RWU to showcase works of Anthony Quinn

BRISTOL – The Anthony Quinn Foundation and Roger Williams University will team up to preserve and showcase the artistic creations and collections of the famed actor, artist and collector. Details of the agreement were unveiled by leaders of the two nonprofits during a celebration yesterday at the Bristol estate where Quinn spent the last years of his life.
The partnership’s “ultimate goal … is to establish the Anthony Quinn Teaching and Research Center at Roger Williams University,” the university said in a statement last night. “The center will house Mr. Quinn’s library and archives and provide a context and place for a wide range of programming opportunities to include guest lecturers, exhibitions, films and conferences – focusing not only on the life and art of Mr. Quinn, but the intercultural issues and approaches to human exploration embodied in his life and interests.”
The joint effort will begin with a fundraising drive by the foundation, to raise money to establish the Quinn Center in an expanded library annex at the RWU main campus in Bristol. Once the center has been constructed, it will host permanent and revolving exhibitions of works by Anthony Quinn and other 20th-century artists.
Katherine Quinn, the actor’s widow and the founder of the Anthony Quinn Foundation, said that, “throughout his life, Tony was influenced by the many great men and women who had come before him – people he encountered in person or through books, music and art. His interest in human beings transcended geographic, political and religious boundaries – a fact that is evident in his collections.”
“I can think of no better way to celebrate his life’s work than to have it carry forward into the 21st century, and for it to be used to inspire others and create a deeper understanding of the common thread that exists in all cultures through the arts,” she said.
Her husband was a native of Mexico who achieved international acclaim both as an actor – starring in many critically and financially successful films – and as an artist who focused on drawing and painting. Born in 1915, during the Mexican revolution, he died in 2001 at the age of 86.
“I can’t think of another individual who personifies the values of the liberal arts more than Anthony Quinn,” RWU President Roy J. Nirschel said in a statement last night.
“He was an inventive and imaginative artist and global citizen, whose totality of learning, creative process and dedication to civic engagement drew people into larger conversations and challenged them to think about things beyond their private sphere,” Nirschel added. “What better example could we provide to our students?”
Additional information about the cultural and educational outreach partnership is available by contacting Ruth Bazinet, in the RWU communications office, at (401) 254-3805 or rbazinet@rwu.edu.
Roger Williams University – ranked by U.S. News & World Report as No. 8 among comprehensive colleges in the North (READ MORE) – is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. It enrolls more than 5,000 students at its main campus in Bristol, its School of Law and its Providence Metropolitan Center for Education and Law. For more information, visit rwu.edu or www.AnthonyQuinn.net.