COUPLE DONATES DOZENS OF ITEMS TO ART GALLERY

0 Comments | Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Jul 17, 2009 | by EDWARD PAIK

The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center will soon get a boost from a significant donated collection of contemporary art.

New York art collectors Dorothy and Herbert Vogel have donated nearly 70 pieces, which will be on display at the arts center starting in 2011, said Blake Milteer, the center's curator of contemporary art.

The Fine Arts Center is the only museum in Colorado to receive works from the collection, which includes artists such as William Barnett, Sylvia Plimack Mangold and Richard Tuttle.

Although the center will officially receive only 50 works, some works arrived in series, increasing the total, Milteer said.

The works, which the center received last week, were part of a national gifts program of The Dorothy and Herbert Vogel Collection: "Fifty Works for Fifty States."

The Fine Arts Center made the short list because of its collections that already focus on contemporary, according to Sam Gappmayer, the center's president and CEO.

Herbert Vogel, a postal clerk, and Dorothy Vogel, a librarian, built a collection of more than 2,500 works by minimalist and conceptual artists since the '60s.

The couple purchased artwork they could afford on Herbert Vogel's salary and could fit into their one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan.

Milteer said he couldn't reveal the value of the collection the Fine Arts Center received because of security precautions.

"The Vogels are an amazing couple and they led a very modest life," said Milteer, who previewed the collection the Fine Arts Center received.

"They were collecting some pretty bold stuff. I can't wait to see the art community's reaction when they see this collection."

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