NCMA : view: Collector's Panel Discussion, Friday, May 20

The Collector’s Panel
North Carolina Museum of Art
Friday, May 20, 2005 7:30 in the auditorium

Please join us this Friday evening for a special Collector's Panel at the NCMA. Director, Larry Wheeler will pose questions about collecting contemporary art to three important North Carolina collectors; Allen Thomas, whose collection of contemporary photographs encompasses the current In Focus exhibition; Francine Pilloff, who is one of three collectors of contemporary glass in the current Fusion: Contemporary Glass Art from North Carolina Collections and Tom Newby, whose contemporary art collection was exhibited at the NCMA in Boldly Stated during the fall of 1999.

Allen G. Thomas Jr., Wilson
Allen Thomas is a native of Wilson and works as the manager of his family law firm, Thomas and Farris. He attended Appalachian State University and earned a B.A. in Political Science from The University of North Carolina at Wilmington in 1988. He is Chairman of the Wilson Technical Community College Paralegal Tech Board, a member of the Governor’s Western Residence Board, The Volunteer Action Committee Board, and the North Carolina Museum of Art Board of Trustees where he serves on the Works of Art Committee. Allen began collecting contemporary photography over ten years ago and has amassed a collection of more than 300 photographs.

Francine Pilloff, Chapel Hill
Francine Pilloff was the Founding President of the Ohio Contemporary Glass Alliance. She is a past president of the international organization, The Art Alliance of Contemporary Glass. At the Cleveland Museum of Art, she chaired the glass exhibition, Glass Today. She and her husband are the generous founders of "The Francine and Benson Pilloff Camp for Performing Arts.” Presently she serves on the NCMA Art Society Board, Verb Ballets and The Forever Children's Home Boards. Francine has a Master’s Degree in Counseling. She writes, “I have been collecting art all my life. In 1975, we had a horrific fire and lost everything we owned. For a long time, I did not want to collect anything again. However, I have learned to ‘never say never.’"

Tom Newby, Chapel Hill
Tom Newby is an angel investor and advisor to small companies in the Triangle, and is a member of the executive committee of three venture funds. Prior to coming to the Triangle, he spent over twenty-five years in marketing and general management building consumer packaged goods businesses for Proctor & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark. A native Virginian, Tom is a graduate of Duke University and the University of Virginia Graduate School of Business Administration. He currently is a Trustee of the North Carolina Museum of Art and also a member of its Foundation Board of Directors. Tom lives in Chapel Hill with his wife and two college-age daughters.