News

Impressionist Legacies: The Michael and Aimee Rusinko Kakos Collection / September 7 - December 8, 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. 

Due to due to the exhibition’s overwhelming popularity, Impressionist Legacies has recently been extended through Friday, December 8, 2023.
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. Photography by Nathan J. Shaulis/Porter Loves.

Beyond Paris / Jennifer Thompson, Ph.D.

On Thursday, September 14, Dr. Thompson offered a lecture entitled “Beyond Paris: British Impressionists in the Rusinko Kakos Collection.” In the years leading up to World War I, several 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, Dr. Thompson, explored 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. A recording of the lecture is now available on the Saint Vincent College YouTube channel.
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Dr. Thompson earned her M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Since joining the European Painting and Sculpture Department in 1999, she has played an essential role in interpreting, displaying and developing the museum’s collections of European art. She has published widely and curated many notable exhibitions, including The Impressionist’s Eye (2019), Old Masters Now: Celebrating the Johnson Collection (2017), Discovering the Impressionists: Paul Durand-Ruel and the New Painting (2015), Van Gogh Up Close (2012) and Late Renoir (2010). She is also curator of the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia.

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.

Hours / Fall 2023

While Saint Vincent College classes are in session the Verostko Center is open to the public:
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Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday: 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Friday: 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

For research requests or to arrange a visit outside these hours, email verostkocenter@stvincent.edu.
The Center is always free. 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