Public Library for this special display. To share your artwork with the Pekin Public Library, please contact Director Jeff Brooks at (309) 347-7111.