JOHN W PAYSON

John Whitney Payson, a 1966 alumnus of Pepperdine University, is one of the art worlds leading ambassadors. A specialist in twentieth-century representational art, he is president and owner of Midtown Payson Galleries, Inc., based in from 1985 to 1995 and now located in Hobe Sound, Florida. Widely respected for more than three decades as an art dealer and historian, Mr. Payson has lectured extensively and written numerous articles and catalog entries on the arts. While operating the Midtown Payson Galleries in New York, he represented such acclaimed artists as Paul Cadmus, Jacob Lawrence, and the estate of Walt Kuhn. He has been responsible for several noteworthy exhibitions including "Expressions from ," a bicentennial traveling exhibit. He also assisted with the catalog of the "Joan Whitney Payson Collection," a 1980 exhibition in Kyoto and Tokyo. A champion of arts education, Mr. Payson has served on boards and committees at and Westbrook College in Maine, and at Fisk University in Tennessee. He also served on the boards of the Florida Arts Council, the Jupiter Island Historical Society in Hobe Sound, Florida, the Norton Gallery and School of Art in Florida's West Palm Beach, and the Portland (Maine) Museum of Art. He is a member of the Presidents Advisory Committee on the Arts at the Kennedy Center and is a founder and trustee of the Joan Whitney and Charles Shipman Payson Charitable Foundation. Mr. Payson attended Bowdoin College and later Pepperdine, from which he earned the bachelor of arts degree. He was honored in 1969 with the President's Award at the University's alumni banquet. Mr. Paysons commitment to the arts has been recognized by Maine College of Art and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture. Payson Library at Seaver College, one of the original buildings on the Malibu campus, was funded by Mr. Paysons parents, Charles Shipman Payson and Joan Whitney Payson of New York. Mr. Payson and his wife, Joanne D'Elia Payson, have continued the Payson family legacy of Pepperdine support, funding scholarships for art students from the Northeast/New England area. The Paysons have three children: Joan, Heather Hamlin, and Charles. The couple resides in Hobe Sound, Florida.