News

Impressionist Legacies: The Michael and Aimee Rusinko Kakos Collection / September 7 - November 17, 2023

This Fall, the Verostko Center is proud to debut an important selection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings recently gifted to Saint Vincent College on behalf of longtime philanthropists Michael and Aimee Rusinko Kakos. Rarely seen by the public in decades, the Collection features 88 works by 61 artists who worked alongside those whose names are synonymous with Impressionism and the modernist styles that immediately followed but have largely been omitted from art historical surveys. Through an international constellation of friendships, parent-child relationships, marriages, professional associations and academic connections, artists shared ideas, techniques and inspirations that supported the development of their work. Focused on the transformative years between the 1880s through the 1930s, the Rusinko Kakos Collection links the luminaries of Impressionism with their under-recognized contemporaries. 

Opening Reception
Thursday, September 7
5:00 - 7:00 p.m.

Join us for the public opening of Impressionist Legacies! Reservations are not required. 
Above: Victor Charreton, French, 1864 – 1936, Breton Lacemakers (Les Dentellières Bretonnes), ca. 1922 – 1926, Oil on canvas, 23 5/8 x 28 5/8 inches, Saint Vincent Art & Heritage Collections, Gift of Michael and Aimee Rusinko Kakos. Suzanne Valadon, French, 1865 – 1938, Bouquet of Roses in a Shell (Bouquet de Roses dans un Obus), ca. 1919, Oil on card, 12 x 9 ½ inche, Saint Vincent Art & Heritage Collections, Gift of Michael and Aimee Rusinko Kakos. Photography by Nathan J. Shaulis/Porter Loves.

Jennifer A. Thompson, Ph.D.
Beyond Paris: British Impressionists in the Rusinko Kakos Collection ​/ September 14

In the years leading up to World War I, a number of prominent American and British writers posed the question "What is Impressionism?" They were responding to the international dissemination and adoption of painting techniques identified with French artists such as Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Edgar Degas, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Illustrated with objects from the Rusinko Kakos Collection, Jennifer Thompson, Ph.D., Head of the European Painting and Sculpture Department at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, will explore the ways in which British painters embraced Impressionism's interest in color, fleeting sensations, visible brushwork, and modern subject matter. In so doing, they developed a style with local characteristics and global resonance. 

Thursday, September 14, 2023
Fred M. Rogers Center / 7:00 p.m.

Beyond Paris: British Impressionists in the Rusinko Kakos Collection is free and open to the public. Follow the link below to reserve your tickets. 
Above: Jennifer A. Thompson, Ph.D., The Gloria and Jack Drosdick Curator of European Painting and Sculpture and Curator of the John G. Johnson Collection - Philadelphia Museum of Art. Arthur Hacker, British, 1858 – 1919, A Quiet Cove, Girl Canoeing, 1900, Oil on panel, 15 ¾ x 13 inches, Saint Vincent Art & Heritage Collections, Gift of Michael and Aimee Rusinko Kakos. Photography by Nathan J. Shaulis/Porter Loves.

Roman Verostko : In Conversation

At a moment when generative artists are renewing painting, Verostko’s brush plottings prove that the physical and the digital have always been in dialogue. His work also unites Western and Chinese traditions in a way that foreshadows the global conversation that has become a hallmark of digital art since the NFT. Today, RCS is pleased to bring together two generations of artists in a conversation for the ages.

Right Click Save's editor-in-chief, Alex Estorick, together with an international group of generative artists interviewed the Center's namesake, Roman Verostko. Their discussion explores Verostko's history of creative coding, the legacies of algorithms in art, as well as the projects he's working on now. Click here to read this insight-filled, intergenerational dialogue.

Verostko Center Dedication /

A formal dedication of the Verostko Center for the Arts was held Wednesday, November 17, 2021 with remarks offered by Rt. Rev. Martin de Porres Bartel, O.S.B., Archabbot of the Saint Vincent monastic community, Saint Vincent College President, Rev. Paul Taylor, O.S.B., and Roman Verostko, Professor Emeritus at Minneapolis College of Art and Design. The event assembled members of the Saint Vincent academic community, donors and benefactors, as well as representatives from regional arts organizations. A recording of the program is available here.

Summer 2023 /

This summer, the Center is open by appointment. For research requests or to arrange a visit, email verostkocenter@stvincent.edu. We look forward to welcoming you!
Roman Verostko,Untitled, 1988, pen and ink plotter drawing, 22.25 x 24 inches, Roman Verostko and Alice Wagstaff Legacy Collection.
The VCA is proudly named for digital art pioneer, Roman Verostko. Learn more about Verostko's work, formative years at Saint Vincent, and signature process of using computer code for creative purposes.
The Verostko Center for the Arts cares for over 4,000 works of art ​ranging from ancient to contemporary. Your support can help us preserve these creative legacies for future generations.
Verostko Center for the Arts
​Saint Vincent College | 300 Fraser Purchase Road | Latrobe, Pennsylvania 15650