John Stanley was the founder of the Arts Center, which later merged with the Art Club. He served as the first Board president of the Center in 1964, was the gallery chairman for many years, and remained an active member, until his death in 2000. When the Center moved to buy its first building on 7th Street S in 1971, 18 people, many of them Stanley’s students, pledged the funds for the $23,000 building.

“My parents, Bruce and Mary Ann Marger, first admired this painting at an outdoor art show in Straub Park in the early 1960s. During a chat with the artist, he told of his plans to start a not-for-profit arts center in downtown St. Petersburg. My father offered to incorporate the Center at no charge, and in appreciation, Mr. Stanley gave him this painting that they had so admired. “We are pleased that it now graces our home.” –Bill Marger

Collection of Bill and Carol Marger