New SAMA president looking to future
LORETTO — Jim Cayce of Hollidaysburg was recently elected to the president of the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art Board of Trustees. The two-year term began Jan. 1.
Cayce, who grew up in Dayton, loves architecture and art.
He earned a bachelor’s degree and juris doctorate from Mercer University, served in the U.S. Army; practiced law in Orlando, Fla.; was in the General Services Administration as the Administrator’s Director of Government-wide Real Property Policy and he also was the head of the Department of Energy’s Real Estate program and facility maintenance management program. By the mid-’90s, he had joined the Department of Energy (DOE) to head its Real Estate program.
Cayce moved to the area in the early 2000s.
Within a year, he became active with SAMA, first serving on the Altoona Museum’s fashion show fundraiser committee. He chaired the event in 2005 and 2006, co-chaired in 2010 and ’11, and also has been a long-time sponsor of the event. He has been a member of the Gala committee since 2004 and has been a patron and served as co-chair or on the Leadership Circle every year since 2012.
“Without the arts, and I mean the arts in all its forms, I think we would lead a bleak existence,” Cayce said. “And art isn’t just a framed piece on a wall, or a sculpture in a sculpture garden.”
“It’s also that incredible 1953 Buick Skylark convertible that was part of Harley Earl’s General Motors legacy,” he added. “Likewise, SAMA isn’t just a collection of over 4,500 works of art. It is a dynamic service provider of in-school Arts-in-Education and Artist-in-Residence programs, Museum/Healthcare Partnership programs, student art exhibition programs, and a whole host of other activities that simply would not exist in our area were it not for SAMA.”
Nancy Devorris was named Vice President for Development.
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