Volume 2, No. 35 September 13, 2002
College announces new partnership with Lacoste school By Angela Hendrix The Savannah College of Art and Design and the Lacoste School of the Arts in France, Inc., announced the successful conclusion of an agreement under which Lacoste has donated its historic properties to SCAD. In the agreement, made public Sept. 9, SCAD committed to making substantial investments in the renovation and restoration of these properties and assumes management of the academic programming and overall administration of the site in Lacoste. This new partnership uniquely blends the resources of these two not-for-profit institutions to create a dynamic international program for the professional study of fine arts and design in the South of France. The Lacoste facility enables SCAD to expand current programs for study abroad and Lacoste to continue a tradition of offering aspiring artists a unique setting in which to pursue the creative process. Students from the United States and elsewhere may apply to study in France in this historic and culturally rich area. The Lacoste site comprises 18 buildings in this remarkably preserved medieval village, designated by the French government as a national treasure. Studios and teaching spaces include a 12th century Maison Forte, a 17th century boulangerie, and down below the village in the valley, an extensive property called the Maison Basse, once the stables of the Marquis de Sade. SCAD began conducting classes in Lacoste in March and has already begun work on its restoration and renovation program to provide academic programming comparable to the curriculum in Savannah. The college is supplying faculty and staff for the Lacoste site, providing financial support and its 5,500-student resource from which to recruit program participants. The Lacoste School of the Arts was founded in 1970 by American painter Bernard Pfriem in one of the most beautiful villages in Provence, where he established a small, but rigorous, undergraduate program in the fine arts and humanities. Located in the Luberon Valley (Vaucluse), the land of Van Gogh and Cezanne, Lacoste is known for the ruins of the de Sade chateau, and bears the traces of Greek, Roman and Renaissance life. “The histories of the Savannah College of Art and Design and the Lacoste School of the Arts share common elements,” said President Paula S. Wallace. “Both were formed in the 1970s in extraordinary environments that lend themselves to study in the visual and performing arts. Both are committed to excellence in education, and both are responsible members of their respective local communities. We are very enthusiastic about the opportunities for our students and others to benefit from a SCAD education in beautiful and historic Lacoste.” “Our partnership with the Savannah College of Art and Design represents the successful culmination of efforts by the Lacoste Board of Trustees to assure the continuity of the original spirit and programs set forth by our founder, “ said William T. Hillman, chairman of the Lacoste board, alumnus and major donor to Lacoste. “The agreement ensures the growth and continuation of all the things we treasure at Lacoste. SCAD has an excellent international reputation. We look forward to working with the SCAD administration to develop further an outstanding program at Lacoste.” Plans include offering a year-round academic program, which, when facilities improvements are completed, will accommodate up to 60 students per academic term, as well as offering other programs and workshops for artists, teachers and students at the site. The SCAD curriculum in Lacoste features courses in drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, historic preservation, architectural history, art history, and French language and culture, among other subjects. Future plans for the program may include the creation of a international center for the arts at Lacoste, where artists, scholars, teachers and students can come together to work in a community environment. In conjunction with the announcement, John Burger, chairman of the SCAD Board of Trustees, confirmed that Nancy Herstand, the newly elected chairman of the Lacoste board, has been elected to serve on the SCAD Board of Trustees. The Lacoste Board of Trustees will now function in an advisory role for the SCAD program. Acting in this new advisory capacity, the Lacoste board will work to create greater awareness of the SCAD/Lacoste program and help to build a support base for this program in the United States and France. About the Lacoste School of the Arts in France, Inc. Founder and director of the Lacoste School of the Arts Bernard Pfriem began his lifelong love affair with France and the French culture in the years following World War II, when he, like many young American artists, went to study art in Paris on the G.I. Bill. Remaining in Europe as chief designer for United States government exhibitions and pavilions, Pfriem discovered the little village of Lacoste on a sojourn to Provence, and purchased the first of many properties to be acquired for the school. Captivated by the allure and beauty and relative isolation of the region, Pfriem created an environment that nurtured the creative spirit of artists, offering them the kind of personal attention and private studio space usually reserved for graduate students and professionals. Since 1970, the school has provided an outstanding arts program designed around a core curriculum, which included drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, poetry and French language and culture. The Lacoste School of the Arts was initially sponsored by and accredited through Sarah Lawrence College; it became affiliated with the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1981. Following Pfriem’s death in 1996, the academic program was managed by Bard College until 2001. In 1982, the school was established as a not-for-profit corporation in the United States. Pfriem’s charismatic personality and art world contacts attracted such notables to the school as Max Ernst, Man Ray, Lee Miller, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gjon Mili, Roland Penrose, Peter de Francia and John Rewald, who visited and shared their experiences with the Lacoste community. Outstanding faculty and visiting artists have continued to enrich the academic program, and more than 1,500 students and professionals from around the world have participated in the program. Pfriem’s career as an acclaimed artist and inspiring teacher began in his native city of Cleveland, Ohio, where he graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1940, subsequently traveling to Mexico to work with renowned artists Jose Clemente Orozco and Julio Castellanos. He taught at the Museum of Modern Art, the Cooper Union School of Art and Sarah Lawrence College. A painter and graphic artist of original esthetic and superb technique, Pfriem was represented in New York and Paris by the prestigious Alexandre Iolas Gallery. His work has been shown widely in the United States and Europe, and he is represented in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Corcoran Gallery, the Brooklyn Museum and the Atlantic Richfield Company, among many others. Board of Trustees also taps Talley In addition to Nancy Herstand, André Leon Talley has been elected to serve on the SCAD Board of Trustees. Talley is editor-at-large for Vogue magazine. After graduating from Brown University with a master’s degree in French studies, Talley worked with Andy Warhol in New York and later with his mentor and style guru, Diana Vreeland, Fashion’s most legendary authority. He joined Vogue in 1983 as fashion news director. He then served as creative director from 1988-1995. Prior to returning to Vogue in 1998, he had been living in Paris, France. In May 2000, Talley received a Lifetime Achievement Award at SCAD’s annual spring fashion show for his work in the fashion industry. The award was later renamed the André Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award and has been presented to Oscar de La Renta and Karl Lagerfeld. Talley has also served on the college’s Board of Visitors. In addition to serving as the chairman of the Lacoste Board of Trustees, Herstand has an extensive background in arts management, public relations and fund raising and has worked with a number of America’s major performing and visual arts institutions. She is executive director of the Performing Arts Center Foundation of Greater Miami, responsible for the capital campaign to raise $80 million in private-sector funds for the new $370 million Performing Arts Center there, scheduled to open in 2004. Herstand is a graduate of Barnard College in New York City and resides in Miami. For more information about the Lacoste program, contact the office of off-campus programs at 525-5800. Hendrix is the director of public information.
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