WFU art gallery to be named for Philip and Charlotte Hanes

During a private dedication ceremony, the gallery will be named the Charlotte and Philip Hanes Art Gallery.

The 3,600-square-foot gallery in Scales Fine Arts Center opened in 1982.

Philip Hanes, 75, is chairman emeritus of Hanes Dye and Finishing, a company founded by his father, but he is perhaps better known locally for his leadership and support of the arts. He helped shape the N.C. School of the Arts, the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Arts and the Roger L. Stevens Center for the Performing Arts in Winston-Salem.

He received the National Medal of Arts from President George Bush in 1991 for his role as the founder of community arts programs across the country.

“Phil Hanes has done much for the arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and the country,” said Wake Forest University President Thomas K. Hearn Jr. “He and Charlotte have been generous in sharing their art collection with Wake Forest. We are pleased to have their names grace our fine arts gallery as a permanent expression of their service and our gratitude.”

Philip Hanes received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Wake Forest in 1990. Charlotte Hanes serves on the university’s Board of Visitors for the College and Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

In 1991, Hanes and his wife, Charlotte, donated to the university their 1820s plantation-style house, and committed through their will their personal art collection and 26 acres of property that adjoin the Wake Forest President’s House.

“Phil and Charlotte Hanes have been very good friends to the Wake Forest art department through the years,” said Margaret Smith, chair of Wake Forest’s art department. “Besides their very generous donation of paintings to the college, they frequently have opened up their home to our classes so that our students can see their remarkable collection of American art and learn from Phil how a collector goes about purchasing really significant art. We are delighted that the Haneses will be recognized by having the Scales Fine Arts Center gallery named in their honor.”

Hanes started collecting American art in 1949 after studying art in college. His private collection ranges from a 1762 painting by John Singleton Copley to contemporary works.

Three pieces from the Hanes collection are included in the current exhibition at the gallery. The Copley painting, “Mrs. Daniel Rogers;” “Spanish Girl,” an 1886 oil painting on mahogany by William Merritt Chase; and “Outside Cannes,” an oil painting on canvas by William Glackens, are featured in “Jewels in Our Crown: Treasures from the Wake Forest University Art Collections, 1941-2001.” The exhibition runs through Oct. 14.

Admission to the gallery is free. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and weekends, 1 – 5 p.m. A public reception will be held on Sept. 21 from 7 – 9 p.m. in the gallery. Audio tours are available for individuals visiting the gallery. Group tours can also be arranged by calling the gallery. For information, call 336-758-5585.
Editors’ Note: The gallery will be named at a private event. Media interested in covering the evening event should contact the News Service for additional details.